The archaeological area of Nomentum-Eretum is situated in the locality of Tor Mancina at Monterotondo (Rome), within the area of the CREA and Macchia di Gattaceca and Macchia del Barco Reserve. The excavations uncovered a stretch of Roman road and associated cemetery area. The section of road was part of the via Nomentum-Eretum constituting the continuation of the via Nomentana, which having exited the urban centre of Nomentum joined the via Salaria at Eretum. Strabo called this stretch Nomentana. Travelling its last 3 km parallel to the via Salaria, it constituted an alternative to the latter, particularly in those periods of the year when the Piana Tiberina was flooded by the Tiber. At present uncovered for a length of 140 m, the section at Tor Mancina runs in a straight line towards the north and was built of limestone _basoli_, a material that is abundant in the area. There was a cemetery area on either side of the road, in use between the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D. and the 2nd-3rd centuries A.D. There were two phases characterised by the presence of different tomb types and spatial orientation. Six burials dated to the first phase, all well-built and situated in a clearly visible area facing the road. Two of them (nos. 1 and 4) were situated inside a private burial enclosure. The second phase was represented by twenty-six graves, which seem to have occupied the spaces left free by the first phase tombs, conditioned by pre-existing structures and mainly distributed within the burial enclosure. The processing of the archaeological data and typological analyses of the burials seem to suggest that the phase one burials were those of middle-high ranking individuals, while those in the graves seem to belong to the lower or poorer classes. The first were probably the owners of the nearby _villae_ _rusticae_, while in the second case the individuals were probably the slave workers from the villas. Area “Pietrara” This sector constitutes an extension to the archaeological area and was necessary to protect and investigate the structures that emerged during work to modernise the sewer system adjacent to the area. In fact, in 2014 another stretch of road surface belonging to the Nomentum-Eretum road and a well-made sewer system built of tufa were identified. The latter was obliterated by a large abandonment layer rich in pottery and other materials. Most of the materials were of everyday domestic use, dating to between the 1st century B.C. and the 5th century A.D., with a predominance of African productions, from the 3rd century A.D. onwards. The walls of a presumed room remain to be investigated.

The 2018 excavations concentrated on two main areas. The _Via_ _glareata_. The main element in the archaeological area is constituted by the continuation of the via Nomantana, which after reaching Nomentum continued north to rejoin the via Salaria at Eretum. A length of c. 140 m of this stretch, entirely paved in limestone basoli, has been exposed, which is flanked on both sides by a cemetery datable to between the 1st and 3rd centuries A.D. As the main function of this road was to serve the numerous rural villas that must have characterised the countryside of Nomentum, the presence of a side road (_via_ _glareata_) is not surprising, which from the main road must have led to a Roman cistern situated east of the area. To date, 15m of the side road have been excavated and it is formed by a beaten surface of small stones (limestone) mixed with clayey soil. Present among the stones were small basalt wedges, while stones of larger size were scattered across the entire road surface. The ceramic materials present date to between the late 2nd-1st century B.C. and the mid 4th century A.D. 2. The “Pietrara” sector. This sector is an extension to the archaeological area that was necessary to safeguard and investigate the structures that emerged during work on the sewer system of an apartment block adjacent to the archaeological area itself. This season, the area was extended further and new walls uncovered that showed the situation to be more complicated than previously thought. It was confirmed that the investigated area was characterised by the presence of a substantial abandonment layer with a light brown clayey-silt matrix present across the entire sector. The large amount of pottery present dates this phase to between the late 4th and the early 5th centuries A.D. Two rooms were identified relating to two different construction phases. Firstly, two walls forming a right angle with a facing of limestone _opus_ _incertum_ and white plaster, partially preserved. Later, in a period that remains to be dated, the building was extended to the north with the addition of a structure built of limestone _opus_ _incertum_. The area delimited by the latter was filled by several layers of collapse, as yet to be excavated.

Grazie all’ampliamento dei limiti del settore verso sud e alle ulteriori indagini stratigrafiche all’interno dei due ambienti individuati durante le scorse campagne è stato possibile confermare la presenza di un grande strato di matrice limo-argillosa di colore marrone chiaro ricco di frammenti ceramici collocabili tra la fine del I sec. a.C. e il V sec. d.C. e afferenti soprattutto alla sfera domestica e familiare. Tale evidenza, la cui formazione è collocabile dai materiali tra la fine del IV e gli inizi del V sec. d.C., risulta essere particolarmente interessante in quanto permette di collocare la fine d'uso della struttura proprio in età tardoantica. La presenza di materiali cronologicamente non antecedenti, almeno allo stato attuale delle indagini, al I sec. a.C. permetterebbe, seppure ancora in via ipotetica, di collocare tra la fine dell'età repubblicana/inizi età augustea la costruzione della struttura. Se le future indagini confermassero ciò, ci troveremmo dunque di fronte ad una struttura residenziale contemporanea all'attuale pavimentazione dell'arteria principale, la via Nomentum-Eretum, visibile per 140 m più a nord e, per una piccola parte, ad est delle strutture riportate in luce. Particolarmente interessanti sono state, infine, le indagini relative agli ambienti 1 e 2, già parzialmente individuati durante le due passate campagne e corrispondenti a due diverse fasi costruttive. Oltre ai dati forniti dai materiali rivenuti (tra cui, oltre ai resti ceramici, due frammenti di fistula plumbea, entrambi schiacciati e lunghi 0.55 m e 30 m circa, di cui uno con la scritta in rilievo FECIT) è stato infatti possibile appurare una differenza di quota tra i due ambienti: l’ambiente 1 (prima fase), infatti, doveva scendere ad una maggiore profondità rispetto alle strutture murarie dell’ambiente 2 (seconda fase), la cui costruzione ha avuto come conseguenza, evidentemente, un innalzamento di quota del piano di calpestio e un appoggio alle strutture della fase precedente. Fig. 1- Pietrara- Ambiente 1 (Fase 1) e Ambiente 2 (Fase 2) Fig. 2- Pietrara- Frammenti di fistulae plumbee, di cui una inscritta (FECIT)

This season’s excavations took place in the sector known by the toponym Pietrara. This constitutes an extension of the archaeological area that was opened in order to investigate structures that emerged during work on the drains belonging to a residence adjacent to the archaeological area. In fact, in 2014 another section of basalt paving belonging to the via Nomentum-Eretum and a drainage system made of tufa came to light. Further investigations in subsequent years identified a residential structure that is still being excavated. This year’s excavations extended the investigation of rooms 1 and 2, which correspond with two separate construction phases, providing new data for the understanding of their plans and internal layout. The north, west and east perimeter walls of room 1, which date to a first phase, had already been identified. This season, another wall on an east-west alignment dividing the room in two was found. Outside the room and abutting its west wall there was a semi-circular tile floor, which probably dates to this first phase or soon afterwards. In the full imperial period, the smaller room 2 was added to the north, making use of the north wall of room 1. As things stand, it may be suggested that a hydraulic structure identified in the north-eastern corner of room 2 belongs to this second phase. Although further excavation is needed, the remains of cement and _opus_ _signinum_, in addition to the presence of two small channels, together with materials for domestic and personal use (hair pins), suggest this could have been a _forica_. Only further investigation will be able to confirm, or otherwise, this first hypothesis.