LANUVimi. particularly mentioned, both among those that fought at Pedum in b. c. 339, and tlie next 3'ear at Ast«ra (Liv. viii. 12, 13).* In the general settlement of affairs at the close of the war La- nuvium obtained the Roman civitas, but apparently in the first instance without the right of suffrage; for Festus, in a well-known passage, enumerates the Lanuvini among the communities who at one time enjoyed all the other privileges of Roman citi- zens except the sufl'rage and the Jus IIagis- tratuum (Liv. viii. 14 ; Festus, v. MunicipiuTn), a statement which can only refer to this period. y^'e. know from Cicero that they subsequently ob- tained the full franchise and right of suffrage, but the time when they were admitted to these privileges is unknown. (Q,c. pro Balb. 13.) From this time Lanuvium lapsed into the con- dition of an ordinary municipal town, and is men- tioned chiefly in relation to its celebrated temple of Juno Sospita. It did not, however, fall into decay, like so many of the early Latin cities, and is men- tioned by Cicero among the more populous and flourishing municipia of Latium, in the same class with Aricia and Tusculum, which he contrasts with such poor and decayed places as Labicum and Col- latia (Cic. de Leg. Agr. ii. 35). Its chief magi- strate retained the ancient Latin title of Dictator, which was borne by T. Annius Milo, the celebrated adversary of Clodius, in the days of Cicero. (Cic. 7»-o Mil. 10; Orel]. Inscr. 3786.) Previous to this period Lanuvium had suffered .severely in the civil wars of Marius and Sulla, having been taken by the former at the same time with Antium and Aricia, just before the capture of Ri.me itself, 15. c. 87. (Appian, B. C. i. 69 ; Liv. Epit. 80.) Nor did it escape in the later civil wars : the treasures of its temple were seized by Octavian, and a part at least of its territory was divided among a colony of veterans by the dictator Caesar. (Appian, B. C. v. 24; Lib. Colon, p. 235.) It subsequently received another colony, and a part of its territoiy was at one time allotted to the vestal virgins at Rome. {Ibid.) Lanuvium, however, never bore the title of a colony, but continued only to rank as a municipium, though it seems to have been a flourishing place throughout the period of the Roman Empire. It was the birthplace of the emperor Antoninus Pius, who in consequence frequently made it his residence, as did also his successors, M. Aurelius and Commodus : the last of these three is mentioned as having frequently dis- ])layed his skill as a gladiator in the amphitheatre at Lanuvium, the construction of which may pro- balily be referred to this epoch. Inscriptions attest its continued prosperity under the reigns of Alex- ander Severus and Philippus. (Suet. Aiig. 72 ; Tac. Ann. iii. 48; Capit. Ant. Piiis, 1; Lamprid. Commod. 1, 8; Vict, de Cues. 15; Orell. Inscr. 884, 3740, &c.) Lanuvium was the place from which several illus- trious Roman families derived their origin. Among these were the Annia, to which Iililo, the adversary LAXLTIUM. 121
- In the Fasti Capitolini (ad ann. cdxv.; Gruter,
p. 297) the consul C. Maenius is represented as celebrating a triumph over the Lavinians, together with the Antiates and Veliterai, where it appears certain from Livy's narrative that the Lanuvians are the people really meant : a remarkable instance at how early a period the confusion between the two names had arisen. of Clodius, belonged by adoption, as well as the Papia, from which he was originally descended; the Roscia, and the Thoria (Cic. pro Mil. 10; Ascon. ad Milan, pp. 32, 53; Cic. de Divin. i. 36, ii. 31, de Fin. ii. 20), to which may probably be added, on the authority of coins, the Procilia and Mettia. (Eckhel, vol. v. pp. 253, 267, 289, 293.) We learn from Cicero that not only did the Roscia Gen.s derive its origin from Lanuvium, but the celebrated actor Roscius was himself born in the territory of that city. (Cic. de Div. i. 36.) But the chief celebrity of Lanuvium was derived from its temple of Juno Sospita, which enjoyed a peculiar sanctity, so that after the Latin War in B. c. 338 it was stipulated that the Romans should enjoy free participation with the Lanuvians them- selves in her worship and sacred rites (Liv. viii. 14) : and although at a later period a temjile was erected at Rome itself to the goddess under Uie same de- nomination, the consuls still continued to repair annually to Lanuvium for the purpose of offering solemn sacrifices. (Liv. xxxii. 30, xxxiv. 53 ; Cic. pi'o Muren. 41.) The peculiar garb and attributes of the Lanuvian Juno are described by Cicero (de Nat. Dear. i. 29), and attested by the evidence of numerous Roman coins: she was always represented with a goat's skin, dravni over her head like a helmet, with a spear in her hand, and a small shield on the left ann, and wore peculiar shoes with the points turned up (calceoli repandi). On coins we find her also constantly associated with a serpent; and we learn from Propertius and Aelian that there was a kind of oracle in the sacred grove attached to her temple, where a serpent was fed with fruits and cakes by virgins, whose chastity was considered to be thus put to the test. (Propert. iv. 8 ; Aelian, II. A. xi. 16, where the true reading is undoubtedly Aavovicf!, and not Aaovtvlqi ; Eckhel, vol. v. p. 294.) The frequent notices in l.ivj and elsewhere of prodigies occurring in the temple and sacred grove of Juno at Lanuvium, as well as the allusions to her worship at that place scattered through the Roman poets, sufficiently show how important a part the latter had assumed in the Roman religion. (Liv. xxiv. 10, xxix. 14, xxxi. 12, xl. 19 ; Cic. de Divin. i. 44, ii. 27 ; Ovid. Fast. vi. 60 ; Sil. Ital. xiii. 364.) AVe learn from Appian that a large treasure had gradually accumulated in her temple, as was the case with most celebrated sanctuaries; and Pliny mentions that it was adorned with very ancient, but excellent, paintings of Helen and Ata- lanta, which the emperor Caligula in vain attempted to remove. (Plin. xxxv. 3. s. 6.) It appears from a passage in Cicero (de Fin. ii. 20) that Juno was far from being the only deity especially worshipped at Lanuvium, but that the city was noted as abound- ing in ancient temples and religious rites, and was probably one of the chief seats of the old Latin re- ligion. A temple of Jupiter adjoining the forum is the only one of which we find any special men- tion. (Liv. xxxii. 9.) Though there is no doubt that Civita Lavinia occupies the original site of Lanuvium, the position of which is well described by Strabo and Silius Italicus (Strab. v. p. 239 ; Sil. Ital. viii. 360), and we know from inscriptions that the ancient city con- tinued in a flourishing condition down to a late period of the Roman empire, it is curious that scarcely any ruins now remain. A few shapeless masses of masonry, princip.'.lly substructions artl foundations, of which those that crown the summit
