Editing Formia (section)

==History==
[[File:The so-called Tomb of Cicero, Formia (14358511388).jpg|thumb|150px|The so-called Tomb of Cicero]]
[[File:Cisternone romano (Formia).png|thumb|150px|Cistern "Cisternone romano"]]
[[File:Cistern "Grotta della Janara".png|thumb|Cistern "Grotta della Janara"]]
[[File:Frammento di affresco con decorazone di giardino, da piazza mattei a formia, I secolo dc ca. 02 uccello.jpg|thumb|Fresco from Piazza Mattei, 1st c. AD]]
[[File:Nereid from Formiae.png|thumb|Nereid from a villa in Formiae]]
[[File:Theatre Formiae.png|thumb|Theatre entrance]]
[[File:FormiaCastelloneTorre.jpg|thumb|150px|The octagonal tower of ''Castellone''.]]
[[File:Formia - Il torrione del Castello di Mola.JPG|thumb|The tower of Mola Castle.]]

Formiae was founded by the [[Italic peoples|Italic population]] of the [[Aurunci]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Formia e la sua storia Formiae - ideato e sviluppato da WebProgens Ass. Culturale|url=https://www.formiae.it/formia-e-la-sua-storia/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Formiae|language=it-IT}}</ref> It was called ''Formiae'' (derived from ''Hormia'' or ''Ormiai'', after its excellent landing) by ancient authors.

It appeared for the first time in history in 338 BC when, after the [[Latin Wars]], it received the Roman status of [[Civitas sine suffragio]] as it remained neutral, together with the city of [[Fondi]].<ref>Livy 8.14.10</ref> Throughout antiquity the city of [[Gaeta|Caieta]] was also part of the Formian territory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=La Città di Formia – Sinus Formianus|url=https://www.sinusformianus.it/la-citta-di-formia/|access-date=2022-02-16|language=it-IT|archive-date=2022-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216185938/https://www.sinusformianus.it/la-citta-di-formia/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

It became a renowned resort during the Republican era for rich Romans to build elaborate villas and [[Horace]] called it "the city of the Mamurrae"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Q. Horatius Flaccus (Horace), The Works of Horace, book 1, He describes a certain journey of his from Rome to Brundusium with great pleasantry., line 39 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0063:book=1:poem=5:line=1&redirect=true |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> as the rich and noble [[equestrian (Roman)|equestrian]] family of [[Mamurra]] had strong interests there, including the villa-estate nearby at Gianola, which can still be seen. The impressive remains of Roman villas still stretch along the coast from the fishponds in the Nuovo Porto to Gaeta.

[[Cicero]] had a villa there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-21 |title=Mayor launches appeal to save Cicero's villa from ruin - TopNews - Ansa.it |url=https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/07/21/mayor-launches-appeal-to-save-ciceros-villa-from-ruin_55a57cf3-5104-4a1a-8e19-bc4cd3261dbd.html |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=Agenzia ANSA |language=it}}</ref> He was assassinated on the Appian Way just outside the town in 43 BC<ref>Plutarch Vit. Cic. 47-48</ref> and his monumental tomb can also still be seen. The villa attributed to Cicero, now in the Villa Rubino, includes an elaborate ''[[nymphaeum]]'' and rooms decorated with frescoes and stucco. The hotel Villa Irlanda<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imperial Domus |url=https://www.villairlanda.it/en/imperial-domus/ |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=Villa Irlanda Grand Hotel |language=en-US}}</ref> contains a cryptoporticus with stucco of the monumental villa of [[Lucius Marcius Philippus (consul 56 BC)]], stepfather of [[Augustus]].<ref>Luigi Salemme, Il borgo di Gaeta: contributo alla storia locale, Torino, ITER, 1939</ref> Villa Caracciolo has a large court surrounded by rooms. Many marble sculptures have been removed from these villas, the majority of which are in the Museo Nazionale in Naples, notably a fine pair of Nereids riding on sea monsters.<ref> {{Cite web |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, FORMIAE (Formia) Latium, Italy. |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=formiae |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

Remains of an amphitheatre and theatre can be seen. The enormous underground cistern dug 15 metres below ground was probably the biggest Roman urban cistern in the world until the [[Piscina Mirabilis]] was built at the end of the 1st c. BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CISTERNONE ROMANO |url=https://www.formiae.it/siti/cisternone-romano/ |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=Formiae |language=it-IT}}</ref>

[[Sextus Julius Frontinus]] (40 – 104 AD), “Curator Aquarum” of all the aqueducts of Rome, had a villa in Formiae in which [[Aelianus Tacticus|Aelianus]] met the emperor [[Nerva]].<ref>Allen, Alexander (1867), "Aelianus Tacticus", in Smith, William (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, Boston, p. 29</ref>

The city was the site of [[St Erasmus]]'s martyrdom around 303 AD, during the persecutions of [[Diocletian]]. St Erasmus later also became known as Saint Elmo, the patron saint of sailors. [[Paulinus of Nola]] and [[Therasia of Nola|Therasia]] stopped at Formiae on their journey back to Nola after visiting [[Rome]] at Easter 408. There they read [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]]'s letter 95 addressed to them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102095.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 95 (St. Augustine)|website=www.newadvent.org|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref>

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] the city was sacked by "barbarians" and the population moved to two distinct burghs on the nearby hill, which were under the rule of [[Gaeta]]. [[Charles II of Anjou]] built a fortress in the maritime burgh, Mola di Gaeta. The other burgh was known as Castellone, from the castle erected there in the mid-14th century by [[Onorato I Caetani]], count of [[Fondi]].

The two villages were united again in 1863 under the name of Formia. The reunited city was badly damaged in 1943–44 in bombing operations and the [[Operation Shingle|Battle of Anzio]].<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.formiae.com/storia.php History of Formia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407195755/http://www.formiae.com/storia.php |date=2016-04-07 }}</ref>