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Aquinum

Aquino
Comune
Comune di Aquino
Church of Santa Maria della Libera.
Church of Santa Maria della Libera.
Coat of arms of Aquino
Coat of arms
Aquino is located in Italy
Aquino
Aquino
Location of Aquino in Italy
Coordinates: 41°30′N 13°42′E / 41.500°N 13.700°E / 41.500; 13.700Coordinates: 41°30′N 13°42′E / 41.500°N 13.700°E / 41.500; 13.700
Country Italy
Region Lazio
Province / Metropolitan city Frosinone (FR)
Government
 • Mayor Antonino Grincia
Area
 • Total 19 km2 (7 sq mi)
Elevation 106 m (348 ft)
Population (1 December 2009)
 • Total 5,369
 • Density 280/km2 (730/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Aquinati
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 03031
Dialing code 0776
Patron saint Saints Thomas Aquinas and Constantius of Aquino
Saint day March 7 and September 1
Website Official website

Aquino is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of Italy, 12 kilometres (7 mi) northwest of Cassino.

The town was founded in the 4th century BC by the Volsci, who successfully defended it against Samnite invasions, before the Roman conquest. Ancient Aquinum was a municipium in the time of Cicero, and made a colony by the Triumviri. It was crossed by the Via Latina.

Aquinum is thought to be the birthplace of the poet Juvenal, and Emperor Pescennius Niger was also born there.

The earliest, recorded Catholic Bishop of Aquino was Bishop Giovino in 593 AD.

The patron saint of Aquino is St. Constantius of Aquino (San Costanzo).St. Thomas Aquinas, OP, or "Thomas of Aquino", was born in 1225 in the castle of Roccasecca, 8 kilometres (5 mi) north of Aquino, to a collateral branch of the family of the Counts of Aquino, whose primary seat was Aquino.

One of the gates through which the Via Latina passed, now called Porta San Lorenzo, is still well preserved, and there are remains within the walls (portions of which, built of large blocks of limestone, still remain) of two (so called) temples, a basilica and an amphitheatre.

Outside, on the south is a well-preserved 1st century BC triumphal arch with composite capitals, known as Arco di Marcantonio, and close to it the basilica of Santa Maria Libera, a 9th-century building in the Romanesque style erected over the remains of an ancient temple of Hercules Liberator, now roofless. Several Roman inscriptions are built into it, and many others that have been found indicate the ancient importance of the place, which, though it does not appear in early history, is vouched for by Cicero and Strabo.


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