Geophysical surveys have allowed reconstruction of the sanctuary and its relationship to the theatre and other buildings. The special geographical position of the sanctuary appears particularly strategic within the Umbrian valley, at the branch of the Via Flaminia towards Perusia and in close relationship with the sanctuaries at Mevania, Vettona, Urvinum Hortense and Trebiae. The Umbrian and Tuscan peoples at this time were undefined as they had been Roman citizens for centuries but they clearly still had ancient traditions to celebrate. 306–337) the city was important enough to be appointed the seat of the annual meetings of the Umbrian peoples, using the sanctuary for the theatrical and gladiatorial games, which had previously taken place only in the Etruscan city of Volsinii, according to the rescript of the emperor recorded on a marble tablet found at the centre of the sanctuary. Under Augustus, monumentalisation was greatly enhanced with inclusion of the theatre, amphitheatre etc., on a Hellenistic sanctuary model, as at Tibur and Praenesta and other sites in Lazio. The site was monumentalised, at least in the south-eastern part towards the city, in the Republican age (2nd-1st century BC). The ancient sanctuary to the goddess Venus (or her Umbrian equivalent) was an important sacred place for Umbrian tribes from the 3rd c. It was located ouside the walls of the ancient city on a slope near the bottom of the Spello hill facing west as part of an impressive monumental layout. The ancient Sanctuary of Venus at Hispellum ( modern Spello) was a grandiose theatre-temple-amphitheatre complex, today located partially in the grounds of the Villa Fidelia to the northwest of the city.
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