Archaeological survey carried out a few years ago in the territory of Malafede – loc. Valle Porcina (Acilia RM), led to the discovery of a Roman villa, signalled by a dense concentration of terracotta and building materials. The excavations, fruit of a collaboration between the Soprintendenze archeologica di Ostia and Soprintendenza comunale di Roma, have revealed the remains of a villa strategically located on the summit of a hill (50 meters above sea level) that dominates the Fosso del Fontanile.
The villa, organized around an atrium, contained both a residential and a productive sector. The residential portion of the villa contained a small bath complex, from which were recovered impressive fragments of stucco and painted wall plaster. Due to the near-total destruction of the pavements, it has been possible to gather much information on the drainage systems inside the building.
The study of the walls and ceramic evidence suggests that the building was in use from the first century BC until the second century AD; coinciding with the period in which occupation of this territory was at its height. (Lucia Suaria-Rossella Zaccagnini)