Tusculum: the Latin city above Monte Porzio Catone

Above Monte Porzio, Frascati and Grottaferrata there is a wooded hill with a cross on top. Walk up and you find a stone theatre, the remains of a Roman square, paved streets and, at the top, the ruins of a fortress. This is Tusculum, or Tuscolo in Italian: what is left of a city that was alive for more than two thousand years and then, in 1191, was wiped out.

Where is Tusculum?

On the hill of the same name, where the boundaries of Frascati, Grottaferrata, Monte Porzio Catone and Monte Compatri meet, in the Alban Hills south east of Rome. Since 1984 the site has belonged to the local mountain community of the Castelli Romani, which runs excavations and research with the Spanish School of History and Archaeology in Rome (CSIC). Spanish archaeologists have been digging here since 1994.

How old is Tusculum?

Legend says it was founded by Telegonus, son of Ulysses and the sorceress Circe. The excavations tell an even longer story: the first traces of people on the hill go back to the Middle Bronze Age, around the fourteenth century BC, and the city itself took shape around the tenth century BC.

Tusculum and Rome: from enemies to allies

Tusculum was one of the strongest cities of the Latin League, the alliance of the peoples of ancient Latium. It resisted the expansion of Rome and, according to tradition, was defeated with the other Latins at the battle of Lake Regillus, which ancient writers place in 496 BC.

From then on its story was tied to Rome. Under the Republic and the Empire the hill became the favourite summer retreat of the Roman aristocracy: Sulla, Lucullus, Cicero, the emperor Tiberius and Matidia, a relative of Hadrian, all had villas here. Cicero set one of his best known philosophical works, the Tusculan Disputations, in his villa and named it after the city.

Cato the Elder, the Censor, was also born here, around 234 BC. His name lives on in the name of our town, Monte Porzio Catone.

What can you see at the excavations?

• The theatre. The symbol of the park. It was built in the first half of the first century BC, around 75 BC, and could hold about 2,000 spectators. Since 2003 it has hosted performances again.
• The forum. The square of the Roman city, with the remains of the basilica, an archaic fountain and public buildings. The visitor path crosses it and climbs up to the theatre.
• The Road of Tombs. An ancient road lined with tombs, along which you find a sanctuary outside the city looking over the valley and a bath building.
• The acropolis. At the top of the hill: ancient walls, the remains of the medieval fortress of the Counts of Tusculum and of the basilica of the Holy Trinity.
• The amphitheatre. Further down, about two kilometres from the theatre, in a valley that was once a sacred wood. It dates from the second century AD, could hold at least 3,000 people and is still largely buried. In the seventeenth century it was called “Cicero’s Academy”.

Who were the Counts of Tusculum?

In the Middle Ages the hill took centre stage again. Between the eleventh and twelfth centuries Tusculum was the stronghold of the Counts of Tusculum, a family powerful enough to place several of its members on the papal throne and to challenge Rome for control of the countryside.

Their finest hour came on 29 May 1167: on the plain of Prata Porci, between the walls of Tusculum and the hill of Monte Porzio, the Tusculans and the troops of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeated a much larger Roman army. The chronicles call it the battle of Monte Porzio, and it has been described as the “Cannae of the Middle Ages”.

Why was Tusculum destroyed?

The rivalry with Rome ended in the harshest way. In 1191 the Commune of Rome decided to destroy the city for good, and it was razed to the ground. Tusculum was never rebuilt: according to tradition its people scattered to the towns nearby, and the history of the area carried on in the towns we know today, from Frascati to Monte Porzio.

For centuries the hill was abandoned and stripped of its marble. Systematic research only began at the end of the twentieth century.

How do you visit Tusculum?

The park is visited on foot, along a signposted path through the forum, the theatre and the acropolis. Guided tours are available. Opening times change with the seasons and are published on the official park website.

Tips from people who live here: wear comfortable shoes, bring water in summer, and climb up to the cross on the acropolis. On a clear day you can see the whole of Rome.

In short

• Where: on the hill of Tusculum, between Frascati, Grottaferrata, Monte Porzio Catone and Monte Compatri.
• What: the archaeological park of the ancient Latin city of Tusculum.
• To see: theatre (around 75 BC, about 2,000 seats), forum, Road of Tombs, acropolis, amphitheatre.
• Key dates: Lake Regillus (496 BC by tradition), battle of Monte Porzio (1167), destruction (1191).
• Nearby: Villa Mondragone and the Gregorian calendar, how to get here from Rome.