FORMIA (anc. Formiae, called Mola di Gaeta until recent times)

This article appears in Volume V10, Page 668 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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FORMIA (anc. Formiae, called Mola di Gaeta until recent times) , a town of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, from which it is 48 M. W.N.W. by rail. Pop. (1901) 5514 (town); 8452 (commune). It is situated at the N.W. extremity of the Bay of

Gaeta

GAETA (anc. Caietae Portus)

, and commands beautiful views. It lay on the ancient Via Appia, and was much frequented as a resort by wealthy Romans. There was considerable imperial property here and along the

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

as far as Sperlonga, and there are numerous remains of ancient villas along the

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

and on the slopes above it. The so-called villa of Cicero contains two well-preserved nymphaea with Doric architecture.. Its site is now occupied by the villa Caposele, once a summer residence of the kings of Naples. There are many other modern villas, and the sheltered hillsides (for the mountains rise abruptly behind the town:) are covered with lemon, orange and pomegranate gardens. The now deserted promontory of the Monte Scauri to the E. isalso covered with remains of ancient villas; the hill is crowned by a large tomb, known as Torre Giano. To the E. at Scauri is a large villa with substructions in " Cyclopean "

work

WORK

. The ancient Formiae was, according to the legend, the

home

of the Laestrygones, and later a Spartan colony ('Op d u&a ro ebopov, Strabo v. 3, 6, p.233). It was a Volscian town, and, like Fundi, received the civitas sine suffrag'io from Rome in 338 (or 332 B.C.) because the passage through its territory had always been secure. This was strategically important for the Romans, as the military road definitely constructed by Appius

Claudius

CLAUDIUS
CLAUDIUS [TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS DRUSUS NERO GERMANICUS]
CLAUDIUS, MARCUS AURELIUS
CLAUDIUS,
MATTHIAS
- MATTHIAS
- MATTHIAS (1557-1619)
(174o-1815)

in 312 B.C., still easily traceable by its remains, and in part followed by the high-road, traversed a narrow pass, which could easily be blocked, between Fundi and Formiae. In 188 m d., with Fundi, it received the full citizenship, and, like. it, was' to a certain extent under the

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of a praefectus sent from Rome, though it retained its three aediles. Mamurra was a native of

Formia

FORMIA (anc. Formiae, called Mola di
Gaeta
- GAETA (anc. Caietae Portus)
until recent times)

. Cicero possessed a favourite villa here, and was murdered in its vicinity in 43 n.c., but neither the villa nor the tomb can be identified with any certainty. It was devastated by Sextus Pompeius, and became a colony, with duoviri as

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

magistrates, under Hadrian. Portus Caietae (the modern Gaeta) was dependent upon it.
See T.

Ashby

ASHBY, TURNER (1824-1862)

, " Dessins inedits de Carlo Labruzzi," in Melanges de l'ecole francaise. de Rome (1903), 410 seq. (T. As.)

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