Area Archeologica di Alba Fucens

A major Latin colony founded in 303 BC at 1,000 m elevation near Monte Velino, housing 6,000 families and serving as Rome's bulwark in central Italy. Its polygonal walls extend nearly 3 km, enclosing a Hippodamian street grid with forum, amphitheatre, baths, and temples to Apollo, Hercules, and Isis. The colony sent 2,000 soldiers against Hannibal in 211 BC and later held Perseus, the last Macedonian king. Excavations since 1949 have earned it comparisons to a miniature Pompeii.