Sulmona (Latin: Sulmo; Greek: Σουλμῶν) is a city and comune of the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo, Italy, with around 25,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of the Gizio, in a spacious basin formed by the junction of that river with several minor streams. In ancient times, it was one of the most important cities of the Paeligni and is known for being the native town of Ovid, of whom there is a bronze statue in the square known as P...
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Sulmona (Latin: Sulmo; Greek: Σουλμῶν) is a city and comune of the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo, Italy, with around 25,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of the Gizio, in a spacious basin formed by the junction of that river with several minor streams. In ancient times, it was one of the most important cities of the Paeligni and is known for being the native town of Ovid, of whom there is a bronze statue in the square known as Piazza XX Settembre located on the town's main road also under his name.
There is no doubt that ancient Sulmo was one of the principal cities of the Peligni, as an independent tribe, but no notice of it is found in history before the Roman conquest. A tradition alluded to by Ovid and Silius Italicus, which ascribed its foundation to Solymus, a Phrygian and one of the companions of Aeneas, is evidently a mere etymological fiction. The first mention of Sulmo occurs in the Second Punic War, when its territory was ravaged by Hannibal in 211 BCE,...
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