Hellenistic Villa and Roman Vicus at Vagnari, Italy
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Hellenistic villa and Roman vicus at Vagnari, Italy Maureen Carroll University of Sheffield Rome’s expansionist activities against Land conquered by the Romans in Italy independent Italic groups and the deadly became common property of the Roman conflicts with Hannibal culminated in the state (ager publicus), however the impact 3rd century B.C. in the annexation of the of the annexation on the culture, society, territories of southern Italy reaching to and economy of the conquered the Adriatic Sea. Apulia, one of these populations can only be measured territories, had long been a zone of through archaeological exploration and commercial and cultural exchange the examination of material culture between inland and coastal sites, and it assemblages, as such details were of no was particularly sought after by Rome. interest to Roman historians who only One of Apulia’s indigenous population felt compelled to record Roman historical groups in the Iron Age, the Peuceti, lost events and names. their independence to the Romans, their major settlement at Botromagno The site of Vagnari in Peucetian territory (Gravina) being taken and all but is crucially important in helping us to abandoned in the 3rd century B.C. understand what might have happened after the conquest. The pottery collected by Carola and Alastair Small during field- walking around Vagnari in 2000 pointed to a break in occupation in the early 3rd century, and we know that there was a flourishing settlement here belonging to the emperor in the Roman imperial period. The University of Sheffield has been exploring it since 2012. But excavations in the last two years have shown that the area around Vagnari had Map of Apulia and Lucania showing the location not been devoid of settlement or people of Vagnari for the whole period between the Roman conquest and the establishment of the The abandonment of settlements in the imperial estate. An assessment this 3rd century may have been the case summer of the ceramics from storage pits elsewhere amongst the Peuceti, as very found at Vagnari in 2016 makes it clear recent excavations by the University of that there was a ‘Hellenistic’ settlement Milan at Jazzo Fornasiello near Gravina of the 2nd century B.C. here, perhaps a indicate. It is difficult to be certain villa or a farmstead, and that it was whether this happened everywhere in inhabited into the mid-1st century B.C. A Apulia, however, due to the lack of revival of occupation and economic widespread archaeological exploration. activity at Vagnari is now certain. The pottery of this first post-conquest Another small, but informative, pottery phase of the 2nd century at Vagnari assemblage found in 2016 suggested that included perfume flasks, oil lamps, plates, there was renewed activity at Vagnari in cups, and bowls. Most of these vessels the early 1st century A.D. which very likely and fabrics are widespread throughout was connected with the foundation of the Greek colonies and Italic settlements the imperial estate. Further work on the of southern Italy and Sicily, but they also ceramics of this period found in 2017 will occur in areas around Rome. Although provide clarity on the precise chronology some black gloss pottery was present, of the imperial acquisition of Vagnari and the largest group of vessels of this phase shed light on a possible influx of new consisted of grey gloss pottery, made in imperial settlers in the vicus. southern Italy, possibly at the Greek colony at Metaponto on the south coast. Excavating a back-filled storage pit containing pottery of the early 1st century A.D. Ceramic vessels and loom weights of the 2nd-1st century B.C. We are now in a good position to explore the nature of Roman imperialistic At the moment, our working hypothesis expansion in Apulia after the conquest in is that the establishment of a settlement the 3rd century B.C. The new evidence of in the 2nd-century B.C. and the associated human occupation in the 2nd century B.C. exploitation of state-owned property at is of special importance. In the coming Vagnari may have been the result of year, we will explore how the wealthy Romans seeking “partly by appropriation of the site by the emperor purchase and partly by force”, according in the 1st century A.D. contributed to to Appian (Civil Wars 1.7), to establish changes in population and landscapes at revenue bases in southern Italy. These Vagnari. individuals, and their families, “became extremely rich” by colonising “vast tracts” of the undistributed common Acknowledgements property of the Roman state far from I should like to thank the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies for supporting Rome; this led to a political and agrarian research at Vagnari. I thank the Soprintendenza crisis in the 130s B.C. in Italy. The people per i Beni Archeologici della Puglia for the who were living and working in the pre- excavation permit and Dr. Mario de Gemmis- imperial settlement at this time at Pellicciari for permission to work on his land. The Vagnari, however, might have been local British School at Rome was a valuable partner in supporting the excavation. I am grateful also to Peuceti or Roman slaves or a mixture of the Department of Archaeology at the University the two. of Sheffield. BIBLIOGRAPHY Carroll, M. (2014) Vagnari 2012: New Work in the vicus by the University of Sheffield, in A.M. Small (ed.), Beyond Vagnari. New Themes in the Study of Roman South Italy. Bari: Edipuglia, 79-88 Carroll, M. (2016) Vagnari. Is this the winery of Rome’s greatest landowner?, Current World Archaeology 76: 30-33 Carroll, M. and Prowse, T. (2014) Exploring the vicus and the necropolis at the Roman Imperial Estate at Vagnari (Comune di Gravina in Puglia, Provincia di Bari, Regione Puglia). Papers of the British School at Rome 82: 353-356 Carroll, M. and Prowse, T. (2016) Research at the Roman Imperial Estate at Vagnari, Puglia (Comune di Gravina in Puglia, Provincia di Bari, Regione Puglia). Papers of the British School at Rome 84: 333- 336 Castoldi, M. (ed.) (2017) I Peuceti a Jazzo Fornasiello. Scavi archeologi a Jazza Fornasiello, Gravina di Puglia. Milan: ET Edizioni Prowse, T. and Carroll, M. (2015) Research at Vagnari (Comune di Gravina in Puglia, Provincia di Bari, Regione Puglia). Papers of the British School at Rome 83: 324-326 Small, A.M. (ed.) (2012) Vagnari. Il villaggio, l’artigianato, la proprietà imperiale. Bari: Edipuglia .