Fregellae was said to have been founded in early times by the
Opici or
Oscans, near the modern
Arce, and later to have belonged the
Volsci. It was apparently destroyed by the
Samnites a little before 330 BC; in that year the people of
Fabrateria Vetus (modern
Ceccano) sought the help of
Rome against them and in 328 BC a
Latin colony was established there. The place was taken in 320 BC by the Samnites, but re-established by the Romans in 313 BC. It was largely faithful to Rome: by burning the bridges over the Liris, it blocked
Hannibal's advance on Rome in 212 BC at the cost of his general devastation of the area. (A messenger from the city caused panic throughout
Rome until word arrived that a Roman army was
en route from
Capua. Fregellae appears to have been a very important and flourishing place owing to its command of the crossing of the Liris and to its position in a fertile territory. After the rejection of
Flaccus's proposals for the extension of
Roman citizenship in 125 BC, a
revolt broke out against Rome. A local traitor named
Numitorius opened the gates to the Roman army under the
praetor Lucius Opimius. The severity of its razing was later credited by the Romans with having prevented a general uprising among the
Italian allies. The following year, Fregellae's place was taken by the colony of
Fabrateria Nova, to the southeast on the opposite bank of the Liris. Under the empire, Fregellae is recorded as a small village and a post station at modern
Ceprano called
Fregellanum is mentioned in the itineraries. ==Archaeology==