Praeneste

Praeneste, modern Palestrina, ancient city of Latium, located 23 miles east-southeast of Rome on a spur of the Apennines, home of the great temple to Fortuna Primigenia. After the Gallic invasion (390 bc), Praeneste fought many battles with Rome; defeated in the Latin War (340–338), it lost part of its territory and became Rome’s ally. After 90 bc it received Roman citizenship and became a municipium. In the civil wars the younger Marius was blockaded in the town by the Sullans (82 bc), who took the city, massacred its males, and settled a colony of Sulla’s veterans on part of its territory, moving the remainder of the people to lower ground.

Under the empire, Praeneste became a favourite summer resort of wealthy Romans, including Augustus, Hadrian, and the younger Pliny.

The city was a major cultic centre for the worship of the goddess Fortuna Primigenia. Her sanctuary and temple oracle were surrounded by an immense complex of buildings rising up the hillside like a pyramid of terraces, visible even from the sea. The cult was flourishing by 241 bc, but the time during which the great buildings were constructed is a matter of debate.