Teate, Archaeological site in Chieti, Italy

Teate is the ancient Marrucini centre on the Civitella hill above Chieti, with a Roman theatre of 5,000 seats and 80 metres in diameter, an amphitheatre of 60x40 metres holding 4,000, and the temple of the Dioscuri, over which the church of San Paolo was built in the 8th century. Its forum lay at today's Piazza Templi Romani, and the main street ran along today's Corso Marrucino.

Teate was the main centre of the Marrucini, an Italic people, and existed from the Iron Age, as tombs found there show. It became a Roman municipium after the Social War and was known as Teate Marrucinorum, enrolled in the Regio IV Samnium after joining the Italic League of Corfinium. Building expanded under Augustus and the Julio-Claudians, helped by figures such as Asinio Pollione and the Vezii family.

The name Teate comes from the Marrucini, the Italic people whose capital it was; the Greeks called it Teatea. The main temple of the forum stood on the site of today's Piazza dei Templi Romani, and the Tempio dei Dioscuri was later turned into the church of San Paolo, deconsecrated in 1927 for excavations. In the theatre's stage curtain, completed in 1818, the triumph of Asinio Pollione was depicted.

The best way to explore the ancient city is in the Civitella district, where the original Roman street layout remains visible in how the modern streets are arranged. It helps to bring a map or hire a local guide, since the remains are scattered across the city and not always clearly marked.

Under the 1930 Palazzo delle Poste lies a fourth sacred building of the forum, found with its sacred well; the temple of the Dioscuri nearby became the church of San Paolo in the 8th century, deconsecrated in 1927 for excavations.