Cosa

Cosa was an ancient Roman colony on the coast of southern Tuscany, Italy, near modern Ansedonia, founded in 273 BC on land confiscated from the Etruscans to secure Roman control of land and sea traffic along the coast and to provide a protected port. Built atop a rocky promontory and enclosed by a wall 1.5 kilometers long with numerous towers, the town occupied two hills, one hosting its political forum and the other an acropolis with a Capitolium dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; its street plan and principal buildings were uncovered by excavations carried out between 1948 and 1972 under the American Academy in Rome and the archaeologist Frank Edward Brown.