The evocative site of Villamagna, rising in lovely solitude against the steep wooded backdrop of the Monti Lepini, has enormous importance; but its imperial villa, known from the letters of Marcus Aurelius, has been largely ignored until recently, with interest focusing upon the medieval monastery that occupied the site. This volume presents the fascinating story of the site, from imperial villa, to a late antique successor, monastic complex, village, cemetery and late medieval castrum. Detailed, systematic study of the site and setting by non-invasive techniques and excavation has offered the scope to address a series of major questions; and the results are interpreted, setting them in the context of the documentary history of the site and its immediate neighbourhood, and of the broader history of central Italy, from around the first century through to the fourteenth. Each period of the site is considered separately, with the buildings described and the related finds (including pottery, glass, bones and environmental data) discussed. The volume will be of great importance for all scholars of Roman and medieval Italy.

The remarkable extent, state of preservation and monuments of Ocriculum make this one of the most important archaeological sites in ancient Italy. Located close to the river Tiber, north of Rome on the Via Flaminia, many travellers were drawn to Otricoli and its landscape, lured by its beauty. Significant monumental remains of the Roman town are still visible: the amphitheatre, the theatre, the forum area, basilica, baths and nymphaeum. Academic studies devoted to this important town are many, and this volume represents a further contribution to our understanding of the ancient town. Here are published the results of the urban survey in 2002–5. Field survey was coupled with a geophysical survey that has identified new features. This work adds greatly to our understanding of the ancient town and tells a different story to that usually told of Roman towns in terms of scale, layout and organization, as well as architectural and sculptural finds; and thus contributes significantly to debate on Roman urbanism. With contributions by Luana Cenciaioli, Sophy Downes, Rose Ferraby, Enrico Floridi, Shawn Graham, Salvatore Piro, Tim Sly, Lacey M. Wallace, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and Sabrina Zampini

During the nineteenth century, antiquarians such as William Gell and George Dennis visited the ancient city of Veii, some 15 km north of Rome, and noted the rapid destruction of its archaeology. The city continued under to be under threat, and in the 1950s was the subject of ground-breaking survey and excavation by John Ward-Perkins. However, the results of his fieldwork were never published fully. Knowledge and understanding of material culture (especially pottery, votive objects and architectural terracottas) has increased dramatically over the past fifty years, so allowing the authors to reveal the full potential of the data. This publication reaffirms many of Ward-Perkins’s original insights, and contextualizes his research within the new discoveries of the past fifty years; whilst an important contribution to our knowledge, it is also a spur to further work.

The destruction of Pompeii in ad 79 provides a unique opportunity to explore the use of everyday items. It allows us to identify the source and variety of products available within the city, and enables us to track changes in the consumption of goods over time. In this volume, Jaye McKenzie-Clark presents the far-reaching results of her examination of the red slip tableware within three regions of the city. It pinpoints the initial supply and use of Vesuvian Sigillata, and investigates factors that may have led to the popularity of this style of pottery. The investigation maps the on-going manufacture of these ceramics and identifies changes in production and consumption up to the time of the eruption. Examination of the distribution within contexts of different social use also reveals distinct patterns of consumer demands and consumption within Pompeian society. Such research helps us to explore and understand the use of goods within the city of Pompeii and throughout the Roman world, and also has the potential to shed light on patterns of behaviour in modern consumer societies.

The San Vincenzo Project began in 1980 as a collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archaeologica del Molise. Its initial focus was the small frescoed crypt of 'San Lorenzo' (later known as the Crypt Church), which was in urgent need of conservation. Over the following eighteen years, a large multidisciplinary project was undertaken involving archaeologists, historians and art historians. This consisted of major open-area excavations of the early medieval monastery, of which the celebrated crypt proved to be a modest funerary oratory at the northern limits of the site. The project also involved a study of settlement history in the Upper Volturno valley. This book presents the finds of this excavation.

The San Vincenzo Project, focused upon the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, in central Italy, was launched in 1980. In addition to developing the archaeological potential of the well-known ninth-century painted crypt of San Lorenzo and to defining the general character of the early medieval monastery, a major aim of the project was through a combination of survey and small-scale excavation within the territory to define the relationship between the early medieval monastery and its dependent communities. This volume summarizes the archaeology of the territory, placing emphasis upon the long settlement history of which San Vincenzo al Volturno was a part, as well as the dependent communities of the Benedictine monastery identified during the fieldwork. The volume includes an overview of the 1980-1 field survey (including investigations of the castelli in the upper Volturno valley and the survey and excavations on Monte Mare); the principal results of the extensive excavations on the east bank of the river, including the Samnite cemetery and vicus, the Samnite and Roman settlement, the early medieval industrial complex and borgo, as well as the twelfth-century monastery; reports on excavations at two hilltop sites, Colle Castellano and Colle Sant'Angelo. In addition, there are essays on the San Vincenzo community in Capua; on the upper Volturno valley in Roman times; a reconsideration of late antique San Vincenzo and an assessment of the upper Volturno valley in the early Middle Ages.

In AD 42, the Emperor Claudius initiated work on the construction of a new artificial harbour a short distance to the north of the mouth of the Tiber. The harbour facilities were enlarged at the instigation of the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the second century AD, and Portus remained the principal port for the City of Rome into the Byzantine period. The surviving archaeological remains and comments by ancient sources make it clear that Portus lay at the heart of Rome's maritime façade. As well as being a key Mediterranean centre for passengers and for the loading, unloading, transshipment and storage of products from across the Empire, it was also designed to make an ideological statement about the supremacy of Rome in the world. Portus is, thus, of key importance to understanding Rome and her relationship to the Empire. The project that forms the subject of this book was designed to use non-destructive techniques of topographic and geophysical survey in combination with systematic surface collection to provide a new understanding of the plan of Portus. The work was undertaken between 1997 and 2002 as a collaboration between the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia, the British School at Rome, and the Universities of Southampton, Durham and Cambridge. This volume presents the full results of the survey and uses them as the basis for a re-evaluation of the whole port complex. The geophysical survey results are interpreted in the context of earlier work at the site in order to offer new perspectives on the character and development of the site.

This collection of seventeen essays explores the dramatic changes in Western conceptions of the body, encompassing the cultural shifts that occurred across Empire, religion and science, from antiquity to the eighteenth century.

Archives and Excavations aims to stimulate a new approach to the history of excavation by drawing attention to a vast and important area of research that has been neglected for almost a century.

Few river valleys can claim the historical importance of the Tiber, and an understanding of the river and its valley is key to an understanding of Rome and its place in the ancient world. When Rome was in its ascendancy, the Tiber became a vital route for communication and trade, but when Rome went into decline, the Tiber became a buffer-zone between Rome and Byzantium. This ebb and flow, with the associated reorganisation of social, political and economic life are themes central to any study of Roman civilisation. The 19 papers published in this volume were first presented at two workshops at the British School at Rome, in 1997 and '98. These workshops came about as part of the Tiber Valley Project, which aims to examine the changing landscapes on both sides of the valley from 1000 BC to AD 1300. English and Italian text.

Thomas Ashby (1874-1931), the first scholar and third Director of the British School at Rome died at a tragically young age when he fell from a train. His 'Roman Campagna in Classical Times' remains a classic work of topographic research. This book, written by another former Director, tells the story of his life as an academic, as the Director responsible for building the British School at Rome in the Valle Giulia, as an ambulance driver in the First World War, as an avid photographer and, in the author's view, as the victim of the British tendency towards dark moral judgement.

As part of a long-term survey of southern Etruria, the site of Monte Gelato, about 30 km north of Rome, was excavated from 1986-90. An exceptionally rich stratigraphy provided excavators with a detailed occupation narrative. An Augustan villa where dormice were eaten and eels kept as pets was abandoned in the early 3rd century AD. Sporadic settlements on the `frontier zone' of Lombard incursions were succeeded by the establishment of a fortified ecclesiastical centre and papal estate in the 9th century AD. Two major issues shaped the project design: firstly the chronology of the abandonment of Roman villas and the move to fortified castelli and secondly, the cycles of isolation from and linkage to Rome which continue to affect this beautiful area of Italy.

This volume presents the second part of the detailed report on the British School at Rome's excavations between 1980 and 1986 at the early medieval Benedictine abbey of San Vincenzo in Molise, central Italy. It contains discussion of the Vestibule, the Assembly Room containing the reconstructed wall of painted prophets, the Refectory, the terraces, the hilltop cemetery, and the late Roman settlement. It also includes essays on the historical context of the site: Christians and countrymen' (Samuel Barnish) , Monastic lands and monastic patrons' (Chris Wickham) , and `San Vincenzo and the Plan of Saint Gall' (Richard Hodges) .

This is the first of a number of volumes describing the 1980-86 excavations at the early medieval Benedictine abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno in central Italy. This volume gives a general introduction to this important project, a description of the archaeological remains, and then detailed accounts of the excavation of the Carolingian Crypt Church, the `South Church', the Refectory, the Garden Court and the Entrance Hall. Also included is a reappraisal of the cycle of paintings in the crypt in the light of the excavations.

This volume presents the evidence uncovered by the BSR between 1965 and 1974 for the Iron Age city of Silvium and for the Roman settlement that succeeded it. It concentrates especially on the defences of the city of the late 4th century BC which were partially destroyed by the Romans in 307 or 306 BC and on the economic and social transformations of the middle 2nd century BC.