Amiternum, a traditional cradle of the Sabines, is an ancient Sabine prefecture in the Abruzzo region of modern Italy at 9 km from L'Aquila. Amiternum was the birthplace of the historian Sallust (86 BC).

It was stormed by the Romans in 293 BC. It lay at the point of junction of four roads: the Via Caecilia, the Via Claudia Nova and two branches of the Via Salaria.

There are considerable remains of an amphitheatre and a theatre, all of which belong to the imperial period, while on the hill of the surronuding village of S. Vittorino there are some Christian catacombs. There was a bishop here, including the martyred St. Cetteus (d. 597). In the mid-13th century the population was transferred to the newly-founded town of L'Aquila, which was erected as a diocese by Pope Alexander IV, 20 February 1257.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Amiternum (San Vittorino), Latium, Italy"

Coordinates: 42°24′02.00″N 13°18′21.60″E / 42.40056°N 13.306°E / 42.40056; 13.306