Tusculum
| Tusculo (Italian) | |
The theatre of Tusculum
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 Shown within Italy
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| Location | Frascati, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy |
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| Region | Latium |
| Coordinates | 41°47′54″N 12°42′39″E / 41.79833°N 12.71083°ECoordinates: 41°47′54″N 12°42′39″E / 41.79833°N 12.71083°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Abandoned | 1191 AD |
| Periods | Ancient Roman to High Medieval |
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.
Tusculum was one of the largest Roman cities in the Alban Hills and today is one of the largest sets of ruins of a Roman city in the region therein. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill, more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano. The volcano itself is located in the Alban Hills 6 kilometres (4 miles) north-east of the present-day town of Frascati.
Tuscolo Hills' summit is 670 metres (2,200 feet) above sea level. Its location affords a view of the Roman Campagna, with Rome lying 25 kilometres (16 miles) to the north-west. Rome was reached by the Via Latina (from which a branch road ascended to Tusculum, while the main road passed through the valley to the south of it), or by the Via Labicana to the north.
In the territory of Tusculum, there was an old river called "Tuscus Amnis" which sprung at Tuscolo hill under the acropolis and ran south through the Latium valley. The river then flowed north where it met the Aniene river near the Mammolo bridge. A dam that is located in Morena respot was built in 1122 by Pope Callixtus II. This had the effect of diverting the rivers' flow toward the "Albula river" (Tiber river).
Strabo wrote about Tusculum in Geography, V 3 § 12.:
But still closer to Rome than the mountainous country where these cities lie, there is another ridge, which leaves a valley (the valley near Algidum) between them and is high as far as Mount Albanus. It is on this chain that Tusculum is situated, a city with no mean equipment of buildings; and it is adorned by the plantings and villas encircling it, and particularly by those that extend below the city in the general direction of the city of Rome; for here Tusculum is a fertile and well-watered hill, which in many places rises gently into crests and admits of magnificently.
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