During work undertaken prior to the parcelling out of land, in the locality of “Campo Giordano” at Vetralla, the Archaeological Superintendency of South Etruria excavated a considerable stretch of the ancient via Cassia. This lay between the stationes of Vicus Matrini, at the edge of the territory of Capranica (VT) and that of Forum Cassii near the hamlet of Tre Croci at Vetralla (VT), both mentioned on the Tabula Peutingeriana.

This stretch of road was situated close to the funerary monument indicated as no. 178 on the archaeological map of Vicus Matrini, known locally as the “Torrone”, which stands in correspondence with the western side of the ancient consular road. Given the absence of visible remains of the road above ground and the Roman custom of placing such monuments beside roads, the tomb constituted evidence for the presence of the via Cassia in this territory. In this stretch, the road was preserved, in situ, for about 70 m and was only 2.45-2.50 m wide. It was perfectly straight and showed signs of repeated restoration at various times during its very long period of use. It was used uninterruptedly and eventually became part of the famous via Francigena or Romea used by pilgrims who from Canterbury or the heart of Europe, made their way to Rome to visit St. Peter’s tomb.

The scant nature of the road, also preserved in stretches found in the localities of Mazzacotto and Pian di San Martino (Vetralla), seems to suggest that here, from the point of view of the ancient landscape, it ran through a wooded area. The deforestation prior to the building of the road must have presented a considerable undertaking for the craftsmen involved in the construction of a work whose technical characteristics were pared down to the minimum. Therefore, this section of road provides evidence for the existence of the dark and inextricable silva Cimina, mentioned by the ancient sources (cf. Liv. XI, 36: “Silva erat cimina magis tum invia atque orrenda quam nuper fuere germanici saltus”).

A segment of secondary road, on a west north-west/east south-east alignment was also identified. It probably joined the nearby consular road at an angle of about 70°. This small road, only 2 m wide and paved with smaller basoli, probably linked a nearby settlement to the main road network. It comes from the direction of the base of the hill on which stands the building known on the cadastral map as the “castle” of Campo Giordano.

The presence of a secondary road, coming from the base of the hill on which the castle stands, may provide new evidence for the antiquity of occupation on the rise, which during the 20th century underwent radical modification.