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Excavation

  • Villa di Tito or Terme di Tito
  • Paterno
  • Cutilia (Lacus Cutiliae)
  • Italy
  • Lazio
  • Province of Rieti
  • Castel SantAngelo

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Credits

  • The Italian Database is the result of a collaboration between:

    MIBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per i Beni Archeologici),

    ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) and

    AIAC (Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica).

  • AIAC_logo logo

Summary (English)

  • The so-called Villa di Tito/Terme di Tito is a monumental site situated above Lago di Paterno (ancient lacus Cutiliae) in the territory of Castel Sant’Angelo (RI).

    The 2018 field season (May and June), was a year of reconnaissance at the site in preparation for several subsequent years of archaeological research. Based on the results of Alvino’s excavations in 2010/2011, we wanted to test the hypothesis that the so-called Villa of Titus is indeed a villa. We also wanted to get a handle on the stratigraphy, extent, phasing, and dating of the site. To accomplish this, we extended Alvino’s trenches to the west along a massive concrete terrace structure, conserved by the Villa Giulia in the 1980s and 1990s and described by Persichetti in the 19th century. Our results are consistent with Alvino’s hypothesis and there is no indication that the structure was a bath complex. The rooms unearthed in Alvino’s excavation and those we discovered in 2018 are arranged on either side of a long east-west running corridor, and include rooms with black and white mosaics and painted wall plaster, both badly damaged during the site’s final occupation phase and post-abandonment.

    The stratigraphic and artefactual data, including a tile stamped “CERDO VOLUM · L · S· F”, suggest that the building was originally constructed in the mid to late first century BC, with renovations in the mid to late first century AD, and a major reworking of the structure at some point after that, likely in the fourth through sixth century AD. This final phase saw the insertion of new dry masonry walls within the structure and the construction of at least one wooden hut as well, indicating a significant change in function. Construction activity associated with this final phase did significant damage to earlier structures within the building.

    Of particular note, our excavations revealed the presence of a large, monumental reception space inserted into the structure as part of the first century AD renovation. The northern end of this room contains a large apsidal niche in opus latericium that may have functioned as a nymphaeum (more excavation is necessary here). Massive pieces of masonry collapse within the room indicate a vaulted ceiling, and the northern wall, which also serves as the northern limit of the building, is preserved to a height of almost 3 metres. The room, which sits roughly in the middle of the terrace structure, may have been a central reception or display space within the property.
    Cursory surface survey, in anticipation of a future intensive survey of the site, corroborates gpr data from 2011, which indicate the presence substantial subsurface remains to the immediate east of the concrete terrace structure, evidence that the settlement comprised multiple large structures. We found large pieces of Roman period concrete masonry on the surface, roof tiles, and semi-reticulate facing stones almost identical to those used in the concrete terrace structure.

  • Myles McCallum, Saint Mary’s University (Canada) 
  • Martin Beckmann, McMaster University (Canada) 
  • Simone Nardelli, Mibact 
  • Matt Munro, University of Calgary (Canada)  

Director

  • Martin Beckmann, McMaster University (Canada)
  • Myles McCallum, Saint Mary’s University (Canada)

Team

  • Christa Brosseau, Saint Mary’s University
  • Angela Trentacoste, Oxford University
  • Francesca Santini, Mibact
  • Peter Wigand, University of Nevada, Reno
  • Matt Munro, University of Calgary (Canada)
  • Simone Nardelli, Mibact
  • Danika Van Proosidj, Saint Mary’s University
  • Marco di Lieto, Lieto and C SRL, Matera

Research Body

  • McMaster University
  • Saint Mary’s University

Funding Body

  • Comune di Castel Sant’Angelo
  • McMaster University
  • Saint Mary’s University

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