Geophysical and topographical survey was undertaken at Capena, which forms part of the ‘Roman Towns in the Middle and Lower Tiber Valley Project’. The results build upon earlier work, and provide new information about the layout and development of the site between c. the eighth century BC and the late antique period. The geophysics revealed that the ancient settlement was structured around a road system that followed the ridge of La Civitucola, with branch roads opening off it. They also suggest that in the archaic period the site probably occupied some 3 ha, expanding to c. 8.7 ha under the Republic and then contracting to c. 6 ha in the Imperial period. Ancient structures appear at the western end of the site, around the standing structure of Il Castellaccio, where they are possibly related to the forum of the town, and at a much lower level at the eastern end of the site. Overall the results suggest that while Capena may have been a relatively small town when compared to centres like Falerii Novi, it was probably still quite densely occupied and played an important regional administrative role.

This work was undertaken in order to investigate a representative sample of the structures, situated at the centre of the site, and still demarcated by the remains of an ancient monumental building known locally as “Il Castellaccio”. During the first season (2007) two trenches were opened (A and B) in correspondence with the geophysical results obtained by Keay et al. These trenches confirmed the presence of the ancient buildings and, on the basis of the materials in the surface deposits, confirmed that the site was occupied for about 1200 years. During the 2010 season excavations continued in area B and it was extended with the aim of clarifying the functions and chronology of the late Roman complex excavated in previous years. Given that it was protected, at least in part, by material dumped following the site’s abandonment, it was still in a very good state of preservation. Following the enlargement of area B by 2 m towards the west and 2m to the north, it became fairly clear that the structure includes the remains of two parallel rooms. The room on the south side was part of a baths, paved with terracotta slabs (very well-preserved and probably originally below a hypocaust). The northern room (not completely excavated) overlay a wide tufa wall of early imperial date, which crossed the trench on a south-west alignment. This wall seemed to be part of a large podium construction including at least one other wall on a north-east alignment, a fact which may indicate that this was a monumental a cellae construction. This structure had deep foundations that were easily datable thanks to the substantial quantity of pottery found. To date where it has been possible to excavate below the level of the later structures (a difficult task given the latter’s very good state of preservation) large paving slabs of hard tufa have come to light, part of the imperial complex. Some remains of this same floor was also identified in trench A (south of the present excavation area) and on the same level. This suggests that this was a complex, probably public, built on the highest part of the ancient town around the mid 1st century A.D. Therefore, with the late Roman complex, this monumental structure constitutes a very interesting discovery to be placed along side other examples of public building found in the 1930s in the eastern part of the ‘Civitucola’. It now appears clear that ancient Capena continued to flourish despite its proximity to Lucus Feroniae. Together the Roman phases constitute an unprecedented result at Capena and will make a very significant contribution to the understanding of the history of ancient urbanisation in central Italy. In addition, the large quantity of artefacts ( and their excellent state of preservation) will shed light on the dating of regional and local material culture ( mainly pottery and metal artefacts) which will be of great importance for future archaeological research in this part of Italy. Furthermore, the preservation of organic material will facilitate the analysis of floral and faunal remains, to which little attention in has generally been paid in central Italian archaeology. Of particular interest among the finds recovered during the last campaign are the architectural terracottas found in a fill, dating to diverse periods.

During the 2011 excavation campaign, the team continued to excavate within the area extended at the end of the previous season. The three main objectives were, first, to expose the late Roman and early Imperial walls covered by a post-occupational layer of building debris; second, to establish the phasing of the site’s stratigraphy; and, third, to establish the type of the site’s final occupation. For the most part, all three objectives were met: occupation layers were exposed across the site, and the presence of early ‘Forum Ware’ in an abandonment layer below the debris indicated that the latter (amongst which some fragments of the same type were also found) was probably formed during the early Mediaeval period, in what appear to have been three (and, in some parts of the site, four) distinct depositional activities. By contrast, the final layer of occupation contained some diagnostic sherds of late sigillata, which confirms our previous assumption that the site was occupied before the Mediaeval period. At the same time, however, it also lowers the date of the final occupation significantly, which some scholars had previously argued to have ended during or shortly after the late third century AD. Yet, some uncertainty remains with regard to the site’s final use: while the interpretation of the southern room (excavated in 2009) as a bath-house provisionally stands, the function of the floor in the area adjacent to it is not entirely clear, although, as the presence of shallow, drain- and basin-like features cut into the hardened surface suggests, it may have involved water or other fluids. In addition, one built feature could be interpreted as a cistern-mouth: as this was over-built by a wall during the final phase of the site’s occupation, however, it is currently impossible to define its function for certain. Moreover, none of the very few artefacts found in the occupational layers contain any further evidence relating to the question of the site’s use, and only a further extension of the area during the next season can lead to more clarity. Although the quality of the floors and walls do not permit deeper excavation in most parts of the site, it will, in addition, be possible, to excavate several key-holes which should throw further light on the previous history of occupation.