Luna
Luna, an ancient town located near the northwestern coast of Italy, is steeped in historical significance. Situated approximately five miles south of the river Macra's estuary, it was strategically positioned at the border of Etruria and Liguria. Initially occupied by the Etruscans, Luna became a Roman colony in 177 BC, established to control coastal areas and counter piracy by the Ligurians. The town thrived due to its deep natural harbor and access to marble quarries in the nearby Apuan Alps, which supplied high-quality marble for Roman architecture. Luna's economic prosperity was further enhanced by its renowned wine and large cheeses, praised by ancient writers such as Pliny the Elder. Archaeological evidence reveals significant structures, including an amphitheater and a temple, highlighting the town's rich architectural heritage. However, by the fourth century, it began to decline, influenced by environmental factors. Today, the remnants of Luna serve as a testament to its historical importance and cultural legacy.
Subject Terms
Luna
(`Moon’, known to the Greeks as the Harbor of Selene; now Luni)
A town near the coast of northwestern Italy, five miles south of the estuary of the river Macra or Macras (Magra), which is often described by ancient historians as the border between Etruria and Liguria; the hinterland, of variously defined dimensions, continued to be known as the Lunigiana. Livy recorded that the territory of Luna had earlier been under Etruscan occupation, and coastal finds at Viareggio and Massarosa, on the way from the river Arnus (Arno), have tended to confirm his assertion. Strabo also recorded an Etruscan port a little further north, in the Gulf of La Spezia, but he may have intended to refer to Luna, which possessed a deep natural harbor, or series of harbors, on the Tyrrhenian Sea (although the encroaching coastline has now made it hard to detect them).
Amid rivalry between competing Roman noble factions, Luna became a Roman colony in 177 BC, receiving 2,000 settlers. Its function was to exercise control over the coastal zone, so as to deprive the Ligurians of bases for their traditional piracy and block their expansion to the south, while facilitating the northward expansion of the Romans themselves. The Via Aurelia, the great coastal highway from Rome, leading to its extension the Via Aemilia Scauri (109), formed one of the main streets of the town (the decumanus maximus, crossing the cardo maximus, which led to the harbor). Nevertheless, air photography suggests a gradual depopulation (Lucan describes the place as having been derelict in 49 BC), which was halted when Octavian (the future Augustus) drafted a new group of colonists.
The city derived its wealth and fame from nearby marble quarries, in the Apuan Alps (above modern Carrara). Strabo describes both white and mottled bluish-grey varieties (pink and green species are also now found), and refers to the ease with which they could be exported by sea. This marble was widely employed at Rome for architectural purposes, and Strabo was already able to record the use of the finer varieties by sculptors (forerunners of Michelangelo, who used the same quarries). Strabo also records that the river Macra was employed for the transportation of wooden constructional beams. The wine of Luna was considered the best in Etruria by Pliny the Elder, and he and Martial also refer appreciatively to its large cheeses.
Inscriptions bear witness to civil and religious activities throughout the Principate, although during the fourth century the unhealthy atmosphere of the place began to take its toll. Remains of halls and other buildings with rich architectural decorations have been uncovered beside the colonnaded forum, as well as the polygonal substructures of a temple now identified as the Capitolium. Only traces survive of the theater, but the large adjacent amphitheater, perhaps of the first century BC, is still quite impressively preserved. The ruins of the three-apsed cathedral of Santa Maria are superimposed on an earlier Roman building.