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The Archaeological Park of Ancient Norba: the Republican Pompeii of the Lepini Mountains
The Parco Archeologico dell'Antica Norba lies a few minutes from the village of Norma, in the Lepini Mountains. It is a city frozen in time: 81 BC to be precise, the year of its destruction. The polygonal walls — mortar-free limestone blocks, fitted dry — are preserved for over 2.5 kilometres, and reach a height of 12 metres. They rank among the most impressive ancient walls in the whole of Italy.
A Dramatic End
Norba was founded at the beginning of the 5th century BC as a Roman stronghold against the Volsci. During the civil war between Marius and Sulla, the city chose the wrong side. In 81 BC, Sulla's troops took the settlement by treachery. The historian Appian recounts that rather than surrender, the inhabitants killed one another, and set fire to their houses. The conflagration was so fierce that the victors obtained no plunder whatsoever. Since then, no one has ever built there again.
What Can Be Seen Today
One enters through the Porta Maggiore, which is defended by a semicircular bastion eight metres high. Inside, we can see intact paved streets, monumental baths with an oval cistern for water storage, two acropolises with temple podiums. The shrine of Juno Lucina, associated with the cult of childbirth, looks over the Pontine Plain, and all the way to the sea. Today, paragliders take off From its terraces: one of the most spectacular launch sites in Europe.
