Roman Villas in Central Italy CSCT-30-marzano.indd i 5-6-2007 16:11:48 Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition Editorial Board William V. Harris (Editor) Eugene F. Rice, jr., Alan Cameron, Suzanne Said Kathy H. Eden, Gareth D. Williams VOLUME 30 CSCT-30-marzano.indd ii 5-6-2007 16:11:48 Roman Villas in Central Italy A Social and Economic History By Annalisa Marzano LEIDEN • BOSTON 2007 CSCT-30-marzano.indd iii 5-6-2007 16:11:48 Cover illustration: Fiano Romano, Volusii Saturnini Villa: lararium (photo: A. Marzano). This book is printed on acid-free paper. ISSN 0166-1302 ISBN 978 90 04 16037 8 © Copyright 2007 by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York Published by Brill. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. 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Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CSCT-30-marzano.indd iv 5-6-2007 16:11:48 To my Mother, Who did not live to see this work completed and Whose inner strength and wisdom I hope to have in part inherited Sei tu ora come un gabbiano, che alto si libra nel cielo terso contemplando l’azzurra distesa del mare ammantata d’un gran brillio di sole MARZANO_f1_v-xv.indd v 6/8/2007 11:00:00 AM MARZANO_f1_v-xv.indd vi 6/8/2007 11:00:00 AM CONTENTS Preface ......................................................................................... ix Abbreviations .............................................................................. xi List of Illustrations ...................................................................... xiii Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Chapter One. Villae Maritimae .................................................... 13 The Villa Maritima in Ancient Literary Sources ..................... 15 The Archaeological Evidence ................................................. 33 Chapter Two. Villae Maritimae as Economic Enterprises ........... 47 Fish-breeding and salinae ........................................................ 47 Figlinae and Agriculture ........................................................... 63 Real-Estate Speculation .......................................................... 75 Chapter Three. Villae Rusticae and the Ideological Realm ........ 82 The Villa Rustica in Ancient Literary Sources ........................ 85 Chapter Four. The Archaeology of Rural Villas ....................... 102 Wool and Textile Production ................................................. 121 Chapter Five. The “Villa Schiavistica” Model ............................. 125 Reinterpreting the Archaeological Data ................................ 129 “Ergastula” in Country Villas .................................................. 148 Chapter Six. Villa Topography: Infrastructure and Imperial Villas ............................................................................................ 154 Villas and Infrastructure ......................................................... 156 Villas and Imperial Properties ................................................ 171 Chapter Seven. Villa Topography and Involvement with Neighbors .................................................................................... 176 Chapter Eight. The Chronology of Villas and the Second-century “Crisis” ............................................................. 199 MARZANO_f1_v-xv.indd vii 6/8/2007 11:00:00 AM viii contents Conclusions ................................................................................. 223 Catalogue .................................................................................... 235 Introduction to the Catalogue ................................................ 237 Latium ..................................................................................... 247 Tuscany ................................................................................... 649 Umbria .................................................................................... 709 Index of Villa Sites ................................................................. 741 List of Villa Plans ................................................................... 755 Appendix A. Chronology of Villa Sites ..................................... 759 Appendix B. Data for Villa Sites in Latium .............................. 770 Appendix C. Data for Villa Sites in Tuscany ............................ 779 Appendix D. Data for Villa Sites in Umbria ............................. 788 Bibliography ................................................................................ 797 General Index ............................................................................. 817 Index Locorum ........................................................................... 821 MARZANO_f1_v-xv.indd viii 6/8/2007 11:00:00 AM PREFACE Villas, or elite residences combining residential and productive functions, were a distinctive feature of Roman society, and as such have been studied from a range of perspectives by modern scholars. From studies focusing on architecture or the cultural aspects of the otium practiced in villa, to those on the socio-historical conditions that allowed the emergence of a particular mode of exploitation of the land in Roman Italy (the villa-system) or on villas as an indicator of Romanization in the provinces, Roman villas have acquired a symbolic connotation in modern studies, perhaps as vivid as the symbolism attached to them in the ancient mentality and writings. This book aims at tracing the “villa-universe” in its social and eco- nomic manifestations, and the changes occurring over time through an interdisciplinary approach which brings together documentary sources and archaeological data. It focuses on Central Italy, which was the privi- leged area for the development and diffusion of the villa, and analyzes within an historical narrative the data available on a large number of sites, contrasting them with the ideological constructs of the literary sources. Although several monographs exist on individual villa-sites in this geographic area, or on economic trends and settlement patterns picked up by survey projects, a synthesis focusing on the role of villas in Roman society, contextualizing the abundant archaeological record with the aid of the documentary sources, has not previously been attempted. The present study aims at lling this gap. This book is based on a PhD dissertation completed at Columbia University, New York, as part of the program in Classical Studies. Many people have assisted me in the process, rst the completion of the dis- sertation and then its transformation into a book, offering critical advice and suggestions, and I wish to take this opportunity to thank them. William V. Harris offered his invaluable criticism and ideas as super- visor of the thesis, and I am also very grateful for his continued sup- port since I left Columbia University. Natalie Kampen and Clemente Marconi always offered very useful comments and suggestions on the thesis in progress, and together with the remaining members of my examining committee, Alan Cameron and Michel Peachin, had many suggestions as to how the thesis might best be turned into a book. MARZANO_f1_v-xv.indd ix 6/8/2007 11:00:01 AM x preface Since the time of the defense, I have bene ted greatly from discussion with people who read parts of the manuscript and heard papers based upon it at conferences in the United States and Europe. The interac- tion with colleagues and graduate students here at Oxford University has been particularly stimulating during revision of the manuscript for publication. I especially wish to thank Andrew Wilson, for having the strength and will to read an earlier draft, and offering detailed com- ments and useful suggestions, after the long days of work spent in the \ eld during our excavation campaign in Benghazi. Last but not least, I wish to thank my husband, Mehmet Deniz Öz, for his support, encouragement, and for the many sleepless nights spent helping me in preparing the plans that accompany the catalogue: seni seviyorum. Annalisa Marzano Institute of Archaeology University of Oxford MARZANO_f1_v-xv.indd x 6/8/2007 11:00:01 AM ABBREVIATIONS AE L’Année Épigraphique AJA American Journal of Archaeology AnalRom Analecta Romana Instituti Danici AnnÉconSocCiv Annales: économies, sociétés, civilisations AnnPerugia Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e Filoso a, Università degli studi di Perugia ANRW H. Temporini (ed.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. Berlin 1972– ArchCl Archeologia Classica ArchLaz Archeologia laziale. Incontri di Studio del Comitato per l’Archeologia laziale ATTA Atlante Tematico di Topogra\ a dell’Italia Antica, series directed and edited by L. Quilici and S. Quilci Gigli. Rome ATTASup Atlante Tematico di Topogra\ a dell’Italia Antica. Supplementi. Rome BABesch Bulletin antieke beschaving. Annual Papers on Classical Archaeology BAR British Archaeological Reports