Anagni

Anagni (Italian pronunciation: [aˈnaɲɲi]) is an ancient town and comune in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic centre of the Latin Valley.

Anagni still maintains the appearance of a small medieval hill town (424 m above sea level), with small twisting streets and steep lanes. It is built inside Roman boundary walls.

The first human settlements date back to more than 700,000 years, according to the dating of some Palaeolithic hand-made fragments recently recovered. Several objects made of bone and flint stone and also two human molars and incisors belonging to fossil Homo erectus have been found in Fontana Ranuccio.

The first people known by name who lived in the area were the Hernici who migrated from the Aniene valley and descended from the Marsi (Marsians) (or from the Sabines), at least according to the ethnical term deriving from the Marsian herna ("stone"),^{[citation needed]} that is: "Those who live on the stony hills". Only two words remain of their language: Samentum, a strip of sacrificial skin, and Bututti, a sort of funeral lament.

Anagni was an important city and spiritual centre of the Hernici. The town was located on the acropolis (the north-east zone comprising the Cathedral, Tufoli gate, and Piazza Dante) and partially defended by walls in opus quasi-quadratum (almost squared work).

Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed cultural and economic relationships between the Hernici and the Etruscans around the 7th century BC.^{[citation needed]}

In 307 BC, the Hernici, with the exception of Aletrium (Alatri), Verulae (Veroli), and Ferentinum (Ferentino) declared war on Rome. After suffering setbacks the Hernici offered unconditional surrender. In 306 BC the towns which had not joined the war remained independent, while “Anagnia and such others as had borne arms against the Romans were admitted to citizenship without the right to vote. They were prohibited from holding councils and from intermarrying, and were allowed no magistrates save those who had charge of religious rites.” Anagni preserved her religious autonomy and strategic importance.

Under Roman domination the town expanded and the so-called Servian walls were modified at the beginning of the 3rd century BC.^{[citation needed]}