Antium

Seaport and resort town (pop., 2001 prelim.: 36,468) southeast of Rome, Italy. It was founded, according to legend, by Anteias, son of Odysseus and Circe. It was a stronghold of the Volsci in the 5th century BC. Conquered by Rome in 338 BC, Antium (as it was then known) became a resort for wealthy Romans. Nero and Caligula were born there. Destroyed by the Saracens in the 9th–10th centuries, it remained virtually deserted until 1698, when Pope Innocent XII built a new port nearby. In 1944 it was the scene of a bloody but successful amphibious landing by Allied forces during World War II.

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