Bovillae

Bovillae was an ancient Latin town that flourished under Roman rule, situated about 18 kilometres southeast of Rome along the Via Appia. Its name, according to folk etymology, derives from a runaway bull — a founding legend that reflects the town's close ties to early Rome and the Julian family, who maintained a cult site here honouring their ancestral line. The city faded through the medieval period and survives today as a fragmentary ruin field on the territory of modern Marino, near the hamlet of Frattocchie. The site is not formally developed for visitors and offers little signage or excavated display — it remains of primary interest to archaeologists and dedicated enthusiasts of Roman antiquity.