Editing Alatri (section)

==History==
The area of the modern city was settled as early as the 2nd millennium BC.

''Aletrium'' was a town of the [[Hernici]]<ref name="Chisholm, Hugh 1911"/> which, together with [[Veroli]], [[Anagni]] and [[Ferentino]], formed a defensive league against the [[Volsci]] and the [[Samnites]] around 550 BC. In 530 they allied with [[Tarquinius Superbus]]' Rome, confirming the Etruscan influence in the area attested also by archaeology.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} Alatri was defeated by Rome in 306 BC and forced to accept the citizenship. In [[Cicero]]'s time it was a ''[[municipium]],''<ref>Pais, Ettore, ''Storia della colonizzazione di Roma antica'', Roma, 1923</ref> and continued in this position throughout the imperial period.{{sfn|Ashby|1911}}

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the city decayed, the only respected authority being represented by the Christian bishop. During the reign of [[Theodoric the Great]] (5th century AD) the patrician [[Liberius (praetorian prefect)|Liberius]] promoted the construction of a monastic community, one of the most ancient in the West, where in 528 [[St. Benedict]] sojourned briefly. In 543, during the [[Gothic Wars (6th century)|Gothic Wars]], Alatri was sacked and destroyed by [[Totila]]'s troops.

[[File:Porta Maggiore Alatri.jpg|thumb|left|The Porta Maggiore.]]
[[File:Villa Giulia ricostruzione del tempio etrusco 01.JPG|thumb|left|Reconstruction of Etruscan-style temple of Alatri in [[National Etruscan Museum]], [[Rome]].]]
In the 12th century the city became an important stronghold of the popes when they were obliged to leave the then unsafe Rome. In the following century it became a free commune, although under the authority of the bishops and the pope, governed by [[consul]]s until 1241, when a ''[[podestà]]'' was introduced. In the following centuries it flourished economically and expanded, conquering [[Collepardo]], [[Guarcino]], [[Trivigliano]], [[Vico nel Lazio|Vico]] and [[Frosinone]], though often hampered by inner strife. In the 15th century Alatri started to lose its freedom, due to the involvement of [[Ladislaus of Naples]] and [[Pope Martin V]]. After the short seigniory of [[Filippo Maria Visconti]] in 1434, the city had to accept papal [[suzerainty]].

Struggles with the neighbouring communes continued, and in 1556 it was occupied by Spanish soldiers. During the [[Roman Republic (1798)|Roman Republic]], it remained loyal to the pope. During the Napoleonic occupation (1809–1814) numerous members of the papal administration, as well as bishop Giuseppe della Casa, were deported to France. It became part of [[unification of Italy|Italy]] in 1870.

During [[World War II]] it suffered heavy destruction and human victims.