NORCIA (anc. Nursia)  , a town and episcopal see of the province of Perugia, Italy, 29 M . E.N.E. of Spoleto by road, and 4o m . W, of Ascoli Piceno, 198o ft. above sea-level, on the south-west important centres are Armentieres (cloth-weaving), Dunkirk foot-slopes of the Monti Sibillini, still surrounded by old walls: Pep . (1901) 4261 (town), 9584 (commune) . There are a cathedral, the church of St Benedict and other churches, with Romanesque 14th-century facades; the town-hall; and the prefecture, with Romanesque arcades . Much injury was done by earth-quakes in 1930 and 1859 . The ancient Nursia was a Sabine city, though close to the Umbrian border . Its inhabitants fought in 43-41 B.C. against Octavian, and were punished by him for erecting a monument in honour of those who fell . It was governed by octoviri like other Sabine towns and became a municipium under the empire . At Ancarano near Norcia was situated a small pagus; remains of a temple were found there in 188o, which from the character of the objects seems to have been destroyed in the 5th century B.c . The tombs of the district have also produced interesting early bronzes, &c., some of which go back to the 7th century B.C., and a fine funeral,couch decorated with sculptured pieces of bone . M .

Guardabassi in Notizie degli scavi, 1878, 13 sqq.; 188o, 6 sqq.; A . Pasqui in Monumenti dei Lincei, i . (1891) 239 . The town was the birthplace of Q .

Sertorius (d . 72 B.C.), of Vespasia, mother of the emperor Vespasian of Plotina, wife of the emperor Trajan, and of St . Benedict, founder of the Benedictine order, and of his sister Scholastica . The town is famous for its pork and its cloth (the term norcineria for a pork butcher's shop is indeed used in Rome) and produces bricks and earthenware . See F . Patrici Forti, Memorie storiche di Norcia (Norcia, 1869) .