Anzio

Anzio (än`tsyō), Lat. Antium, town (1991 pop. 33,497), in Latium, central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is a seaside resort with a fishing industry. A Volscian town, it was captured by Rome in 341 B.C. and became a favorite resort of the Romans. Nero and Caligula were born there; among the ruins of Nero's villa two famous statues, the Apollo Belvedere and the Girl of Anzio, were found. Anzio declined in the Middle Ages, but it revived c.1700 and became a residence of the popes. During World War II, Allied troops landed (Jan., 1944) at Anzio and nearby Nettuno to draw German forces from Cassino, thus effecting a breakthrough (May, 1944) to Rome.

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Anzio

Seaport and resort town (pop., 2001 prelim.: 36,468) southeast of Rome, Italy. It was founded, according to legend, by Anteias, son of Odysseus and Circe. It was a stronghold of the Volsci in the 5th century BC. Conquered by Rome in 338 BC, Antium (as it was then known) became a resort for wealthy Romans. Nero and Caligula were born there. Destroyed by the Saracens in the 9th–10th centuries, it remained virtually deserted until 1698, when Pope Innocent XII built a new port nearby. In 1944 it was the scene of a bloody but successful amphibious landing by Allied forces during World War II.