Casinum

Casinum was an ancient Oscan town later absorbed into Rome, probably gaining citizenship in 188 BC. By the late Republic it was a praefectura, and under the Empire a colony. Strabo calls it the last city of the Latins, and Varro praises its olive oil. The original Volscian settlement stood on the mountain summit, where massive Cyclopean walls still survive.

That summit is now occupied by the monastery of Monte Cassino, founded by St. Benedict in 529, which preserves many inscriptions from Casinum. The Roman town lay below on the Via Latina. Its amphitheatre, built by Ummidia Quadratilla, still stands, along with a hillside theatre and a travertine cross-shaped chamber (later the Cappella del Crocefisso). Across the Rapido River are ruins traditionally linked to Varro’s villa.

The medieval town of San Germano—renamed Cassino in 1871—grew nearby and preserves a cathedral of early medieval origin and a hilltop castle.

Address
Via Gaetano di Biasio 228, Cassino, Italy

Established
2nd century BCE