Aquino is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of Italy, 12 kilometres (7 mi) northwest of Cassino.

[citation needed] After the Roman conquest in the 4th century BC, Aquinum became an important commercial and production centre situated on the ancient Via Latina.

In 125 BC the nearby town of Fregellae was destroyed and Aquinum grew to become the most important nucleus between Rome and Capua.

[3] Outside, on the south is a well-preserved 1st century BC triumphal arch with composite capitals, known as Arco di Marcantonio, and close to it the basilica of Santa Maria Libera, a 9th-century building in the Romanesque style erected over the remains of an ancient temple of Hercules Liberator, now roofless.

Several Roman inscriptions are built into it, and many others that have been found indicate the ancient importance of the place, which, though it does not appear in early history, is vouched for by Cicero and Strabo.