NORBA  , an

ancient town of Latium (Adjectum), Italy . It is situated 1 m . N.W. of the modern Norma, 1575 ft. above sea-level, on the west edge of the Vclscian Mountains or Monti Lepini, above 'a precipitous cliff, with a splendid view over the Pomptine Marshes . It was a member of the Latin League of 499 B.C., and became a Latin colony in 492 B.C., as an important fortress guarding the Pomptine Marshes . It served in 199 as a place of detention for the Carthaginian hostages, and was captured and destroyed by Sulla's troops during the civil wars at the end of 82 B.C . Some revival in prosperity took place later . From excavations begun in 1901 it seems clear that the remains now visible on the site are entirely Roman . The well-preserved walls are in the polygonal style, 11 m. in circuit, and are entirely embankment walls, not standing free above the internal ground level . Remains of a massive tower, and of several gateways (notably the Porta Grande, defended by a tower) exist . Within, the remains of several buildings, including the substructions of two temples, one dedicated to Juno Lucina, have been examined . At the foot of the cliff are the picturesque ruins of the medieval town of Nainfa (12th-13th centuries) abandoned owing to the malaria . The remains of a primitive settlement, on the other hand, have been discovered on the mountain-side to the S .

E., above the 13th-

century abbey of Valvisciolo, where there is a succession of terraces supported by walls of polygonal work, and approached by a road similarly supported . Here a quantity of primitive Latin pottery has been found, The necropolis of this settlement Was probably the extensive one situated at Caracupa (8th-6th century B.C.), near the railway station of Sermoneta, which belongs also to the 8th-6th century B.C., terminating thus at the precise date at which the Roman city of Norba began to exist . See L . Savignioni and R . Mengarelli in Notizie degli scavi (1901), 514; (1903) 299, 289; (19o4) 407; and Atti del Congresso Storico (Rome, 1903), vol . V . (Archaeologia) 255 . (T .