Area archeologica di Attidium

Fabriano

The Attidium site is located just a few kilometers from Fabriano, in the present hamlet of Attiggio, on the slopes of Monte Fano, in the little valley of the Attiggio stream. Its location in a mid-hilly environment and its proximity to the Apennine pass provided adequate control of the territory and the viability which encouraged early human activity on this site: the first signs of a settlement date back to the early Neolithic. This area was also inhabited during the Chalcolithic Age, thus the ceramics found for the preparation of foods. Among the most important phases of the site is certainly that referring to the 5th century BC, when there was an important Picene settlement; during this period, the territories were populated not only by Picenes but also by Celtic peoples and most likely the Umbrians. Probably already frequented by the Romans, the area of Attidium passed under Roman control after the Battle of Nations, fought in 295 BC in Sentinum, which victory guaranteed Rome the colonization of the Middle Adriatic region, and after the Lex Flaminia of 232 BC under which these territories were distributed to army veterans. However, Attidium must have maintained relative political autonomy until 90 BC when it became a municipium. The city had its greatest development between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, while from the 5th c. AD there began a gradual abandonment of the site as a result of repeated barbarian invasions. The first excavations of Attidium, undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century, brought to light some of the ruined pavements that relate to an orthogonal urban pathway and an interior portico environment, probably related to a public building. During the excavation campaigns of 1989 and 1993, a small bath facility was discovered, probably related to a private complex, which is articulated in several rooms, some with mosaic flooring. These remains are now visible in the archaeological area of Attidium, while some archaeological finds, including many epigraphs, are preserved in the atrium of Palazzo Chiavelli in Fabriano.