FLORENTIA
(Firenze) Tuscany, Italy.
A
Roman colony, established probably about the middle of
the 1st c. B.C., following the devastation of the area in
the Catilinarian conspiracy and its aftermath, and reinforced by a new draft of colonists under the first triumvirate (
Lib.Colon. 1.213). It stood on the N bank of the
Arno near its junction with the Mugnone, a site already
long inhabited, guarding a river crossing and destined to
become an important road center. The colony was inscribed in the tribus Scaptia, and the town was given a
castrum plan (ca. 480 x 420 overall) with brick-faced
fortifications that employ round towers. The city throve,
showing special prosperity and growth under Hadrian,
and early became a bishopric; it seems never to have
ceased to be inhabited.
The most interesting remains of the ancient city discovered to date are the marble-paved forum with an
imposing triple-cella capitolium dominating its length.
There have also been found remains of a Temple of Isis,
two bath complexes, a theater and amphitheater, and two
Early Christian basilicas, as well as numerous dwellings
and tombs. Little that is ancient is visible in situ today,
but the archaeological record has been scrupulously kept
and the finds housed in the Museo Archeologico.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. K. Lake in
MAAR 12 (1935) 93-98;
G. Maetzke,
Florentia (
Italia Romana: Municipi e Colonie 1.5) (1941)
MP; id. in
NSc (1948) 60-99.
L. RICHARDSON, JR.
