Italian archaeologists believe they have found an ancient city where the demi-gods Castor and Pollux fought Aeneas, the Trojan hero whose descendants founded Rome .

Lorenzo and Stefania Quilici of Bologna and Naples universities claim the large, massive-walled settlement dating from the VI to III Century BCE was the city of Amyclae, believed by Renaissance scholars to be somewhere near Lake Fondi between Rome and Naples .

"The road there is a perfectly preserved stretch of the ancient Via Appia," said Lorenzo Quilici .

"After a tough climb we found the remains of the old city, which appears to have been destroyed by an earthquake, given the way the rocks have tumbled onto one another" .

"The size of the settlement - 33 hectares - made us think of a city that left its mark on the area," Stefania Quilici said .

That is when they began to think of Amyclae, a city founded by the twin sons of Zeus Castor and Pollux whose Spartan followers clashed with Aeneas .

In the Aeneid, the epic poem recounting Aeneas's voyage from Troy to Italy, Virgil does not say exactly where the city was .

But many scholars think it is buried under a town of the same name in Greece. The ancient settlement discovered by the Quilicis sits atop a heavily wooded hill in the Aurunci National Park .

Rome archaeological director Anna Maria Reggiani said: "It's safe for the moment from incursions because it's in such an impervious zone" .

"But we'll have to wait for funding in order to start a dig" .