FERENTINO, a town and episcopal see of Italy, province of Frosinone (anc. Ferentinum, to be distinguished from Ferentum or Ferentinum in Etruria), 48 m. E.S.E. by rail from it. Pop. 6,487 (town) 14,622 (commune). It is picturesquely situated on a hill 1,290 ft. above sea-level, and still possesses considerable remains of ancient fortifications. The lower portion of the outer walls is built of roughly hewn blocks of limestone; above this in places is walling of rectangular blocks of tufa. Two gates, the Porta Sanguinaria (with an arch with tufa voussoirs), and the Porta S. Maria, a double gate constructed entirely of rectangular blocks of tufa, are preserved. Outside this gate is the tomb of A. Quinctilius Priscus, a citizen of Ferentinum, with a long inscription cut in the rock.
The acropolis has massive retaining walls similar to those of the lower town. At the eastern corner, under the present episcopal palace, a projecting rectangular terrace is supported by walls of quadrilateral blocks of limestone arranged almost horizontally; while upon the level thus formed a building of rectangular blocks of local travertine was raised. A projecting cornice bears two inscriptions of the period of Sulla, recording its construction by two censors (local officials) ; and in the interior there is an in scription of the same censors over one of the doors, and another over a smaller external side door. The windows lighting these chambers come immediately above the cornice, and the wall continues above them again. The whole of this construction prob ably belongs to one period. The cathedral occupies a part of the level top of the ancient acropolis ; it was reconstructed on the site of an older church in 1099-1118; the interior was restored to its original form in 1902. It contains a fine canopy in the "Cos matesque" style. The Gothic church of S. Maria Maggiore, in the lower town (13th-14th century), has a very fine exterior. The Romans captured Ferentinum, the chief city of the Hernici, in 364 B.c. It took no part in the rising of 3o6 B.c. The inhabi tants became Roman citizens after 195 B.C. It lay just above the Via Latina and, being a strong place, served for the detention of hostages. Horace praises its quietness, and it does not appear much in later history. (T. A.) See Ashby, Rom. Mitteil. xxiv. (19o9), i sqq.