Saepinum (Altilia)

 archaeological site, Roman Empire

The archaeological site of Alitilia contains the ruins of Roman Saepinum, which replaced the nearby Samnite fortress of Saipins (at Terravechia to the southwest) and was in turn abandoned in the Middle Ages for modern Sepino to the south. The Roman city was largely developed in the Julio-Claudian period, with the city walls erected in the reign of Augustus. The town was damaged, like others, by a disastrous earthquake in 346, leading to a decline in the prosperity of the area, although Saepinum became a bishopric. After the Ostrogothic and Lombard conquests, Saepinum was part of the Duchy of Benevento. In the mid-7th century, the Lombard king and the duke of Benevento settled bands of Bulgars at Seapinum and at nearby Boiano and Isernia. In 882 Saepinum was raided and briefly occupied by Muslim raiders, and the population abandoned it for the site of modern Sepino to the south.