Nomentum (mod. Menlana) was an ancient town of Italy, 14 miles northeast of Rome by the Via Nomentana.
It was a Latin town, but was by some considered to be Sabine, and, like. Fidenae and Ficulea, was excluded from the first region by Augustus, who made the Anio its northern boundary.
Nomentum received the civitas sine suffragio after the last war of the Latins against Rome (338 BC); in its municipal constitution the chief magistrate even in imperial times bore the title of dictator. Pliny and Martial often praise the fertility of its neighbourhood. The site of the town is well protected by ravines except on the east; no ancient remains exist in situ, but inscriptions and other relics have been found.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopędia Britannica.
The name of the Reserve derives from the Latin-Sabine town of Nomentum (4th century BC): the ruins of its walls can be found in location Montedoro at km.
The ancient track and parts of the bottom of the Roman street can still be seen.
The current town of Mentana dates back to 8th century when, after the Longobard invasion (712-744) of the ancient Nomentum, the inhabitants began to progressively move away up to the definitive abandonment of the ancient center, which took place between the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century.