The Territory: The Story and The Geographic Coordinates of The Phlegrean Territory
The Phlaegrean territory is a volcanic area limitated at south by the Gulf of Pozzuoli and Capo Miseno, to the north by the plain and canal of Quarto. It includes the municipalities of Bacoli, Monte di Procida, Pozzuoli, Quarto and some localities of Naples, but also the island of Ischia, Procida and Vivara, that are so called Phlegrean.
The Phlegran adjective derives from the ancient greek (φλεγραϊος means “burning”) and appears in ancient sources to indicate in some cases an area of extension similar to the modern one, in other cases the territory between the Vesuvio and the Volturno, controlled in Greek times by Cuma. Despite the intense nd widespread volcanic activity that made this area hostile and largely uninhabitable, already in prehistoric and protohistoric times it was populated by a tribal population that lived basically by hunting and of small-scale agriculture. The Greek people was the first to have established a stable and organized settlement with the founding of Cuma, around the 8th Century BC. An evidence of this greek past remains in the archaeological ruins scattered over the territory, among which the Antro della Sibilla, mentioned in the third book of the Aeneid, stands out. Starting from the 2nd Century AD, the extension of the roman domain, led to the founding of other cities, such as Pozzuoli, Baia and Bacoli. Called the “Little Rome”, Pozzuoli, thanks to the presence of the harbor, became the most cosmopolitan and frequented city of the mediterranean area, making the Phlaegrean territory a must-see destination for the Roman élite both in the Republican and Imperial times. Some archaeological remains testify the roman presence on the Puteolian territory, such as the Flavian Amphitheatre, an extraordinary example of the roman architecture from the Republican era (third in size, after the Colosseum and the Amphitheatre of Capua), and the Macellum, or the Temple of Serapis, an open-air food market, dating from the Flavian- Trajan era.
Moving southward along the map of the Phlaegrean Fields, we come across other two localities: Baia and Bacoli.
The former was frequented by well known figures of ancient Rome, as Pompeus, Giulius Cesar, Nero, Hadrian, and by large part of the Roman aristocracy that had sumptous villas built here. From the archaeological point of view, Baia has important testimonies: the Temple of Diana and the Temple of Venus, two of the most important architectures included in the Thermal Park, and the Submerged Park, an archaeological complex, located seven meters below sea level, as evidence of the phenomenon of bradyseism that has always affected the area.
Southeast of Baia lies the current Bacoli identified with the ancient Bauli. According to legend, the city was passed through by the hero Hercules during the execution of his tenth labor relating to the rape of the Geryon’s oxen. Also Bacoli is characterized by the presence of important archaeological sites, such as the Cento Camerelle, a system of cisterns that was supposed to supply a villa above, equipped with water fountains, nymphaeums and fishponds, and the Tomb of Agrippina, who was had assassinated by her son, the Emperor Nero, in 59 AD.
Moving still further south, the last location in the Phlegrean area is Cape Miseno, whose name is supposedly traced to the bugler Miseno who accompanied Aeneas on his journey to the Italian coast. Also Miseno represents a place of great interest because of its archaeological treasures: the Piscina Mirabile, the end point of the aqueduct built by Augustus and called Mirabilis because of its impressive size that makes it look like an underground cathedral; the Sacellum of the Augustals, a monument from the Julio-Claudian period and intended for the worship of Emperor Augustus; and the Roman Theater, dating back to the second century AD.
The Phlaegrean territory is a volcanic area limitated at south by the Gulf of Pozzuoli and Capo Miseno, to the north by the plain and canal of Quarto. It includes the municipalities of Bacoli, Monte di Procida, Pozzuoli, Quarto and some localities of Naples, but also the island of Ischia, Procida and Vivara, that are so called Phlegrean.
Starting from the 2nd Century AD, the extension of the roman domain, led to the founding of other cities, such as Pozzuoli, Baia and Bacoli. Called the “Little Rome”, Pozzuoli, thanks to the presence of the harbor, became the most cosmopolitan and frequented city of the mediterranean area, making the Phlaegrean territory a must-see destination for the Roman élite both in the Republican and Imperial times. Some archaeological remains testify the roman presence on the Puteolian territory, such as the Flavian Amphitheatre, an extraordinary example of the roman architecture from the Republican era (third in size, after the Colosseum and the Amphitheatre of Capua), and the Macellum, or the Temple of Serapis, an open-air food market, dating from the Flavian- Trajan era.
