Rethinking the development of a Roman town
Surveying an ancient town in Italy has presented fresh insights into a key moment for Roman urbanism. Matthew Symonds spoke to Martin Millett about what can be learnt from studying an entire townscape.
The traditional story of the foundation of Falerii Novi is a dramatic one. This town lies in the Tiber valley, about 44km north of Rome, within the former territory of the Faliscans. Today, this group has been largely eclipsed in popular perceptions of Rome’s rise by their more famous neighbours, the Etruscans. Both groups, though, found themselves at the sharp end of Rome’s ambitions, as the burgeoning power in central Italy began to expand northwards. Conflict between the Faliscans and Rome is recorded as early as 438 BC, with intermittent fighting continuing until 351 BC, when a peace treaty was agreed. The relationship between the two groups soured again during the First Punic War, with the surviving summary of Cassius Dio’s Roman History recording a grave episode in 241 BC. Roman forces under the command of Manlius Torquatus are described ravaging Faliscan territory and fighting two battles. The second clash proved decisive, allowing Rome to seize ‘their arms, their cavalry, their goods, their slaves, and half their country’. An even worse fate befell the ‘original city’ of the Faliscans: ancient Falerii Veteres and modern Civita Castellana. The epitome of Dio’s text tells us that this, ‘which was set upon a steep mountain, was torn down and another one was built, easy of access.’ This new town was Falerii Novi.
It was long believed that this incident offers an example of Roman imperialism at its most brutal. Rather than suffer the Faliscans continuing to inhabit an easily defensible hilltop settlement, the population was forcibly relocated to a new home 6km away, which was positioned to ensure that Roman forces could take it with ease in the event of any further trouble. Sure enough, Falerii Novi is perched on a gentle plateau of volcanic tuff, beside both a key road, the via Amerina, and a stream, the rio del Purgatorio. This connection to the road network can be contrasted with the state of affairs at Falerii Veteres, which was bypassed by the via Flamina in 220 BC, fitting with the narrative that the site had been destroyed. What appeared to be a disaster for the Faliscans, though, also presents an opportunity for archaeologists seeking to understand the development of Roman urbanism. After all, the imposition of a new town should allow an insight into what were viewed as the essential elements of the urban fabric during this era. As is well known, towns later proved crucial to the success of the Roman Empire, providing an effective means of administering conquered territory. So successful was this model, that it went on to have a major influence on the development of Western urbanism more generally. While the Roman approach borrowed heavily from Hellenistic influences, its particular style seemingly developed in Italy, during the age of the Republic. More specifically, scholars believe that the 4th and 3rd centuries BC present the pivotal period.
Attempts to understand the processes in play during this crucial era have been hampered by limited knowledge of the contemporary nature of urban centres. This situation is in part because many of the towns in question went on to prosper in the imperial period and beyond. It is clear enough, for example, that urban life at Falerii Novi survived into late antiquity, leaving its earliest layers buried beneath the remains of centuries of urban development. Even more challengingly, the scale of Roman cities means that excavation can only provide snapshots of their original form. Previous digging at Falerii Novi has examined elements including its theatre and part of an insula, but even such comparatively large-scale endeavours cannot hope to offer a sense of an entire townscape. Geophysical survey, by contrast, enables a much more expansive look at what lies beneath the soil. Even so, largescale surveys typically produce a single plan superimposing those structures that lie closest to the surface, making it challenging to identify the earliest phases of towns. Effective survey also requires large open spaces where readings can be taken. In this regard, Falerii Novi certainly presents a tempting target. Apart from a medieval church, the site is largely unencumbered by later buildings, with much of the town lying beneath an inviting patchwork of fields. This potential did not pass unnoticed.
FURTHER INFORMATION
M Millett, A Launaro, L Verdonck, and F Vermeulen (2025) Falerii Novi: The Ground-Penetrating Radar Survey of the Roman Town (Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monographs).
This open-access report is available here: www.repository.cam.ac.uk/collections/01e23c71-5c83-4e2c-a9eb-24718391f1b4.
This is an extract of an article that appeared in CWA 136. Read on in the magazine (Click here to subscribe) or on our website, The Past, which offers all of the magazine’s content digitally. At The Past you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
