Agnone

Agnone is a comune in the province of Isernia, in the Molise region of southern Italy. Agnone is known for the manufacturing of bells by the Marinelli Bell Foundry. It is some 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Campobasso. The town of Agnone proper is complemented with other populated centers like Fontesambuco, Villa Canale and Rigaini.

History

Samnites

The pre-Roman Samnites consisted of several distinct tribes who existed in Samnium which was a wholly inland district of south central Italy. The Pentri tribe of the Samnites was the most powerful and based in Bovianium, which was a city some 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of present Agnone. Agnone is in the center of important archaeological vestiges of the old Oscan-Samnite civilization and is sometimes called “the Athens of the Sannio” due to the large number of ancient ruins of the Samnitic culture. According to the tradition, the name of Agnone derives from the old city of Aquilonia that was destroyed by the Romans. The Samnited were annihilated at the time of Sulla by the consuls Carvilius and Lucius Papirius Cursor in 293 B.C. Papirius, after making himself master of Aquilonia, which he burnt to the ground, proceeded to besiege Saepinum, on his way to Bovianum.