Charts and Maps

Course ALPHA

41° 25' 60'' N 12° 37' 00'' E

Course BRAVO

41° 24' 80'' N 12° 39' 40'' E

Course CHARLIE

41° 26' 30'' N 12° 39' 80'' E

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• Although archaeological discoveries give evidence of human presence going back as far as the stone age, historical sources have established that the foundation of the actual town named Annum dates back to the beginning of the first millennium BC, during the latium civilisation. Couched against the promontory which breaks the straightness of the latium coast to the south of Rome, from the mouth of the Tiber to Mount Circea, Anzio owes its origin and its extraordinary development to its favourable position. Latin Antium, was a flourishing commercial centre, the source of its wealth being in its harbour called ‘Caenon’ from which pirate raids were launched to pillage ships all over the Mediterranean Sea. The city was occupied by the Volsci around 490 BC and became a fierce adversary of Rome.

• Along with other Volscian towns, Antium entered into a long period of belligerence, characterised by numerous episodes, the most well-known being the one concerning the patrician Coriolanus who, exiled to Antium, became commander of the Volscian troops and dared to threaten Rome. The long war that ensued finally ended in 338 BC with the destruction of Antium by the legions under the command of the Consul Marcus Furius Camillus. As a sign of victory, the Romans wrenched the rostra from the Antium ships and used them to decorate the tribune of the Roman Forum in which they held their meetings, thereinafter called the ‘Tribune of the Rostra’.

• A Roman colony from 338 BC, Antium supported Cornelius Silla during the civil war and for this reason it was once again destroyed, this time by Caius Marius in 387 BC. Towards the end of the Republican Era, Antium enjoyed a period of great splendour and became the favourite holiday resort of the rich Roman patricians; temples, circuses and mansions adorned the city, and the most important figures of the period – Marcus Tullius Cicero, Maecenas, Caius Lucrezius and Caius Augustus – built their villas along the coastline.

• During the Imperial Age all of the Emperors spent some time in Anzio. Here Augustus was proclaimed Father of the Homeland Caligula wanted to make it the Capital of the Empire, Hadrian described it as one of the most beautiful parts of Italy, but it was Anzio born Nero, who built the harbour (a splendid example of Roman maritime engineering) and who adorned the royal palace at Anzio and the entire city with marble and famous statues which can be admired today in the most important museums of the world – the Maid of Anzio (Fanciulla d’Anzio – National Museum, Rome) the Borghese Gladiator (La Louvre) the Apollo Belvedere (Vatican Museums).

• With the fall of the Roman Empire, Anzio which fell victim to the invasions and plundering first of the Barbarians and then of the Saracens, was abandoned by the population which moved to and founded the nearby city of Nettuno. In 1700 Pope Innocent XII financed the building of a new harbour at Anzio which still bears his name and a number of Cardinals too built their splendid residences here. In one of these, Villa Albani, Pope Pius IX used to spend his summers.

• In the early years of the 20^th century, with the spread of Liberty Style architecture, Anzio became one of the most renowned holiday resorts in Italy, being graced by a number of elegant and majestic buildings, on 22 January, 1944 the Anglo-American troops landed on the shores of Anzio to begin what was to become one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Second World War and which culminated with the liberation of Rome.

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Photos

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