Grumentum

Grumentum was a Roman city in Lucania, southern Italy, founded in the early 3rd century BC as a strategic outpost during the Samnite Wars. It gained prominence in the Second Punic War when Hannibal's forces encamped nearby in 207 BC. Refounded by Julius Caesar around 57 BC, the city was rebuilt with monumental architecture including Lucania's only amphitheatre, a theatre, temples, and an aqueduct. After becoming a bishopric in 370 AD, it was destroyed by Saracen raids in the mid-9th century, prompting inhabitants to found modern Grumento Nova.