Beyond the colonies. The Roman sanctuary of Monte Rinaldo and the Roman conquest of the middle Adriatic area
Data evento
12 Marzo 2025
The foundation of colonies usually occurred with the Roman conquest of territory, and brought about a new landscape dominated by towns. A view of the distribution of Roman towns in the mid-Adriatic area corresponding to the Picenum and the ager Gallicus would seem to confirm this pattern. However, this situation represents the outcome of a long process that was only completed by the end of the Republican period. In the aftermath of conquest, the foundation of a town was however only one of the possible solutions, as there were other alternatives which responded to the need to organise the population around central places, such as sanctuaries.
The archaeological research of the University of Bologna and the British School at Rome, in agreement with the SABAP of Southern Marche, at the Sanctuary of Jupiter near Monte Rinaldo (Fermo) now offers the possibility of analysing this phenomenon, already known in other areas of the peninsula, as well as elsewhere in ancient Picenum.
The new excavations and the study of the architectural decorations have made it possible to reconstruct the architectural development of a temple that dominated a porticoed square open towards the Aso valley. The sanctuary, built in two phases in the 2nd century B.C., was later abandoned and replaced by a rural settlement in the Augustan period that probably gravitated to the Roman municipalities of Cupra and Novana.