The town of Casalattico is located in the Comino Valley, along the Melfa River, and takes its name from the historic Casale fraction and the Montattico fraction, built on the ruins of the villa of Tito Pomponio Attico, an illustrious Roman friend of Cicero.
The territory of Casalattico is characterized by numerous settlements scattered along the plain of the Melfa river up to the 719 meters of Montattico, offering a variety of landscapes and history.
Roman era
In the first historical period it fell within the Samnite territory, also evidenced by the spread of the cult of Mefite, an Italic deity linked to water, invoked for the fertility of the fields and for female fertility.
In the Roman era, Casalattico belonged to the ager atinensis and was certainly a frequented area by the empire. This is demonstrated by some examples such as the bridge and the Roman road that connects the present-day Casalattico with the other side of the Melfa river. Of greater importance is an epitaph that speaks of the construction of a road. On this rock is an inscription that speaks of a road built by Caio Pomponio Tigrano, freedman of Caio Pomponio, who had a motorable road built at his own expense that connected the Atina plain with Monte Attico.
Medieval Era
During the Middle Ages, the territory of Casalattico came under the influence of the Cassinese area; it was inhabited by populations scattered in modest settlements and Montattico continued to be part of Atina’s history.
Casale was the first to be documented in 1050; according to local historians, in 1059 the populations were reunited in a castle built by Oderisio, count of Marsi, right on the lake of Attico’s villa: the ruins of the castle still exist in the Montattico district.
The arrival of the barbarians brought devastation and destruction everywhere, and Montattico probably followed the fate of Atina. During this period, we encounter the Benedictine settlement of Pesco Mascolino on the slopes of Mount Attico in Plauto on the left bank of the Melfa river. But soon it will be abandoned to make way for what will become one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in the Comino Valley: San Nazario, which will rise on the ruins of a temple or simply a Roman tomb. This monastery was located on the left bank of the Melfa river in the current and namesake district.
There is no certain date of its construction, but it certainly dates back before the year 1000. It was probably also destroyed by the fury of the Saracens and then the Hungarians. Its reconstruction did not take long.
From this moment on, the Comino Valley would be governed simultaneously and alternately by the Princes of Capua, the Counts De Marsi (of Marsica), the abbots of Montecassino and the church, the Counts D’Aquino, the Boncompagni, etc.
Around the year 1000, during the rule of the De Marsi counts and as a result of a policy of fortifying villages, a lookout tower was built in Montattico on the ruins of the refuge of Tito Pomponio Attico, which was to be a sentinel over the entire valley. Around it, the village that we know today as Montattico will arise.
Meanwhile, the Princes of Capua Pandolfo IV and Pandolfo V confirmed the ownership of the lands of San Nazario to the Benedictines of Montecassino, authorizing them to build a mill on the Melfa river, with the necessary partitions and buildings (a mill that is still intact and has become a museum).
On September 9, 1349, a violent earthquake devastated the entire valley. During this period, lookout towers and fortification walls were built in the current Casalattico, now absorbed by the construction of houses. In fact, we find the tower of the bell tower at the center of the town and the remains of a halved tower on the side facing Casalvieri. At the conclusion of the fortification and castle-building work, the Comino Valley gained greater peace and defensive security. The entire territory was revitalized through a great flourishing of agricultural activities. The Church strengthened its presence and increased its land holdings with numerous donations from nobles and private individuals.
The Renaissance
In 1439, Pope Eugenius IV added Casale and Montattico to the county of Arpino and during the same century the two centers were first subjected to Bernardo Gaspare d’Aquino and then to Giovanni della Rovere.
In 1583, Giacomo Boncompagni purchased the state of Arpino, of which Casalattico was dependent. With the Boncompagni, the political center of their state became the city of Sora and the two main fractions of Casale and Montattico were united into a single municipality with Casalvieri.
Modern Age
At the beginning of the 1600s, the monastery of San Nazario was completely abandoned and over time it would probably be demolished by the local inhabitants who would use it for the construction of new houses.
In the early 1800s, bandits appeared in Casalattico, killing and robbing: among the victims was the young 20-year-old Isabella Taddei, whose death was long attributed to the famous bandit Fra’ Diavolo. According to a popular version, the bandit attacked the beautiful girl and, after being rejected, he stabbed her.
After the Thousand expedition, the farmers aligned themselves with the Bourbon regime because the “gentlemen” were liberal; the demonstration of September 25, 1860 was famous when the populations of Casalattico, Montattico and the whole area lit large bonfires in favor of Francis II.
In 1926, Casalattico became a municipality, passing from the province of Caserta to that of Frosinone.
During World War II, the country was in the immediate rear of the Cassino front: it hosted refugees, collaborated with the resistance, gave rise to various initiatives of struggle and the people were not spared from German raids and many Allied bombings. All the districts were evacuated to the neighboring countries except for Mortale (the current Monforte) where almost the entire community was deported on March 5, 1944 to the Cesano concentration camp.