Introduction

Arpino is located on a hilly landscape not far from the Liri River. Its name probably derives from its geographical shape, in fact, seen from an aerial view, its historical center resembles a harp. It surely represents one of the villages of Ciociaria with an important historical background. The exact year of his building remains unknown but its historical findings show that its origins are Volscian. Some written documents attest that its birth, just like the ones of the other necropolis with megalithic walls called "Cities of Saturn", must be attributed to Saturn or to the Pelasgi. Arpino was the Romans' municipality and in 188 BC it obtained Roman citizenry. Some recent archeological digs made in 2006 brought back to light a part of an ancient Roman paving that is located in Municipio Square and dates back to the First century BC. In this period, his illustrious children were born: the politician and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, the general and statesman Caius Marius and the politician and architect Marcus Agrippa. On the higher part of Arpino's village, there is the Acropolis of Civitavecchia, with its grand cyclopic walls which, during the late part of the Middle Ages, became a shelter from the barbaric invasions, mainly Frankish and Saracenic occupations. In this period, Arpino was the point of contention of the Roman duchy and the Duchy of Benevento, although around the year 1000 it became a Norman's possession, then it was in the hands of the Suevian and of the papacy. It was demolished in 1229 by the Suevian Frederick II and in 1252 by Corrado IV. During this last occasion, the majority of the ancient Roman testimonies were lost. In the period that goes from the Seventeenth to the Eighteenth century, Arpino evolved economically thanks to the woollen industry and thanks to the new techniques of innovative production. In 1548 Arpino was annexed to the Duchy of Sora, a feud that was part of the Reign of Naples. In 1746 the feud was suppressed and Arpino at first remained with the Reign of Naples but then it became possession of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1860. In the village we can find several pages of the Stone Book located in random places, a venture by the poet Giuseppe Bonaviri. These pages contain a lot of works by contemporary poets and every year, in Arpino, after August 15th ("Ferragosto") the "Gonfalone'' is celebrated. It is a folkloristic event in which all the quarters participate with games that respect all the ancient traditions