TEANUM SIDICINUM
(Teano) Italy.
An
ancient city in N Campania of about the same size as
the present town. Although there have been discovered
in the area tombs of the 7th c. B.C., we have for the
first time in the period of the Samnite wars our first
evidence of the Sidicini. In the Hellenistic period, to
judge from literary notices, archaeological data, and
coinage, which began toward the end of the 4th c.,
Teanum was one of the most important centers of central Campania. In fact, it was the most outstanding site on the Via Latina. The settlement was reduced to the area of the citadel in the high Middle Ages.
A sanctuary complex in the area of Loreto on the
banks of the Savone (Safo) has yielded architectural
and votive terracottas of the last ten years of the 6th c.
and much votive material of the 5th and 4th c. After
the establishment of the city, which apparently occurred
in the last third of the 4th c. to judge from archaeological finds, the sanctuary was significantly enlarged and
equipped with a terrace; gradually buildings rose in the
area until the period of Sulla. Among the most interesting structures thus far uncovered are four temples
with podia of the 3d c. and first half of the 2d c.
The monumental works of the late 2d c. were enlarged
in the Sullan period. Some small molded temples of the
3d c. and 2d c. are of particular interest among the
votive offerings and a sculpture group from the Augustan age.
The citadel was adapted very skillfully to the city
plan. Various traces of the isodomic fortification works
on the citadel are preserved. In the Late Hellenistic
period, an apparent expansion to the S and E made
Teanum one of the largest cities in Campania.
Among the structures partially explored are a bath
complex of the Sullan period, rebuilt again and again
until the Late Empire, and a sanctuary complex which
embraced the theater. The theater, begun in the last ten
years of the 2d c. B.C., had its models in Caria and
strong analogies at Pietrabbondante. Supported by massive, vaulted substructures, it may be the oldest theater
built entirely of masonry. The stage building dates to
a partial restoration of the Sullan period and its very
ornate marble architecture has largely survived, even
though in a state of collapse. To the S of the city on the
Via Latina are the remains of the late Republican amphitheater with its more recent restorations.
Farther downstream, on the right of the Savone, is a
large Hellenistic necropolis in which were discovered
tombs, some partially chambered, some with decorative
paintings. A Roman monumental necropolis extends N
along the Via Latina.
In the area many remains have been noted of country
villas and of a would-be urban villa of the 3d c. A.D.
near the source of the Santella. On the hillside of Santa
Giulianeta, S of Teano, are the remains of a temple
of the Sullan period and in the valley of Assano are
mines that had been worked out even in antiquity.
Everything leads to the conjecture that Rufrae, near the
modern Presenzano, was part of the territory of Teanum. Rufrae appears to have been an autonomous center during the Samnite wars and in the late Republican period was reduced to a pagus.
A type of black glaze ware is attributed to Teanum.
Of the first Hellenistic period, this ware is covered with
decorations and occasionally incised and painted over
with forms that derive, in part, from Attic models.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Th. Mommsen in
CIL X, p. 471f; E.
Gabrici, “Necropoli di età Ellenistica a Teano,”
Mon.
ant. Lincei 20 (1910) pp. 5ff; H. Philipp in
RE v A1,
col. 97f; W. Johannowsky, “Relazione Preliminare sugli
scavi de Teano,”
BdA 48 (1963) 131-65.
W. JOHANNOWSKY
