time we hear little of Corfinium, but inscriptions indicate that it continued to be a flourishing municipal town under the Roman Empire, and its prosperity is proved by the fact that its inhabitants were able to construct two aqueducts for supplying it with water, both of which are in great part hewn in the solid rock, and one of them is carried through a tunnel nearly in length. A part of the territory of Corfinium had been portioned out to new settlers as early as the time of the Gracchi: it received a fresh body of colonists under Augustus, but never assumed the title of a colony, all inscriptions giving it that of a municipium only. It still appears in the Itineraries as a place of importance, and even seems to have been in the fourth century regarded as the capital of the province of Valeria, and the residence of its Praeses or governor. The period of its destruction is unknown, but it seems to have been still in existence as late as the tenth century. Archaeology Ruins of Corfinium have been found around the modern town of Corfinio, known as Pentima in the Roman period, then medieval Valva (the adjoining valley is still called La Pianata di Valva). It re-took the ancient name in 1928. The bridge over the Aternus, from the city, is mentioned both by Caesar and Strabo, and must always have been a military point of the highest importance. Hence Domitius committed a capital error in neglecting to occupy it in sufficient force when Caesar was advancing upon Corfinium. This bridge must evidently be the same, close to which the modern town of Popoli has grown up; leading to the erroneous supposition by some authors that Popoli, rather than San Pelino, occupies the site of Corfinium. References Further reading Roman sites of Abruzzo Corfinio