Forum Clodii

Forum Clodii was the seat of a praefectura on the Via Clodia, about 23 Roman miles (some 34 km) north-west of Rome rather than the 32 miles stated in the Antonine Itinerary. It lay on the western side of the Lacus Sabatinus (Lake Bracciano) and was linked to the Via Cassia at Vacanae by a branch road running along the north side of the lake towards Trevignano Romano. Along the same road (SP 4/a Settevene - Palo, first section) you can also see the ancient Vicus Aurelii (Vicarello).

The 12th-13th century Tabula Peutingeriana marks the place on the Via Clodia as a mansio (staging post), after Careias (Galeria) and ad Nonas (Vigna di Valle).

The site is marked by the church of Saints Mark, Marcian and Liberatus, on today's San Liberato estate, under the present parish of San Lorenzo in Pisciarelli founded in the 8th or 9th century. According to inscriptions found on site, in the Augustan period it was the seat of the praefectura Claudia.

Forum Clodii was also a bishop's seat, the diocese of Forum Clodii, until 502. After the Lombard invasion it fell into ruin, and probably in 649 the see moved to nearby Manturanum. The Roman settlement can be visited today in the so-called Macchia della Fiora, along the stretch of Via Clodia between Bracciano and Manziana.

The ruins of the town of Monterano are well known and admired, while the church of San Liberato on the ancient site of Forum Clodii is not only open to visitors but well preserved.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · translated from Italian