Gabii - History Under Roman Control

History Under Roman Control

Gabii was an ally of Rome after 493 BC.

In the late Republican period, the city became depopulated due to the extensive use of the lapis Gabinus quarry, which was just under the archaic city. Cicero mentioned it in the 1st century BC as a small and insignificant place.

The Augustan poets used Gabii when demonstrating a city that had fallen from its old heights. From inscriptions we learn that from the time of Augustus or Tiberius onwards it enjoyed a municipal organization. Its baths were well known, and Hadrian, who was responsible for much of the renewed prosperity of the small towns of Latium, appears to have been a very liberal patron, building a senate-house (Curia Aelia Augusta) and an aqueduct.

After the 3rd century, Gabii practically disappears from history, though its bishops continue to be mentioned in ecclesiastical documents till the close of the 9th century.