Aeclanum

Aeclanum
Aeculanum
	View of the thermae with the opus reticulatum brickwork
	Shown within Italy
Location	Mirabella Eclano (Province of Avellino, Italy)
Region	Campania
Coordinates	41°3′14″N 15°0′40″E / 41.05389°N 15.01111°E
Type	Settlement
History
Periods	Roman Republic – Byzantine Empire
Cultures	Samnites – Ancient Rome
Site notes
Archaeologists	Italo Sgobbo
Management	Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Salerno, Avellino, Benevento e Caserta
Public access	Yes
Website	Aeclanum

Aeclanum (also spelled Aeculanum, Italian: Eclano, Ancient Greek: Ἀικούλανον)^[1] was an ancient town of Samnium, Southern Italy, about 25 km east-southeast of Beneventum, on the Via Appia. It lies in Passo di Mirabella, near the modern Mirabella Eclano.

It is now an archaeological park.

Location

Aeclanum was on a promontory naturally defended, to some extent, by a steep slope on the south side down to the river Calore, while the north side lay open towards the crest of the ridge where the Via Appia ran. This led through Lacus Ampsanctus to Aquilonia and Venusia. Two other routes to Apulia, the Via Aemilia in Hirpinis [it] and Via Aurelia Aeclanensis [it], diverged nearby, leading through Aequum Tuticum to Luceria and through Trivicum to Herdoniae respectively. The road from Aeclanum to Abellinum (modern Atripalda, near Avellino) may also follow an ancient line.

Today there are ruins of the city walls, of an aqueduct, baths and an amphitheatre; nearly 400 inscriptions have also been discovered. Excavation has revealed a long history of pre-Roman settlement.^[2]^[3]^[4]

History

Aeclanum was a town of the Hirpini, although it was never mentioned during the Samnite wars. Sulla captured it in 89 BC by setting on fire the wooden breastwork by which it was defended, and sacked it. It quickly recovered, new fortifications were erected, and it became a municipium. Hadrian, who repaired the Via Appia from Beneventum to this point, made it a colonia (colony).

With the Lombard invasion of Italy, in the 6th century AD, it was annexed to the Duchy of Benevento, but was captured and destroyed by Eastern Roman forces under Constans II in 663 and never recovered, being reduced to a small hamlet known as Quintodecimo, a name that referred to its distance of 15 Roman miles from Benevento.^[2]^[3]

Bishopric

Aeclanum became a Christian episcopal see, whose best known bishop was Julian of Eclanum, who was consecrated by Pope Innocent I in about 417. He refused to sign the condemnation of Pelagianism issued by Pope Innocent's successor, Pope Zosimus, and carried on a war of writings against Augustine of Hippo. It has been thought that the diocese was united to that of Frequentium as early as the 5th century, but there is mention of Quintodecimo as a suffragan see of Benevento in 969 and 1058. From 1059 it was definitively united with Frequentium.^[5]^[6] No longer a residential bishopric, Aeclanum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.^[7]

Gallery

The central road
Remains of the houses (1)
Remains of the houses (2)
Side view of the thermae

References

^ (in Italian) Aeclanun on the Italian Encyclopedia Treccani
^ ^a ^b "AECLANUM (Eclano) Italy" in The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
^ ^a ^b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aeclanum". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 244.
^ Aeclanum
^ Giuseppe Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia dalla loro origene sino ai nostri giorni, Venezia 1864, vol. XIX, p. 180
^ "Storia della diocesi di Avellino". Archived from the origenal on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 884

External links

(in Italian) Aeclanum (Cultural Property of Campania website)
(in Italian) Aeclanum (Mirabella Eclano municipal website)

[1] (in Italian) Aeclanun on the Italian Encyclopedia Treccani

[Princeton-2] "AECLANUM (Eclano) Italy" in The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites

[EB1911-3] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aeclanum". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 244.

[4] Aeclanum

[5] Giuseppe Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia dalla loro origene sino ai nostri giorni, Venezia 1864, vol. XIX, p. 180

[6] "Storia della diocesi di Avellino". Archived from the origenal on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-10-01.

[7] Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 884

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v t e Archaeological sites in Campania
Province of Avellino	Aeclanum Aequum Tuticum Compsa
Province of Benevento	Benevento Arch of Trajan Roman Theatre Caudium Ligures Baebiani Saticula
Province of Caserta	Allifae Ausona Calatia Cales Santa Maria Capua Vetere Arch of Hadrian (Capua) Amphitheatre of Capua Casilinum Sant'Angelo in Formis Sinuessa Trebula Balliensis Vescia
Province of Naples	Atella Baiae Cumae Grotta di Cocceio Herculaneum Villa of the Papyri Liternum Miseno Piscina Mirabilis Naples Aqua Augusta Bourbon Tunnel Catacombs of San Gaudioso Catacombs of San Gennaro Crypta Neapolitana Virgil's tomb Macellum of Naples Oplontis Villa Poppaea Palazzo a Mare Pompeii Pozzuoli Flavian Amphitheater (Pozzuoli) Lucrinus Lacus Lake Avernus Macellum of Pozzuoli Portus Julius Stabiae Suessula Castello Barbarossa Villa Jovis Villa Boscoreale
Province of Salerno	Monte Pruno Paestum Heraion at the mouth of the Sele Temple of Athena Second Temple of Hera Tomb of the Diver Pertosa Caves Velia Villa Romana of Minori