Ardeatina

The origin of this name is still today quite uncertain. The theories include: 1) From the Ancient Greek “erōidiós (ἐρῳδιός),” meaning “heron (bird of the genus Ardea).” Ardea is an Italian town of 49.734 inhabitants of the metropolitan city of Rome Capital in Lazio. The poet Publius Virgil Maron in the seventh book of the Aeneid, tells that a Greek princess founded the town. The territory of Ardea was already frequented in the Palaeolithic and have been found tombs of the Copper Age. On several occasions the Ardeati were allies or enemies of Rome, as part of the events of the Latin League: a first attack under Tarquinius the Superb, which the tradition speaks of, seems to have been unsuccessful, and shortly after, in the first treaty between Rome and Carthage in 509 BC, the city was reported among the allies of the Romans.