Norba

Norba is an ancient settlement of Latium Adiectum located close to the modern town of Norma, Italy, in the Monti Lepini, also known as the Volscian Mountains. The ancient site occupies an impressive natural promontory that rises to over 1,500 feet above sea level and affords great visibility. Already a member of the Latin Leagues from 499 B.C., the site became a Latin colonia in 492 B.C., according to the historian Livy. The end of the ancient site came in 82 B.C. during the Sullan crisis when the city was laid waste by means of fire after having taken sides against Sulla. It would seem that the ruined city was not subsequently re-occupied in antiquity. The archaeological excavation of the site began in the early twentieth century with the work of L. Savignoni and R. Mengarelli (1901) (see reports in Notizie degli Scavi 1901 and 1904). Important aerial documentation of the site was carried out by Giulio Schmiedt for the Atlante aereofotografico delle sedi umane in Italia. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the site has been further excavated, with extensive work on areas adjacent to the forum and private domus in the vicinity of the minor acropolis. These excavations have been directed by Stefania Quilici-Gigli of the University of Naples. The site is an important urban center for the study of colonial sites in the Republican period, particularly the middle republic. Among the most notable archaeological remains visible at the site are those of the polygonal masonry fortification walls that enclose an area of more than 38 hectares.