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Trebula Mutuesca Archaeological Site: Trajan's Amphitheatre and the Sanctuary of Feronia
The archaeological area of Trebula Mutuesca is located near Monteleone Sabino, 60 kilometres from Rome on the lower slopes of the Sabine Hills. It is one of the most significant pre-Roman sites in ancient Sabinum: a settlement already known for its cults of the goddesses Feronia, Angitia, and Vacuna. Virgil cites the area in the Aeneid for its olive groves. That agricultural tradition survives to this day in the nearby hamlet of Oliveto Sabino.
From Sabine Origins to a Roman Municipality
The settlement entered Rome's sphere of influence in 290 BC, during the campaign of Manius Curius Dentatus. In 146 BC, Lucius Mummius — the consul who had destroyed Corinth — sent three votive dedications to Trebula, which showed it already held a certain standing. Two inscribed statue bases bearing his name are still preserved. In the Augustan period, Trebula was elevated to the status of municipium, with the construction of a forum, baths, cisterns, and an advanced drainage system. In the 2nd century AD, the Bruttii Praesentes family funded new public buildings.
The Amphitheatre Rebuilt by Trajan
The most impressive structure is the amphitheatre, elliptical in shape, measuring 94 by 66 metres, and partly cut into the bedrock. Two large inscriptions in Luni marble, dated AD 115, attest to the rebuilding ordered by Emperor Trajan. Beneath the arena runs a subterranean vaulted gallery, once connected to the forum by an underground passage.
What to See Today
The archaeological area can be visited, together with the Civic Museum, which displays votive terracotta heads, fragments of bronze statues, and the monumental Trajanic inscription.
