Oplontis

Common card · No. 421524

Oplontis is an ancient Roman archaeological site, located in the town of Torre Annunziata, south of Naples in the Campania region of southern Italy. The excavated site comprises two Roman villas, the best-known of which is Villa A, the so-called Villa Poppaea. The ancient name Oplontis appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana, a medieval copy of a Roman road map, where it is shown as a stop six miles from Herculaneum and three from Pompeii and Stabiae. The symbol used on the map indicates that it possessed thermal baths. No ancient writer mentions the name, and the origin of the word is uncertain: suggestions include a derivation from Latin opulentia (opulence), opla (a place of fishermen), or Greek oplon (perhaps alluding to armed soldiers). An alternative theory links the name to a transcription error for ob fontis (near the spring), given the area's thermal activity. Like the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Oplontis was buried in ash during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius...

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