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Saepinum (modern Altilia, near Sepino) was a Samnium town that later became a Ancient Rome municipium.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/6/225 Located approximately south of the modern city of Campobasso in south-central Italy, Saepinum lay on the ancient road connecting Benevento (modern Benevento) to Corfinium (modern Corfinio).
Within the city walls, there are remains of a theatre and other buildings, including temples of Jupiter and Apollo. There still exists, by the gate leading to Bovianum, an important inscription of about 168 AD, relating to the tratture (see Apulia) in Roman days, forbidding the natives to harm the shepherds who passed along them. CIL ix. 2438
Tombs from the 4th century found within the city walls indicate that Saepinum was largely abandoned by that time. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Saepinum was taken in 882 by Saracens.Jeff Matthews, Saepinum
Currently only part of the wall is exposed. Over the years, steps have been taken to restore and consolidate the structures brought to light, restoring some sections of elevation through the reuse of ancient collapsed material. In the sections not affected by the excavation, the route is marked by scattered cement cores and short sections of masonry. Overall, the city wall appears to be an accurate work of good military engineering. The material used is Matese limestone, cut into small blocks and shaped into the shape of small pyramids, with an undifferentiated, square or rectangular base. The facing of the curtains has a uniform thickness (approximately 1.80 m) and is woven with the reticulate technique, with a homogeneous cement mortar. The masonry is solid, with a height of approximately m. 4.80 and has a patrol path at the top. The quality of the weaving appears uniform and constant, and suggests a single construction phase.
The city wall is equipped with a system of circular towers, of which only nineteen towers remain visible, brought to light during the excavation campaign of the years 1950-1955. They protrude for about three meters both outside, towards the countryside, and inside, towards the city. The thickness of the external walls is greater than the internal one. They all have a diameter of approximately seven meters and a height of almost eleven, with an external facing in opus reticulatum. The structure of the towers is solidly interlocked with that of the curtains, and this demonstrates the contextual nature of the construction of the walls and towers. Three small slits, distributed on the external surface of the tower, guaranteed the defensive coverage of the area in front of the walls, three small windows were open on the internal side to control the urban area. Currently, only the basic structures remain of some towers, covered with ancient material mixed with backfill, of others, especially on the north-west side, part of the elevation has been rebuilt, recovering the ancient materials, and has been consolidated structure.
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