The archaeological area of the ancient city of Gabii is situated about twenty kilometres fromRome, at the XII mile of the original Roman route, via Prenestina, also known as the via Gabina on the initial stretch. Gabii is located on the southern edge of the Castiglione crater, up until the XIX century the site of a volcanic lake called “lacusBuranus or SanctaePraxedis” also known as Lake Castiglione.
The city of Gabii existed well before the founding of Rome. Along with other regional centres such as Tibur (now Tivoli) and Praeneste (now Palestrina), it was one of the cities controlling the lower valley of the Aniene River and access to the valleys of the Rivers Sacco and Liri, and dominating the region of Latium Vetus. The settlement was founded in the IX century BC and legend tells us that just before the founding of Rome, the mythical twins Romulus and Remus learnt how to read and write in Gabii.
Later Gabii became a colony of Alba Longa and finally under Roman control after the famous battle of Lake Regillus (496 BC).
After Roman conquest, Gabii experienced a brief period of splendour, but at the beginning of Imperial times went into decline and never rose again. Despite a short lived recovery in the age of Hadrian the city again fell into decline, despite being head of a diocese at the end of the Empire.
After the destruction wrought by the Goths and Longobards in the VIII century the bishop’s seat was transferred to Tusculum.
In Gabii today there is little left of the flourishing city from Republican times. The temple of Juno is the most obvious monument while other remains in the Forum, Acropolis and Theatre have been excavated and put back in place. The dark colour of the Temple of Juno and other vestiges comes from the local stone – tufo (also known as pietra Gabina or pietra sperone), also widely used in the building of Rome itself.
This type of tufo was considered fireproof and in fact a powerful wall built in this stone is still visible in the Forum of Augustus in Rome (to the right of the Temple of Mars Ultor) erected to protect the sacred area from fires in the Suburra district. It is correctly believed that the high quality of this material actually brought about the almost total disappearance of ancient Gabii, which became a quarry for precious building materials. Not far from the city is the Ponte dell’Osa site, where in the seventies a huge very early Latium necropolis was discovered (IX-VI BC). This is
linked to the earliest phase of the city’s existence (the finds can be viewed in the Protohistory Section of the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian and the Pigorini Museum, both in Rome).
