Gaeta preducale delle aristocrazie invisibili

The inclusion of the coastal city of Gaeta into the byzantine political structure of Southern Italy in the VIII century represented a turning point for the development of the territorial prerogatives of what would become the duchy of Gaeta. Crucial components to these processes were provided by the dynamics of conflict between Gaeta and the other political subjects operating in the region. It is a matter of fact that the incorporation of Gaeta into the duchy of Naples created a new contact area for the byzantine frontier in Southern Latium. Despite the importance of these events is broadly considered among scholars, we still know very little about the modalities by which the city of Gaeta and its élites projected themselves onto their hinterland. The hilly region of the Monti Aurunci ridge surrounding the city of Gaeta offers some contexts in which there are some hints about the presence of a border region during this period. A group of hilltop sites knows as ‘Castellucci’ seems to be dated between the VIII and the X century and could be linked to some form of fortification related to the conflicts coming with the early phases of the duchy of Gaeta. In this paper we provide a quick overview of the history of the byzantine ‘pre-ducal Gaeta’ and we try to identify the actors of the major transformation occurring for this period. We also hypothesize that these byzantine élites moving from nearby Naples gradually occupied the region around the city of Gaeta starting from the VIII century and laid the foundation for the later affirmation of the duchy. Indeed, we want to highlight the link between the ‘Castellucci’ and the new byzantine élite from Gaeta, which makes these contexts a perfect ground for the investigation of the formation of the duchy of Gaeta.