{"id":11809,"date":"2024-08-21T12:31:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T19:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/?p=11809"},"modified":"2024-08-21T22:28:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T05:28:22","slug":"luna-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/21\/luna-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Luna, Etruria – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Forum<\/a>
Forum area of Luna with the Apuani in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Recent Visit:<\/strong> July 2024<\/p>\n

The Roman city of Luna was founded in 177 BCE by the triumviri coloniae deducendae<\/em> of Publius Aeilus  Tubero, Gnaeus Sicinius, and Marcus Aemilus Lepidus. The latter of these, not to be confused with the famous triumvir<\/em> of the 1st<\/sup> century BCE with Octavian and Marcus Antonius, was responsible for the construction of the Via Aemilia, which was named after him. The colony consisted of 2,000 Roman citizens and doesn\u2019t seem to have been supplanted on an existing settlement. Even in antiquity there was some debate as to whether the area was Ligurian or Etruscan, though it seems to have originally been Etruscan land, later taken by the Ligurians, who held it at the time the Romans arrived to establish the colony. The river on which the city was constructed, the Macra (modern Magra River), effectively formed the later boundary between the Roman delineated regions of Liguria and Etruria. The city was founded (along with others) as a means of establishing a Roman presence in ongoing campaigns against the Ligures, who were not effectively pacified until more than 50 years later.<\/p>\n

\"Bust<\/a>
Bust of Marcus Aemlius Lepidus from near the capitolium. Dated to the 1st century CE. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Luna.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through the remainder of the 2nd<\/sup> century and into the 1st<\/sup> century BCE, Luna seems to have remained relatively small and inconsequential. According to the late Roman writer Julius Osequens, a devastating plague hit the city in 142 BCE. In the Pharsalia<\/em>, Lucan describes Luna as being desolate in the middle of the 1st<\/sup> century BCE. About 42 BCE (alternatively also cited as sometime after the Battle of Actium), Octavian sent a colony of veterans to Luna, perhaps partially in attempt to reverse the decline. During the time of Augustus, however, Luna saw a boon with the exploitation of the fine white marble in the nearby Apuani mountains, which would be named Luna after the city (today quarried as Carrara Marble). The marble was used extensively in Augustan refurbishment projects in Rome and the close proximity of the port of Luna allowed for easy transportation. The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, for instance, dating to 18-12 BCE was faced in Luna Marble. By 27 CE, however, ownership of the marble quarries seems to have shifted from that of the city to the imperial family.<\/p>\n

\"Decumanus<\/a>
Decumanus maximus and northern area of the forum of Luna.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other than the marble, Luna is noted by Pliny the Elder as having the best wine in Etruria. Both Pliny and Martial mention the city being famous for its massive cheeses, which Pliny says could way a thousand pounds and Martial claims could feed a thousand slaves. Other than these mentions, however, the city is largely absent from the historical record. It seems to have once again gone into decline in the 4th<\/sup> century CE. It became the seat of a bishop in the 5th<\/sup> century CE, but around the same time, the quarries were largely abandoned. It was subsequently captured by the Goths in the middle of the 6th<\/sup> century CE.<\/p>\n