NOMENTUM AND ITS TERRITORY

Mentana, the Ancient Nomentum, has a millenarian history beginning from the VIII-VII century b.C. and includes the Garibaldi’s campaign on November 3rd 1867, day of the famous “Mentana’s battle”.

City of Latin, in 338 b.C became part of Roman State and received the title of “Civitas Optimo Iure”, becoming a city hall run by a dictator.

All over the Roman Era, Nomentum is the only urban reality in a very large territory that should have extended to East to the border with the Ager Tiburtinus, to West to the course of Tiber and to Nord to the border of Eretum. Today, this territory includes the municipalities of Mentana, Monterotondo and Fonte Nuova.

The Ager Nomentum, under the jurisdiction of Nomentum, had a strong agricultural and productive vocation: the dominant element of this land was the Villa Rustica, a farm, often equipped with residential environments and thermal centres.

During the Imperial Era, most of the hills of Nomentan lands had to host a villa; today, the presence of Villa Rusticae remains stored in the ground is testified by monumental tanks for water collection, such as the so-called “Torretta” in Cinque Pini Park.

The causes of the development of these settled forms are many: in addition to the new availability of the slave labour as a result of the eastern wars conquest, the territory’s fertility was decisive, which has always been known, according to Plinio, Marziale and Columella, for its production of wine, oil, fruits and vegetables destinded to the Roman Market and favoured by the abundance of water. The presence of Tiber and clay banks also allowed the development of another production, the laterizi, a vocation which came to our days and left traces on the toponomastic ( Via delle Fornaci, “Fornacione”).

The new territory organisation found its structural basis in the road organisation: several main roads, such as the Nomentana and Salaria route with their capillary network of diverticula, and not least the Tiber that allowed a rapid and easy access to Rome through its navigability.

The spread of Christianity was very early: Nomentan diocese is one of