Oldest Villa in Ancient Republican City Reveals Life Before and After Revolt

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Reported by Ancient Origins:

Almost a decade into a project examining the late Republican city of Fregellae, 100 kilometers (62.13 miles) from Rome, archaeologists have firmly pieced together the assault and devastation of the city in 125 BC. Unearthing the oldest villa in the region, belonging to a member of the local elite, findings have provided socio-economic insight into Roman military tactics, and the daily lives of the people who lived there before the siege.

Fregellae had revolted against the Roman Republic, only for their uprising to be quashed by Roman forces, with the city razed to the ground. A team of researchers from the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) and the University of Trier have revealed that the assault not only devastated the city but also obliterated the economic foundation of the local inhabitants.

“As a result,” the researchers note, “the region remained uninhabited for over 170 years,” they write in a press statement.

This year, the focus has shifted to a villa equipped with an agricultural production facility, alongside further exploration of a Roman military camp established during the siege of Fregellae. The villa was built approximately 80 years prior to the city’s destruction.

Investigations into the site, including archaeobotanical studies and the discovery of amphorae and storage vessels, have confirmed that the villa produced wine, fruit, and grain.

“The wine was probably not just for local consumption,” explains Prof Dr. Dominik Maschek, project manager at LEIZA.

“It is quite possible that it was traded within Mediterranean exchange networks as far as Spain and France. The cultivation of grain and fruit, on the other hand, was certainly intended for the local market.”

The violent destruction of the site by the Roman army marked the end of this agricultural production facility and resulted in the loss of livelihoods for its inhabitants. Maschek asserts that the violence and destruction affected the entire economic structure of the region, which made it into a literal rubbish dump, as evidenced by ceramic vessels from 50 AD along the site, reports LBV Magazine.

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