Ferento (Ferentium): a living Augustan theatre near Viterbo, and the birthplace of an emperor
Seven kilometres from Viterbo, on a ridge above the Tiber-ward country of the Tuscia, lie the ruins of Ferento, ancient Ferentium, an Etruscan, Roman and medieval city whose Roman theatre is one of the loveliest in central Italy. Built in the Augustan age and still used today for a long-running summer festival, the theatre is the heart of a site that also gave Rome an emperor, Otho, and was wiped from the map by neighbouring Viterbo in 1172. It is one of the most atmospheric and least-known Roman sites near Rome.
The Tuscia, the volcanic country north of Rome around Viterbo, is thick with Etruscan and Roman remains, and Ferento is among its most rewarding and least visited. Its theatre is the draw: a genuinely beautiful Augustan building, well enough preserved that it has served for sixty years as the stage of a celebrated summer festival, so that on a July night you can watch a concert or a play from the seats of a Roman theatre, exactly as the Ferentini did. By day, the ruins lie quiet on their ridge, an Augustan city slowly emerging from the fields, with a dark and dramatic end to its story: razed by its neighbours and never rebuilt.
An Etruscan and Roman city, and an emperor
Ferentium may have been settled by people from the nearby Etruscan town of Acquarossa, destroyed around 550 to 500 BC, who moved to the hill of Pianicara. It became a Gracchan colony and then a Roman municipium, and enjoyed an imposing burst of building in the Augustan and Julio-Claudian age, when the theatre, an amphitheatre, the forum and an Augusteo were built, with the baths and renovations to the theatre following in the 2nd century AD. Linked to the Via Cassia by its own road, the Via Publica Ferentiensis, it lived on trade between the Tyrrhenian coast and the Tiber valley, on farming and livestock, and on quarrying the local tufo and peperino stone. Its proudest connection is imperial: the gens Salvii of Ferentium produced the emperor Otho, who was born here, and Flavia Domitilla, wife of the emperor Vespasian, also came from the city. The Tomb of the Salvii, at Poggio della Lupa, is an important monument for understanding the Romanisation of Etruria and carries bilingual inscriptions from that transition.
The theatre, and a city erased
The theatre is the masterpiece, built in the 1st century AD near the decumanus of the Roman city and excavated in the early 20th century. Its cavea, scene building and arcades survive well enough to give a vivid sense of a Roman theatre, and marble statues of the masked characters of Greco-Roman tragedy and comedy that once adorned its scene front are now in the Etruscan museum at the Rocca Albornoz in Viterbo. Around it lie the public baths, lavishly appointed, the recently located forum covering more than 8,000 square metres, cisterns that served as a castellum aquae at the end of the city's aqueduct, and, toward the eastern edge of Pianicara, an amphitheatre still largely unexcavated and traced mainly from the air. The end of Ferento is one of the most dramatic stories in the region: reduced in the Middle Ages to a small fortified town and a rival of nearby Viterbo, it was attacked and razed to the ground by the Viterbesi in 1172, on a trumped-up charge of heresy, and never rebuilt. A medieval chronicle describes the city sacked and levelled, its houses pulled down, and that abrupt erasure is why an Augustan theatre survives here in open country with no living town around it.
| Element | Note |
|---|---|
| Roman theatre | Augustan age, well preserved, still used for a summer festival |
| Baths and forum | Lavish baths; a forum of more than 8,000 m2 recently located |
| Tombs of the Salvii | At Poggio della Lupa, ancestors of the emperor Otho, with bilingual inscriptions |
| Amphitheatre | Largely unexcavated, traced mainly by aerial survey |
A short history in dates
- around 550 to 500 BC Nearby Etruscan Acquarossa is destroyed; people may move to the Pianicara hill.
- Roman Republic Ferentium becomes a Gracchan colony and then a municipium.
- Augustan and Julio-Claudian age The theatre, amphitheatre, forum and Augusteo are built.
- 1st c. AD The gens Salvii of Ferentium produces the emperor Otho.
- 2nd c. AD The baths are built and the theatre renovated.
- 1172 Viterbo razes Ferento; the city is never rebuilt.
What nobody tells you
Two practical notes and one piece of timing. The site is cared for by a local association, Archeotuscia, with seasonal opening hours and entry by free donation, and visits by appointment are advised, so phone ahead rather than simply driving up, and be aware the city is only partly excavated, the forum recently located and the amphitheatre still essentially underground. The theatre's finest finds, the marble statues of theatrical characters, are not on site but in the Etruscan museum at the Rocca Albornoz in Viterbo, worth a look to complete the picture. And the timing: if you can, come on a summer evening for the FerentoTeatroFestival, when the Augustan theatre is once again a working stage, which is by far the most memorable way to experience the site. Ferento sits in the rich Tuscia, so combine it with Viterbo's medieval quarter, Villa Lante at Bagnaia and Civita di Bagnoregio for a full northern-Lazio day.
Who should skip Ferento
Honest version. If you want a fully excavated, fully open Roman city, Ferento is only partly dug, with an unexcavated amphitheatre and a forum recently located, so much is still in the ground. If you turn up without checking, you may find it closed, since opening depends on a volunteer association and appointments are advised. And if you want the statues on site, they are in Viterbo. But if a beautifully preserved Augustan theatre, still alive with summer performances, appeals, if the story of an emperor's birthplace razed by its neighbours grips you, and if you are exploring the Tuscia around Viterbo, Ferento is one of the most atmospheric and rewarding Roman sites in northern Lazio.
Otho, the emperor of ninety-five days
Ferento's imperial son deserves more than a footnote, because his story is one of the strangest in Roman history. Marcus Salvius Otho, born to the gens Salvii of Ferentium, was a companion of the young Nero and the first husband of Poppaea Sabina, whom Nero took for himself, packing Otho off to govern the province of Lusitania, modern Portugal, for a decade. When the empire convulsed in the chaos of 68 to 69 AD, the so-called Year of the Four Emperors that followed Nero's fall, Otho helped the aged Galba to power and expected to be named his heir; passed over, he had Galba murdered and seized the throne himself in January 69. His reign lasted barely three months. The legions of the Rhine had already proclaimed their own commander, Vitellius, and the two armies clashed in northern Italy. Defeated at the first battle of Bedriacum, near Cremona, Otho chose not to prolong a civil war that might have dragged on; he put his affairs in order, comforted his friends, and took his own life, a death that even hostile Roman writers treated as oddly noble, a dignified end to a dissolute career. He had ruled about ninety-five days. That a small Etruscan-Roman city like Ferentium could produce such a man is a reminder of how the Italian municipal elite, families like the Salvii, fed directly into the highest politics of Rome, and it lends the quiet ruins on the Pianicara hill an unexpected charge of imperial drama.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Ferento (Ferentium)?
- Ferento, about 7 km from Viterbo in northern Lazio, was the Etruscan and Roman city of Ferentium. It preserves a well-preserved Augustan-age Roman theatre, baths, a forum and the tombs of the Salvii, was the birthplace of the emperor Otho, and was destroyed by Viterbo in 1172.
- Why is the Roman theatre of Ferento special?
- The theatre, built in the 1st century AD, is one of the best-preserved in central Italy, and it is still used today for a long-running summer festival, so visitors can watch performances from the seats of a Roman theatre. Marble statues of theatrical characters from its scene front are now in the Etruscan museum in Viterbo.
- Which emperor was born at Ferento?
- The emperor Otho, of the gens Salvii of Ferentium, was born here, and Flavia Domitilla, wife of the emperor Vespasian, also came from the city. The Tomb of the Salvii at Poggio della Lupa is an important monument for the Romanisation of Etruria, with bilingual inscriptions.
- Why was Ferento destroyed?
- Reduced in the Middle Ages to a small fortified town and a rival of nearby Viterbo, Ferento was attacked and razed to the ground by the Viterbesi in 1172, on a pretext of heresy, and never rebuilt. That abrupt erasure is why its Augustan theatre survives in open country with no living town around it.
- What are the opening hours and entry?
- The site is managed by the Archeotuscia association, with seasonal hours and entry by free donation, and visits by appointment are advised. It has run, for example, winter Tuesday to Friday afternoons and weekend mornings to late afternoon, with longer summer hours. Confirm current details and phone ahead before going.
- How do you get to Ferento?
- By car on the Strada Teverina from Viterbo toward Bagnoregio, turning right at the Ferento sign around km 7, then about 1 km to the archaeological site. It is roughly 7 km from Viterbo, in the Tuscia of northern Lazio.
- Is the whole city excavated?
- No. Ferentium is only partly excavated: the theatre and baths are visible, the forum of more than 8,000 square metres has only recently been located, and the amphitheatre at the eastern edge of Pianicara is still largely unexcavated and traced mainly by aerial survey.
- What else is worth seeing near Ferento?
- Ferento sits in the Tuscia, so it pairs well with the medieval quarter of Viterbo and its Etruscan museum, the Renaissance gardens of Villa Lante at Bagnaia, and the dramatic hilltop village of Civita di Bagnoregio, making a rich day in northern Lazio.
- Who was the emperor Otho, born at Ferento?
- Marcus Salvius Otho, of the gens Salvii of Ferentium, was a companion of Nero who seized the throne in January 69 AD during the Year of the Four Emperors. Defeated by Vitellius's forces at the first battle of Bedriacum, he took his own life after a reign of about ninety-five days, a death even hostile writers treated as oddly noble.