Aeclanum (sometimes Aeculanum) (It. Eclano; mod. Mirabella Eclano)
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Aeclanum (sometimes Aeculanum) (It. Eclano; mod. Mirabella Eclano) (AV): An ancient Oscan city of the Hirpini-Samnites, located 24 km E of modern Benevento and 30 km NE of Avellino, in the communal territory of Mirabella Eclano. It was situated on the Via Appia where the Via Aeclanensis split away to later join the Via Traina Nova at Herdoniae. This position on a major road junction made Aeclanum an important market town in Roman times. During the Roman Civil Wars it was attacked and occupied by Sulla (89 BC). Soon recovered from this disaster, it became a municipium. During the 2nd century, it achieved the high status of a colonia. During Christian times a bishopric was established here. Giuliano, a disciple of Pelagius and the opponent of St. Augustine, was born here. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Aeclanum continued to survive until AD 668 the Emperor Constans II destroyed the city during his Italian campaign. After this incident it disappears from history. The city was situated on an irregular promontory overlooking the river Calore to the S. To the N ran the Via Appia along the crest of a ridge. Although excavations have shown that the town was inhabited long before Roman times, most of the surviving remains are Roman constructions. The surviving fortifications consist of circuit walls and towers dating from the 2nd quarter of the 1st century BC. Built of opus quasi-reticulatum, they show signs of significant repair work from a slightly later date. The graffiti left on these walls have proven an important source in the study of ancient Roman epigraphy. One of the most important of the surviving monuments is a bath (thermae) originally built during the time of Augustus and later modified. The excavated building measures about 60 m by 40 m. The surviving walls of the bath rise over 3 meters in height and enclose several bathing rooms, pools, and latrines. A circular area located about 150 meters S of the baths has been identified as the remains of an amphitheater.