The Excavations of San Giovanni di Ruoti: Volume I: The Villas and their Environment [1] 0802059481, 9780802059482

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The Excavations of San Giovanni di Ruqti Volume I The Villas and Their Environment This volume reports the findings of a Canadian archaeological team under the direction of the authors at San Giovanni di Ruoti in the highlands of southern Italy. The excavations, which took place over a seven-year period, have revealed a series of three Roman villas, which span the period from the beginning of the first century AD to the middle of the sixth century. Of these villas, the third is particularly important, since it provides the best evidence to date for the development of a villa in the transitional period between the end of the Roman Empire in the West and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The core of this volume is an architectural study of the buildings in their stratigraphic context, with artifacts selected to establish the chronology of the building sequence. Preliminary chapters deal with the geographical and historical background, and with the relation of these villas to other Roman villas in Lucania and to other settlements in the vicinity. The development of the building in each period is illustrated with architectural plans and reconstructions. The building materials are described and analysed, and the mosaics found in the villa of the latest period are fully illustrated. The stratigraphic evidence is presented in a final chapter with thirty-four section drawings. Further volumes are planned with detailed analyses of the artifacts and of the faunal and botanical remains, and a final summing up of the significance of the site. Alastair M. Small is Professor of Classics at the University of Alberta. Robert J. Buck is Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Alberta.

PHOENIX Journal of the Classical Association of Canada Revue de las Societe canadienne des etudes classiques Supplementary Volume XXXIII Tome supplemental XXXIII

ALASTAIR M. SMALL and ROBERT J. BUCK

The Excavations of SAN GIOVANNI DI RUOTI Volume I The Villas and Their Environment with contributions from B.G. Ackroyd, LA. Campbell, K.M.D. Dunbabin, H. Fracchia, J. Freed, E.R. Haldenby, J.W. Hayes, S.G. Monckton, R. Reece, C. Roberto, J.J. Rossiter, C.J. Simpson Site drawings by E.R. Haldenby Artifact drawings by R. Aicher

U N I V E R S I T Y OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1994 Toronto

Buffalo

London

Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-5948-1

Printed on acid-free paper

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Small, Alastair The Excavations of San Giovanni di Ruoti (Phoenix. Supplementary volume ; 33 = Phoenix. Tome supplemental, ISSN 0079-1784 ; 33) Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: v. 1. The villas and their environment / with contributions from B.G. Ackroyd ... [et al.]. ISBN 0-8020-5948-1 (v. 1) 1. San Giovanni di Ruoti Site (Italy). 2. Basilicata (Italy) - Antiquities, Roman. 3. Excavations (Archaeology) - Italy - San Giovanni di Ruoti Site. 4. Romans - Italy - San Giovanni di Ruoti Site. I. Buck, Robert J. 1926II. Title III. Series: Phoenix. Supplementary volume (Toronto, Ont.) ; 33. DG70.S238S53 1994

937'.7

C94-931383-1

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

DINU ADAMESTEANU OPTIMO MAGISTRO

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CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES xiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv PREFACE x x i i i ABBREVIATIONS xxv 1. General Observations by A.M. Small and R.J. Buck 3 2. The Physical Environment by LA. Campbell 7 A. Location and General Regional Character 7 B. Regional and Local Climates 8 C. Site and Situation 9 D. Topographic and Hydrographic Characteristics 9 E. Regional and Site Geology 10 F. Geomorphology 11 1. Morphology of the valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano 11 2. Morphology and soils of the San Giovanni site 12 G. Forest Vegetation Cover in the San Giovanni Region by S.G. Monckton and LA. Campbell 14 3. The Field Survey by C. Roberto and A.M. Small 19 A. The Period Immediately Preceding the Foundation of the Villa 19 B. Period 1, The First Part (ca. AD 1-70) 20 C. Period 1, The Second Part (ca. AD 70-220) 21 D. The Period of Abandonment (ca. AD 220-350) 21 E. Period 2 (ca. AD 350-400) 22 F. Period 3 (ca. AD 400-550) 22

viii

Contents

4. The Historical Background by A.M. Small and R.J. Buck 23 A. Political Background 23 1. Early Lucania 23 2. The administration of Lucania under the Roman Empire 26 3. The end of Roman Lucania 28 B. Settlement around San Giovanni in Pre-Roman and Roman Times 29 C. Landowners in Roman Lucania 33 D. Rural Economy 34 1. Forest 34 2. Cereals, legumes, and fruit trees 34 3. Stock farming 35 4. Industry and commerce 35 5. Markets and roads 36 5. Villa Building in Roman Lucania by A.M. Small 37 6. The Excavations: Period 1 by A.M. Small and R.J. Buck 43 A. General Introduction 43 B. Materials Earlier than the Villas 43 C. Period 1 43 1. Preliminary structures 44 2. Masonry and building techniques of Period 1 44 3. The building plan 45 4. The mill 47 5. Other structures 49 6. Pottery by J. Freed 51 a. Build-up and floor 52 b. Floor revisions in Room 9 52 c. Occupation layers 53 d. Destruction layers 55 7. Lamps by }.}. Rossiter 57 8. Glass by J.W. Hayes 57 9. Small finds by C./. Simpson 58 a. Articles of adornment or dress 58 b. Utilitarian articles 58 10. Coins by R. Reece 59 11. Reconstruction by E. Haldenby 59 12. Chronology by J. Freed 60 13. The end of the period 60 7. The Excavations: Period 2 by A.M. Small and R.J. Buck 61 A. Period 2A 61 1. Masonry and building techniques 61 2. The buildings 61 3. Pottery by J. Freed 62 a. Build-up 62 B. Period 2B 63 1. Masonry and building techniques 63

Contents ix 2. The buildings 63 a. The bath suite 63 3. Pottery by }. Freed 65 a. Build-up and floor 65 C. Period 2C 66 1. Masonry and building techniques 66 2. The buildings 66 3. Pottery by J. Freed 68 a. Build-up and floor of Period 2C 68 b. Pottery of undifferentiated Period 2 68 c. Build-up and floor of undifferentiated Period 2 68 d. Occupation of undifferentiated Period 2 69 e. Destruction layers 69 4. Lamps by }.}. Rossiter 71 5. Glass byJ.W. Hayes 71 6. Small finds by C.J. Simpson 72 a. Articles of adornment or dress 72 7. Coins by R. Reece 72 8. Reconstruction by E.R. Haldenby 72 9. Chronology by J. Freed 73 8. The Excavations: Period 3A by A.M. Small and R.J. Buck 75 A. Introduction 75 B. Period 3A 75 1. Masonry and building techniques 76 2. The buildings 76 3. Alterations and additions to the bath suite 80 4. The water supply 81 5. The dolium yard 81 6. The middens 81 7. Pottery by J. Freed 82 a. Lower midden deposits 82 b. Upper midden deposits 84 8. Lamps by J.J. Rossiter 85 9. Glass by J.W.Hayes 86 10. Small finds by C.J. Simpson 87 a. Article of adornment 87 11. Coin by R. Reece 87 12. Reconstruction by E.R. Haldenby 87 13. Chronology by J. Freed 89 9. The Excavations: Period 3B by AM. Small and R.J. Buck 91 A. Introduction 91 B. Period 3B 91 1. The villa structures 91 2. Masonry and building techniques 92 3. The buildings 92 a. New structures 92

x Contents b. Windows 97 c. Alterations to existing structures 98 d. Summary of the modifications at the beginning and in the early part of Period 3B 100 e. Alterations before the end of Period 3B 100 4. The middens 102 5. Pottery by J. Freed 102 a. Occupation middens 102 b. Period 3B destruction 105 6. Lamps by ].]. Rossiter 106 7. Glass byJ.W. Hayes 107 a. Lamp-glasses 107 b. 'Wine-glasses' 108 8. Small finds by C.J. Simpson 108 a. Articles of adornment or dress 108 b. Utilitarian articles 109 c. Miscellaneous objects 110 9. Coins by R. Reece 110 10. The mosaics by K.M.D. Dunbabin 111 a. Room 61 111 (1) Description 111 (2) Panel A 111 (3) Panel B 111 (4) Panel C 112 (5) Panel D 112 (6) Technique and materials 112 b. Room 49: Frigidarium 113 (1) Description 113 (2) Central square 113 (3) Apse 113 (4) Technique and materials 114 c. Room 48 114 d. Discussion 114 11. Reconstruction by E.R. Haldenby 116 12. Chronology by J. Freed 119 C. The End of the Villa 121 10. The Building Materials by A.M. Small 123 A. Introduction 123 B. Stone Mouldings and Other Fixtures 124 1. Windows 124 a. Impost blocks 124 b. Window pier 125 2. Cornice and console mouldings 125 3. Miscellaneous 125 4. Marble revetment 126 C. Mortar 126 D. Wall Plaster 127

Contents

xi

E. Tiles and Bricks 127 1. Roofing tiles 128 a. Tegulae 128 b. Vented tegulae 129 c. Frustum-shaped tegula 130 d. Imbrices 130 (1) Imbrices as evidence for roofed spaces 130 (a) Period 1 131 (b) Period 2 131 (c) Period 3B 131 (2) Discussion 133 2. Paving tiles and other thin flat tiles 134 a. Plain tiles 134 (1) Period 1 134 (2) Period 2A 134 (3) Period 2B 135 (4) Period 3A 135 (5) Period 3B 135 b. Decorated tiles 135 c. Lozenge-shaped tiles 135 3. Hypocaust tiles 136 a. Basement floor tiles 136 b. Tiles used in the pilae 136 c. Tiles supported on the pilae 136 d. Box flue tiles 136 (1) Period 2 137 (2) Period 3 137 (a) Rectangular in section 137 (b) With rounded ends 137 4. Tiles used in drains or as seating for pipes 137 a. Narrow tegulae 137 (1) Period 2 137 (2) Period 3A 137 (3) Period 3B 137 b. Imbrices used in drains 137 (1) Period 2 138 c. Round pipe 138 5. Cornice bricks 138 a. Faceted bricks 138 b. Long narrow bricks 138 c. Wider bricks 139 6. Voussoir bricks 140 7. Segmental tiles 141 F. Nails 142 1. Nails of Periods 1 and 2 143 2. Nails of Period 3 143 3. Bent nails 143 4. Catalogue 144

xii Contents 5. Nails of Period 3 145 G. Miscellaneous Iron Fittings 145 1. Iron door-hinge socket 145 2. Iron T-clamps 145 3. Iron wrench or tap handle 145 H. Lead 146 1. Lead pipes 146 2. Lead door hinge sockets 146 I. Window Glass 146 1. Period 1 146 2. Period 2 146 3. Period 3A 146 4. Period 3B 147 11. The Sections by A.M. Small 149 N O T E S 265 B I B L I O G R A P H Y 271 I L L U S T R A T I O N S 283 I N D E X E S 435 Index of Rooms 435 Index of Features 436 Index of Literary Sources and Inscriptions 438 General Index 439

TABLES

1. Mean monthly and annual climatic data for Potenza 8 2. Villa site soil profile 13 3. San Giovanni regional forest analysis 15 4. Typical altitude/ soil, and vegetation relationships for southern Italy 16 5. Middens, dates, and wares 120 6. Period 2 imbrex rubble by room 131 7. Period 3 imbrex nibble by room 132 8. Segmental tiles of Period 3 141

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ILLUSTRATIONS

1. General map of South Italy 285 2. Map of Lucania, showing sites mentioned in the text 286 3. Map of the area around San Giovanni 287 4. General plan of the site 288 5. Detailed plan of the site 289 6. Site of the villa of San Giovanni viewed from the south, above the Fiumara di Avigliano 290 7. Valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano, immediately below the bridge that carries the road from San Giovanni and Zippariello to Ruoti 291 8. Ruoti as seen from the site of San Giovanni, looking south across the valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano 292 9. Recent landslips in the ravine area west of the villa site 293 10. Road cut, 200 m north of the villa, on the road to Zippariello 294 11. Soil profile at the northeast corner of the villa site 295 12. Analytical data on a cumulative soil profile formed from a colluvial slope-floor deposit 296 13. Analytical data on a cumulative soil profile formed on a slope surface 30 m east of the site boundary, at the villa site at San Giovanni 296 14. Map showing the distribution of sites in the survey area 297

xvi Illustrations 15. Plan of the villa of Period 1, including the preliminary structures 298 16. Room 31 of Periods 2C and 3, looking northwest, after removal of the floor, showing previous structures 299 17. Wall F9 of Period 1, looking west from Room 5 300 18. Room 69 of Period 3B, looking south, after the removal of the floor, showing previous structures 301 19. Threshold F112 between Rooms 24 and 25, looking west 302 20. Structures in the northern half of the courtyard Room 5, looking north 303 21. The courtyard Room 5, looking south, with Room 117 beyond 304 22. Detail of plan showing the watercourse and related structures 305 23. Watercourse F283 of the mill, with tegulae fractured across the middle and tilted against the north wall of the villa 306 24. Mill. Interior face of north wall F281, showing sockets 307 25. Millstone SF1757 found inside Room 33, in Midden 8 of Period 3B 307 26. East-west section through the water-mill 308 27. North-south section through the water-mill 309 28. Tile kiln of Period 1, cut by a later field wall 310 29. Plan of kiln 311 30. Elevation of kiln 311 31. Representative pottery of Period 1, No. 1 312 32. Representative pottery of Period 1, No. 2 313 33. Representative pottery of Period 1, No. 3 314 34. Selected lamps from all periods 315 35. Glass of Period 1 316 36. Small finds of Period 1 317 37. Axonometric reconstruction of villa of Period 1 318

Illustrations xvii 38. Plan of the villa of Period 2A 319 39. Hearth F49 of Period 2A in Room 13 320 40. Tank F152 of Period 2A in courtyard Room 5, looking north 321 41. Plan of the villa of Period 2B 322 42. Cold plunge F175 adjoining Room 24 in the bath suite of Period 2B, looking east 323 43. Rooms 27 and 26 of the bath suite of Period 2B, looking north 324 44. Wall F176 of Period 1, Room 10, and wall F157 with drain F177 leading from Room 26 of the bath suite of Period 2B, looking northeast 325 45. Rooms 18 and 20, looking south 326 46. Part of cistern F723, and tank F98 of Period 2B in Rooms 5 and 23, looking north 327 47. Drain F41 of Period 2B, looking northeast 328 48. West end of drain F41 of Period 2B, looking northwest 329 49. Rooms 23 and 25, looking southwest 330 50. Plan of the villa of Period 2C 331 51. Room 32 of Period 2C, looking north 332 52. Room 32, looking south of platform F288 of Period 2C abutting on F232 to the rear 333 53. The north wall of the apsidal building of Period 3A, east end, looking south 334 54. Representative pottery of Period 2, No. 1 335 55. Representative pottery of Period 2, No. 2 336 56. Representative pottery of Period 2C 337 57. Glass from Period 2 338 58. Small finds of Period 2 339 59. Axonometric reconstruction of the villa of Period 2C 339 60. Plan of middens 340 61. Plan of the villa of Period 3A 341

xviii Illustrations 62. The north wall F5 of the apsidal hall Room 40/41 of Period 3A, diverging from the line of the wall F535 of Period 2C, looking west 342 63. The doorway F334 in the north wall F5 of the apsidal hall Room 40/41 of Period 3A, blocked in Period 3B, looking south 343 64. The southwest range of Period 3A, modified in Period 3B, looking west 344 65. The cistern F534 and winch base F537 in Room 39 of Period 3A, looking west 345 66. Inside of cistern F534 in Room 39, showing junction between stone and brick masonry 346 67. Staircase base F553 in Room 34 of Period 3A, looking northeast 347 68. View of Room 44, looking west through the doorway, showing the location of the presumed balcony 348 69. Staircase base F470 in Room 68, looking south 349 70. General view of the villa of Periods 3A and 3B, looking southwest 350 71. Drain F651 carrying excess water from the aqueduct around pier F629 outside the northeast corner of Room 45, looking northwest 351 72. Pool F639 at the east end of Room 45 of Periods 3A and 3B, looking east 352 73. Pila of volcanic stone dating from the reconstruction late in Period 3A 353 74. The frigidarium Room 49 of the bath suite of Period 3, after the mosaic floor of Period 3B had been removed for restoration, showing the drain F712 of Period 3A 354 75. Cold plunge F615 of Period 3, on east side of Room 49, looking southeast 355 76. Room 52 of Period 3, looking north, showing remains of hypocaust 356 77. Room 53, looking southwest, showing remains of hypocaust and supports for bath-tubs 357 78. Latrine in Room 37 of Period 3, looking west 358 79. Apse of latrine Room 37 seen from inside Room 46, looking east 359 80. Apse of Room 51 of Period 3 and adjacent furnace, seen from inside Room 50, looking east 360 81. Plan of dolium yard 361 82. Representative pottery from lower midden of Period 3A 362 83. Representative pottery from upper midden of Period 3A 363

Illustrations xix 84. Glass of Period 3A 364 85. Axonometric reconstruction of villa of Period 3A 365 86. Plan of the villa of the early subphase of Period 3B 366 87. Plan of the villa of the late subphase of Period 3B 367 88. Composite photograph by W. Stier showing the villa of Period 3B 368 89. Room 67 and the north range of Period 3B, looking east, showing the apsidal hall and adjacent rooms 369 90. The apse of the hall Room 57/58 of Period 3B during excavation, looking south, showing remains of structures of Period 1 below the floor 370 91. The east wall of Room 58 of Period 3B, looking east, showing the pier F165 371 92. The drain F695 formed by an imbrex set under the threshold F320 in the south wall of Room 63 of Period 3B, looking north 372 93. Drain F368 in the southeast corner of Room 61 of Period 3B, excavated after the mosaic floor had been removed for restoration, looking southeast 373 94. Pier base F376 at the north end of Room 54 of Period 3B 374 95. Staircase base F312 opening off southeast corner of Room 54, looking east 375 96. Room 75 of Period 3B with wall F18 of Period 1, looking north 376 97. North wall of Room 72 of Period 3B, looking north, showing edge of probable blocked doorway to Room 67 377 98. Stretch of tile masonry F430 in the east wall of Room 68 of Period 3B, looking east 378 99. Threshold F417 in the east wall of Room 68, and the aqueduct drain F420 of Period 3B, looking north 379 100. Wall F389 between Rooms 67 and 68, looking west 380 101. General view of the site, looking southeast 381 102. Fragment of a brick arch lying in the rubble fill of Room 61 of Period 3B 382 103. Room 30 as rebuilt in Period 3B, looking east 383 104. The threshold stone F184 in the east doorway of Room 30 and adjacent steps F182 of Period 3B, looking northwest 384

xx Illustrations 105. Wall F649 built inside Room 73 late in Period 3B, abutting onto the buttresses of Room 33 of Period 2 385 106. The north wall of Room 32, looking north 386 107. Room 35 of Period 3A, looking north 387 108. General view of the bath suite of Period 3, and adjacent rooms, looking west 388 109. Entrance of the aqueduct tunnel, looking north through channel F542 389 110. The drain F420 of Period 3B carrying surplus water from the aqueduct east of Room 68, looking north 390 111. Room 67 of Period 3B, looking northwest 391 112. Representative fine wares of Late Painted Common Ware stratified in midden contexts of Period 3B 392 113. Representative Late Painted Common Ware stratified in midden contexts of Period 3B 393 114. Representative coarse ware and amphora stratified in midden contexts of Period 3B 394 115. Small vitrified amphora in Late Painted Common Ware from a destruction context of Period 3B 395 116. Flanged and spouted wide-mouthed jar and simple wide-mouthed jar in Late Painted Common Ware from destruction contexts of Period 3B 396 117. Glass of Period 3B, No. 1 397 118. Glass of Period 3B, No. 2 398 119. Small finds of Period 3A, No. 132, and of Period 3B, Nos. 187-199 399 120. Small finds of Period 3B, No. 1 400 121. Small finds of Period 3B, No. 2 401 122. Drawing of the mosaic floor in Room 61 of Period 3B 402 123. The mosaic floor in Room 61, looking northwest 403 124. Detail of the mosaic floor, panel A, Period 3B 404 125. Detail of the mosaic floor, panel B, Period 3B 405 126. Detail of the mosaic floor, panel C, Period 3B 406

Illustrations xxi 127. Drawing of the mosaic floor of Period 3B in Room 49 407 128. The mosaic floor of Period 3B in the frigidarium Room 49, looking west 408 129. Detail of the mosaic floor in Room 49, Period 3B 409 130. The mosaic floor in Room 49, Period 3B 410 131. Fragment of the mosaic floor with guilloche pattern in Room 48, looking north 411 132. Elevation of the villa of Period 3B, seen from the north 412 133. Axonometric reconstruction of the villa of Period 3B 413 134. Axonometric reconstruction of the Period 3 building as excavated, showing the preserved height of the walls 414 135. Axonometric plan of the building, dissected to show the ranges (a) to (j) discussed in the text 415 136. Architectural elements Nos. 217 and 218, found in Rooms 52 and 54 (photo) 416 137. Architectural elements Nos. 215-218 (drawing of front and side views) 417 138. Architectural elements Nos. 219-222 (drawing) 418 139. Architectural fragments Nos. 222-225 (photo) 419^20 140. Mortar graphs a-f 421 141. Profiles of tegulae, types 1-12 422 142. Cornice tiles and lozenge tile 423 143. Tiles of various types (photo) 424 144. Decorated tiles, Nos. 260-263 425 145. Miscellaneous tiles 426 146. Bracket of faceted tiles in the aditus maximus of the theatre at Ostia 427 147. Close-up of bracket of faceted tiles in the theatre at Ostia 428 148. Tiles in the watercourse No. 232 429 149. Nail forms 430

xxii Illustrations 150. Miscellaneous fittings, Nos. 292-294, 296, 298 (drawing) 431 151. Plan of site, showing location of the sections 432 152a. Reconstructed cross-section of the Period 3B villa on the line shown in Fig 153 433 152b. Actual state of the villa of Period 3B on the corresponding line 433 153. Geometrical analysis of the villa of Period 3B. The arrows indicate the cross-section shown in Fig. 152 434

PREFACE

The excavation of San Giovanni di Ruoti brought to light the remains of three Roman villas that, in succession, occupied the site between the beginning of the first and the middle of the sixth century AD. The two earlier buildings were rather modest structures and were probably typical of villas in the remote parts of Lucania in the first, second, and fourth centuries AD; but the third, which was built ca. AD 400 and enlarged ca. 460, was a much more sophisticated building. It is well preserved, with walls standing in places to 1.0 m above ground. It is especially important, since it exemplifies a new type of villa, one which developed in the period of transition between the Late Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages. Great quantities of artifacts, animal bones, and plant remains associated with the building help to illuminate the economic and cultural development of South Italy at this time. This volume is concerned with the geographical and historical background to the site, with the building remains, their architecture, and their stratigraphy. The artifacts documented here are only a small selection of the total finds; they were chosen because they are specially useful for dating the buildings. Further volumes are planned, which will deal with the typology of the artifacts and with the faunal and botanical remains. In a concluding volume we expect to draw our final conclusions about the social organization and the economic function of the site and its relevance to the changing fortunes of South Italy in the Roman Imperial period as well as at the beginning of the Middle Ages.

The site was first discovered by the late Dr Gerardo Salinardi, honorary inspector for the Soprintendenza alle Antichita della Basilicata, who had owned San Giovanni before the land reforms of 1952, and who refers to it in his local history of Ruoti (1973). Salinardi brought it to the notice of the then superintendent, Professor Dinu Adamesteanu, who invited the primary authors of this report, A.M. Small and R.J. Buck, to undertake an excavation of it with a Canadian team. The project promised to throw more light on the problems of the interior of Lucania, in which he was so much interested. In fact, the results greatly exceeded our expectations. Trial trenches laid out in the first year produced evidence for the presence of a complicated series of walls of the Imperial period, culminating in a massive structure of the Late Empire. A magnetometric survey, brilliantly carried out by the late Dr Richard Linington of the Lerici Foundation, revealed the main outlines of an extensive complex of buildings that could be associated with these late walls. We reorganized the project, to give special emphasis to the building of the Late Antique Period. By the end of the second season this was securely identified as a villa. The excavation was undertaken in a series of campaigns each summer from 1977 to 1979 and from 1981 to 1984, with a study year in 1980. It was financed annually by generous grants from the Canada Council and its successor, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Additional funds were provided by the University of Alberta Central Research Fund.

xxiv Preface We are grateful to the Soprintendenza alle Antichita della Basilicata for its cooperation and assistance, and in particular to Professor Dinu Adamesteanu, the superintendent when we began, and his successors, Dr Elena Lattanzi and Dr Angelo Bottini, as well as the members of their staffs, including Dr Mariarosaria Salvatore, Dr Antonio Capano, and Dr Marcello Tagliente. The late Dr Gerardo Salinardi also gave us much advice. We wish to express our thanks to the Comune di Ruoti and to the successive sindaci A. Salinardi, G. Faraone, and G. Salinardi for their hospitality and assistance. The project was directed by the two principal authors, A.M. Small and R.J. Buck. Members of the staff included: J. Freed, pottery supervisor, assisted by H. Fracchia and B.G. Ackroyd; J.W. Hayes, pottery consultant and glass analyst; D.G. Steele, faunal analyst, assisted by R. MacPhee, P. Bobrowski, and C. Assad; and L. Costantini, palaeobotanist, assisted by S.G. Monckton. The bird bones were classified by A. Eastham, the marine molluscs by D. Reese, and the land snails by M. Bishop. The coins were studied by R. Reece, the lamps by J.J. Rossiter, the mosaics by K.M.D. Dunbabin, and the minor objects by C.J. Simpson and C. Roberto. P. Williams helped to sort and classify the tiles. The various types of mortar used in the buildings were first classified in the field by C. Gold and were subjected to an electron-microscope scanning by G. Braybrook of the Department of Entomology at the University of Alberta. The geomorphology of the surround-

ing area was studied by LA. Campbell. The surveying team for the environs was headed by C. Roberto, assisted by C.M. Small. Site planning was done by G.H. Buck to 1979 and thereafter by E. Haldenby, who also drew up the plans. The drawings of the pottery and small finds were done by R. Aicher. The maps were drawn by R. Dunphy and prepared for publication by G. Lester. T. Prowse assisted in the preparation of materials for publication. Special thanks are due to H.V. Buck, who entered the excavation records in our SPIRES database and has typed the whole of this text and checked numerous editorial details. The site supervisors included C. Boulding, H.V. Buck, G. Clarke, R. Grove, M. Gualtieri, J. Levitt, M. Mogelon, A. Mould, }.}. Rossiter, G. Schaus, C.J. Simpson, and N. Wickenden. The Gruppo Archeologico Lucano took part in the excavation for several seasons under the direction of, first, S. Pagliuca and, then, L. Lozito. Members of Summer School classes from the University of Alberta and Wilfrid Laurier University assisted on both the excavation and the surface survey. We are grateful to the many workmen from Ruoti who dug under the leadership of Signor Rocco Gentilesca. We wish to express our thanks to the anonymous assessors for the University of Toronto Press and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, whose careful and critical evaluations have improved the text enormously. A.M. Small and R.J. Buck

ABBREVIATIONS

Aelian, Varia Historia Ael. VH Ammianus Marcellinus Amm. Marc. Anon. Rav. Anonymous Ravennatis Anonymous Valentinianus Anon. Val. Apicius, De re coquinaria Apic. Appian, Bella Civilia App. BCiv. Apuleius, Metamorphoses Apul. Met. Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae Ath. Aulus Gellius, Nodes Atticae Aul. Cell. Aurelius Victor, Caesares Aur. Vic. Caes. Calpurnius Siculus, Edogae Calp. Ed. Cassiodorus, Variae Cassiod. Var. Cato, De agri cultura Cato Agr. Cicero, Epistulae ad familiares Cic. Fam. CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum Classical Journal CJ Columella Col. CTh Codex Theodosianus Dio Cassius Dio Cass. Diod. Sic. Diodorus Siculus Dion. Hal. Dionysius Halicarnasseus Ephemeris Epigraphica EE Eusebius, Vita Constantini Eus. Vit. Const. Eutropius Eutrop. Faventinus De div. fab. arch. Faventinus, De diversis fabricis architedonicae F. Jacoby, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker FGrH C. Miiller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum FHG Frontinus, Stratagemata Frontin. Str. Callus Jur. Callus, Juridica (in Festus) Heraclides Ponticus Heraclid. Pont Herodian Herod. Horace, Carmina Hor. Carm. Horace, Epistolae HOT. Epist. Horace, Satires Hor. Sat. Inscr. Ital. Inscriptiones Italiae

xxvi Abbreviations John Ant. Just. Epit. Juv. Lactant. Mort. Pers. Lib. Colon. Liv. Liv. Epit. Lucil. Mart. Nic. Dam. Not. Dign. Occ. NSc NTh NVal Oros. Ov. Hal Plin. NH PLRE Plut. Cat. Min. Plut. Pynh. Plut. Sull Polyaenus Strat. Procop. Goth. Procop. Vand. RCRF SHA Aurel SHA Trig. Tyr. Sen. Ben. Sen. Tranq. Stat. Silv. Strab. Symmachus Ep. Tab. Pent. Ulp. Dig. Varro Ling. Varro Rust. Veil. Pat. Vergil Georg. Vitr. De Arch. Zonar. Zos.

John of Antioch (Joannes Antiochensis) Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus Juvenal Lanctantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum Libri coloniarum Livy, Historiae Livy, Epitomae Lucilius Martial Nicolaos of Damascus (in FGrH 90 F 103[b]) Notitia dignitatum in partibus occidentis Notizie degli Scavi Novellae Theodosianae Novellae Valentinianae Orosius Ovid, Halieuticon Liber Pliny, Naturalis Historia Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire Plutarch, Cato Minor Plutarch, Pyrrhus Plutarch, Sulla Polyaenus, Stratagemata Procopius, De Bella Gothico Procopius, De Bello Vandalico Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautorum, Acta Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Aurelianus Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Triginta Tyranni Seneca, De beneficiis Seneca, De Tranquillitate animi Statius, Silvae Strabo Symmachus, Epistolae Tabula Peutingeriana Ulpian, Digesta Varro, De lingua Latina Varro, De re rustica Velleius Paterculus Vergil, Georgics Vitruvius, De Architectura Zonaras Zosimus

The Excavations of San Giovanni di Ruoti Volume I The Villas and Their Environment

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1 General Observations AM. Small and R.J. Buck

The surroundings of San Giovanni are extremely beautiful. The site lies at an altitude of ca. 670 m on a southward-facing slope overlooking the Fiumara di Avigliano, one of the headwaters of the River Sele, near the western watershed of the Apennines. From the ruins of the villa, one can look across the valley over a patchwork of small fields and vineyards to the medieval and modern comune of Ruoti, or down the river to the distant hill of Monte Marmo. Much of the uplands are covered in forest. The beauty of the view and the freshness of the air - highly prized in Roman Italy - must have made this an attractive site for a Roman villa owner. Much of the countryside was covered with oak and beech forest in Roman times, but some of the higher ground may have been cleared for rough grazing, and the lower slopes must have been cultivated. The countryside could support a variety of crops and livestock, but for most of classical antiquity, this was remote country, without easy access to any large commercial centres. Its remoteness from urban markets must have meant that, for most of the Roman period (at least until the building of the Via Herculia at the end of the third century), it was almost impossible for landowners to grow rich on cash crops. Until then it is unlikely that the site attracted the attention of the Roman aristocracy of the metropolis, and the land probably remained in the hands of local magnates, who

built themselves country houses (villae) in a rather modest style, where they could enjoy the leisure (otiutri) that the Roman landowning class prized so highly, and supervise the cultivation of their estates. Funerary inscriptions from a nearby cemetery give the names of several families (gentes), most of which were local to Lucania. Some of the labourers may have been slaves, but it is probable that most of the workforce consisted of hired men and women from nearby settlements. When the first villa at San Giovanni was built, early in the first century AD, the region was just beginning to recover from a long period of economic decline that had begun around the time of the Hannibalic War, at the end of the third century BC. The villa was only one of several erected in this area in the course of the first century AD, and was probably fairly typical - quite large (approximately 4,000 m2) but without much architectural pretension. The full details of its plan are not known, since most of the eastern half of the building was destroyed during later reconstruction, but the western part was grouped around three sides of a courtyard, a common arrangement in an Italian villa of the time. Apart from living-quarters and storerooms, it was equipped with a kiln for firing tiles, and a small water-mill. The building remained in use without any drastic changes for about two hundred years.

4 General Observations The political and economic crisis that nearly overwhelmed the Roman Empire in the third century must have led to the abandonment of much of the land around San Giovanni. Many of the surrounding settlements were deserted in the course of the century, and after ca. AD 220, the villa at San Giovanni ceased to be inhabited. It remained roofed, and may have been partly maintained, but it was no longer regularly lived in. It lasted in this state until ca. AD 350, when the owner at the time occupied it again. He must have decided that parts of the building were beyond repair, because he demolished some structures and built others, but without any grand plan. A bath suite was added ca. AD 370, and other piecemeal demolitions and extensions followed. The building of the late fourth century (our second villa) was an architectural mess. It was probably not unique: the surface survey shows that several other sites in the surrounding countryside that had been abandoned in the third century were reoccupied in the fourth. They may have been no more grand, but they show how the restoration of stable conditions under Diocletian and Constantine led to some degree of economic revival in Lucania. Around AD 400, there was a drastic change at San Giovanni. The ramshackle structures of the previous century were almost all demolished, and a new villa was built on a much more impressive scale and to a coherent plan. The architecture reflects the social organization of the villa. Its main feature was a large apsidal hall where some of the men may have lived, and where the master of the house (the dominus) must have presided over official and ceremonial occasions, inside the frame of the apse. Adjoining it to the east was a range of stables, with domestic quarters, probably for women, overhead. A bath building was later added at the southeast corner of the stables, with a sequence of hot and cold rooms, separately vaulted. Around AD 460, the apsidal hall collapsed, probably during an earthquake, and some of the other buildings were damaged. The dominus took the opportunity to rebuild on a larger scale: he repaired some of the damaged buildings, but demolished the apsidal hall, replacing it with another at the north end of the site. Several other

new ranges of buildings were put up; a domed entrance building was constructed on the west side out of what had been a simple room; mosaic floors were later laid in the bath suite and in a new room adjoining the apsidal hall, which was probably used for dining. Some features of this late villa, especially the bath suite, hark back to traditional forms of a Roman villa, but the complex as a whole, with its tight cluster of buildings separated only by narrow passageways, is something quite new in villa architecture. We can only guess what factor or factors led to this development. Considerations of defence may well have been important, for the fifth century was a disturbed period in which barbarian armies invaded Italy on several occasions, and barbarian veterans were settled in various parts of the peninsula, including Lucania. The villa could not have withstood serious attack, but, with its small perimeter, and only one entrance on each of its four sides, it could have been defended against casual marauders. The tower built at the northeast corner where the ground is highest, must have commanded a wide view, and a lookout could have been posted there if trouble was expected. It is also possible that the plan of the villa points to new occupants with some un-Roman social customs. The clearest sign is the way they disposed of their garbage. The inhabitants of the previous villas followed the normal Roman practice of removing refuse from their buildings; but the occupants of the late villa at San Giovanni dumped their kitchen waste in the corridors and empty rooms, and immediately outside the entrances to the site. Most of the midden piles date to the last part of the fifth century and to the beginning of the sixth, and belong to the second phase of this villa, but some go back to the beginning of its first phase, ca. AD 400. Even the dining customs may have changed, for if the long narrow room with a mosaic floor at the northeast end of the site is a dining-room, as seems likely, then the inhabitants must have eaten there seated beside a long table, as was the practice of Germanic barbarians, rather than reclining around a low table in traditional Roman fashion, for there is no room there for a

General Observations 5 stibadium. A few artifacts of Germanic type add to the impression that the inhabitants of the latest villa were of Germanic rather than Roman stock. If so, they may have settled at San Giovanni as early as the beginning of the fifth century. Several other features of the building look forward to the Middle Ages, especially the apsidal hall situated on an upper floor and the windows of two or more arches linked by piers. The same features can be seen in the villa buildings illustrated in several mosaics in the Bardo Museum at Carthage, which belong to the Late Roman or Vandal period in North Africa and are roughly contemporary with the latest villa at San Giovanni. Some show a separate range of bath buildings with characteristic vaults like those that the bath suite at San Giovanni must have had. It is impossible, given the techniques of representation used, to tell whether these North African villas had a similar compact plan, but these mosaics show that, in many of its architectural details, San Giovanni conformed to the architectural standards of the time. It was probably not unique in Roman Italy, although it may appear to be so, given the present limited state of our evidence. By comparison with the first two villas, the latest villa was a relatively prosperous place. There can be no doubt that its prosperity was derived from pork production. Lucania was already famous for its pork before Roman times, but swine raising became especially important there in the Late Empire when pork was levied from South Italian communities to provision Rome. By the middle of the fifth century the tax in live pigs was commuted for gold, which was used by the swineherds to buy pigs on the local markets; those places that could produce a surplus of pork must have found raising swine a profitable business (Barnish [1987] 166-167). San Giovanni was particularly well situated to benefit from this trade, for it was surrounded by oak and beech forests suitable for pasturing pigs, and it lay near the Via Herculia, which provided access to its markets. The road was organized as a public highway under the tetrarchy to bring the mountainous interior of Lucania into better contact with Central Italy and Rome and to

improve the transport of commodities and payments in kind. The importance of the pork production is attested by the abundant remains of pig bones in the middens of the latest villa. Clearly the trade was not only in live pigs, for the predominance of heads and forequarters in these deposits suggests that the best of the meat was preserved, and marketed in the form of sausages or hams. This will be discussed in a subsequent volume.1 Although the dominus of San Giovanni may have sold his surplus of pigs to swineherds in return for gold, it is noteworthy that no gold coins, and indeed no coins of that period in any metal, were found in these excavations. Any solidi the dominus received in payment are unlikely to have been used in local exchange. Some transactions may have been carried out in coins of an earlier period, but the complete lack of any coins of the fifth and sixth centuries must imply that coinage was no longer a normal means of exchange on the site. Most goods in local trade must have changed hands by barter, and payments for services must normally have been made in kind. The villa began to decay in the generation after the grand rebuilding of ca. AD 460. Several of the buildings were unroofed around the turn of the sixth century, and refuse was dumped inside them. An oven was built across a doorway, blocking access to the room behind. Probably the population of the site dwindled. Nevertheless, most parts of the villa continued to be occupied well into the second quarter of the sixth century. Then, some time towards the middle of the century, the main north range was set on fire, and the remaining buildings were abandoned. The date of the destruction cannot be fixed exactly. The latest datable pieces of pottery are imported fine wares, none of which needs be later than ca. AD 525. It is possible, however, that the local common wares continued to be produced after fine pottery ceased to be imported, and this impression is strengthened by the presence in a destruction context of a beltbuckle tongue typical of the last half of the sixth century.

6 General Observations It is probable, on this evidence, that the villa came to an end during the Gothic Wars of AD 536-554, in which Justinian temporarily regained control of Italy for the Eastern Roman Empire. It is possible that it was destroyed in an incident in those wars, for some of the fighting took place in Lucania; but there is little or no archaeological confirmation of that view. With the exception of a single projectile point, no weapons or other

signs of violence were present in the rubble, Most of the domestic fittings were probably stripped from the building before it was destroyed,

2

The Physical Environment LA. Campbell

A. LOCATION AND GENERAL REGIONAL CHARACTER The villa (ca. 40° 44' N; 15° 40' E) is located in the Lucanian Uplands of the southern Apennines (Houston 1964) and is almost centrally placed between the Tyrrehenian and Adriatic coasts (Fig. 1). It is some 27 km northwest of Potenza and about 2 km north of the village of Ruoti. The site lies at an elevation of ca. 670 m, on the slopes north of the Fiumara di Avigliano, facing south (Fig. 6). The southerly position of the site, together with its topographic character, produces a set of environmental conditions that governs the types of climate, vegetation, soil, and the possible uses of the land in the region. The regional climate is modified Mediterranean. The typical hot dry summers and cool wet winters of the true Mediterranean climate are affected both by altitude and, to an extent, by the interior position of the area. As a result the arid summers are somewhat moderated in length and intensity, and the winters are longer and more severe, with frequent heavy snowfalls. The vegetation cover, reflecting these climatic differences and largely controlled by the elevation, also displays distinct zonation variances. The characteristic Mediterranean gariga of xerophytic stunted evergreen shrubs, found on the coasts and at lower elevations, is successively replaced, as altitude increases, by evergreen oak

woodland and deciduous beech forests in the higher interior. Deforestation probably occurred throughout classical times and was widespread more recently, especially during the late nineteenth century. Today only remnants of the forest cover remain, usually capping higher, more inaccessible areas, and separated by a patchwork of cereal-cropped fields, scattered vineyards, and pockets of rough pasture. The soils are a complex mosaic that reflects differences in parent material, vegetation cover, and topo-geomorphic conditions. Many soils have been cultivated for centuries, or millennia, and frequently their profiles have been truncated and disturbed both by land-use activities and, in places, by severe erosion. Under a climax vegetation the soils of the San Giovanni region would probably be of the brown forest type or even brown podzolic variety. Most soils are low in humus content, have relatively shallow profiles (100 mm in each winter month), mean monthly temperatures are close to 0°C. Night-time minima well below zero are common during the winter. The temperature data from Potenza (Table 1) suggest that about seven months have mean temperature values near or above 10°C - the value generally accepted as representing minimum monthly growing temperatures. Thus the frost-free period at San Giovanni should be close to two hundred days. Such climatic conditions favour the cultivation of a wide variety of crops, though the summer drought may, depending on annual variations in duration and intensity, place a severe stress on the vegetation. C. SITE AND SITUATION The site of the villa is on a moderately sloping (ca. 8°) southward-facing topographic bench, which, at an elevation of about 670 m, lies some 200 m above the valley floor of the Fiumara di Avigliano. The valley here is almost 3 km wide from divide to divide, but it narrows to less than 200 m at its floor. The valley floor is almost totally covered with coarse alluvial deposits from

the heavily gravel-laden Fiumara di Avigliano. A dense cover of willow and shrubs lines many of the drainage channels (Fig. 7). The bench on which the villa was constructed is backed by a gradually rising slope. This slope culminates in a near-vertical escarpment formed by landslips; on it the present village of Zippariello is perched. East and west of the villa low tree-covered ridges, bordered by deeply incised ravines, obscure the site and prevent ready access to it from these directions (Fig. 6). The villa was, and is, physiographically well protected and screened from the north, east, and west. Immediately opposite, on the southern crest of the valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano, is the town of Ruoti (Fig. 8). At an elevation of 750 m, it overlooks the villa site and much of the surrounding terrain. Access to San Giovanni is by a new road from Ruoti, which crosses the Avigliano valley in a series of sinuous steep curves, or by a road from San Cataldo through Zippariello, which is connected by an old Bourbon post road with the town of Avigliano (917 m), 4 km east of the site. Several small trails, now much overgrown and degraded, meander down and along the valley sides, following ancient mule tracks (tratturi). D. TOPOGRAPHIC AND HYDROGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS The region is dominated by steep slopes, often in excess of 20°. These originated as a result of a long history of tectonism, which continues to the present, as the catastrophic earthquakes of 1980 make clear. Large-scale frequent mass movements (frane) of a variety of forms are common throughout the region, including the area of the villa (Fig. 9), and the hillsides are scarred by landslides and gullies (calanche). The regional topographic relief is of the order of 800 m, with the highest point in the vicinity of the villa at Toppa Romito, 8 km south of the site, at 1,294 m, and the lowest points, generally

10 The Physical Environment around 450 m, lying along the valley floor of the Fiumara di Avigliano. Numerous deep ravines flank the walls of the main valley sides, which themselves have slopes often exceeding 30°. Flattish areas are greatly restricted in both size and occurrence. Villages and towns are hilltop settlements - a result both of historic insecurity and of the fact that the valley floors are narrow, and the rivers, being susceptible to flash floods, present hazardous locations for settlement on the valley floor. The main drainage pattern is dendritic, with the two major local rivers, Fiumara di Avigliano and Fiumara di Ruoti, joining to flow into the Fiume Platano, and thence, via the Sele, to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Numerous springs occur throughout the region, including several in the immediate area of San Giovanni. These reflect the ample availability of subsurface water in the generally carbonate-rich sediments that form much of the local bedrock. E. REGIONAL AND SITE GEOLOGY The region has a complex and confused geologic history. The Apennines are one of a series of mountain chains created during the Tertiary (Alpine Orogeny) as a result of compressional forces that elevated the ancient marine sediments of the Tethys Sea. Repeated phases of uplift, denudation, faulting, and folding, together with occasional periods of partial marine submergence and local volcanic activity, have dominated the geologic history of the area for most of the last seventy million years. The extensive Monte Vulture volcanic area, 20 km north of the site, is dated at between 0.8 million and 0.4 million years (Barberi, Innocenti, and Ricci 1971). Tectonic disturbances continued until early Pleistocene times (Burton 1970); in adjacent regions, faulting with displacements of up to 100-300 m took place during the late Pleistocene (Bousquet and Gueremy 1968, 1969). Major and minor earth tremors are recurrent phenomena.

Most of the bedrock in the vicinity of the site is Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene (marine and flysch) deposits. These are largely well-stratified, rather weakly cemented sandy conglomeritic rocks with intercalations of shale, clay, and various carbonates (Carta Geologica d'ltalia, Foglio 187, Melfi). Strong tilting, folding, and faulting are evident throughout the region. As a result, steep slopes developed on soft, incompetent units, particularly in areas where deep incision through the action of streams has occurred; these slopes favour major mass movements, especially where subsurface drainage or basal sapping is involved. Major landslides (frane) have occurred less than 3 km east and west of the site (Fig. 9), and the site itself shows evidence of both ancient and current slope failure. The floors of the major valleys, and some of the local tributaries, are occupied to various extents by a variety of Holocene and Recent alluvial deposits. These consist largely of coarse calcareous gravels, derived from the local conglomerates and the more durable carbonate units. Most valleys have well-developed floodplains. In the valleys adjacent to the site there is no evidence of high-level old terrace remnants. Pleistocene-aged alluvial fan deposits do, however, occur in the Fiumara di Avigliano. The site of the villa is located on the dip slope (ca. 8°) of a deposit of Pliocene-aged, weakly cemented, yellowish to reddish conglomerate sandstone, with interbedded shales and clays. This unit occurs along most of the northern side of the valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano in the vicinity of the site and forms the bench on which the villa was constructed. The high escarpment that overlooks the site from the north is of Pliocene-aged, well-stratified, yellowish, interbedded sandstones and sandy shales, which stratigraphically succeed the conglomeritic-rich geologic material of the site. In summary, most of the regional bedrock is dominated by soft, rather poorly indurated sandstones, shales, and clays with interbedded resistant units of conglomerate and limestone. As such, they generally erode rapidly where they

The Physical Environment 11 are exposed by various geomorphological processes; they are especially subject to landsliding (van Asch 1980). F. GEOMORPHOLOGY The relationship between the chronology of geomorphic processes, especially those of a fluvial nature, and the landforms they produce, and of various ancient and historic settlements has been extensively reviewed for several Mediterranean coastal regions (Vita-Finzi 1969). The purpose here is to examine the geomorphology of the valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano and of the San Giovanni region, particularly its site characteristics, and to relate the effects of geomorphic activity to questions regarding the kind of changes of landscape that the area has undergone. In addition, since chronosequences of geomorphic surfaces and deposits are frequently related to various soil characteristics, it is useful to consider how the soil sequences and profiles mapped in the field may be associated.

1. Morphology of the valley of the Fiumara di Avigliano The Fiumara di Avigliano is a typical upland Mediterranean stream, with a relatively steep gradient, incised into a flat, gravelled flood-plain (Fig. 7). Discharge fluctuates markedly, and in summer the river may almost cease to flow. Peak discharges occur in winter and spring, following general precipitation trends. It is evident from the present bedload character that a considerable quantity of material of a large calibre is moved during times of major discharge. Large gabion structures protecting the bridge abutments on the road from Ruoti to San Giovanni have been displaced by several tens of metres since the bridge was constructed in 1977. In addition, stratigraphic evidence in both the present floodplain deposits and in mud-flow deposits of the old alluvial fans that debouch into the main

valley testifies to the occasionally catastrophic nature of discharge. The Fiumara di Avigliano has its main source in the catchment area of Monte Caruso (1,239 m), about 4 km north of the town of Avigliano, in an extensive region of springs developed in a complex Oligo-Miocene ' molasse' of sandstones, conglomerates, shales, and limestones. Numerous other local tributaries, many also spring-fed, contribute discharge. The main flood-plain of the Fiumara di Avigliano is about 1.50 m above the present stream level. The stream deposits are composed of well-stratified, rounded to subrounded calcareous cobbles and gravels that show upward fining and imbrication. These deposits occur as sometimes vegetated bars and islands within the braided channel (Fig. 7). At no point were higher terrace deposits found, except in association with the Pleistocene fan deposits. These high-level Pleistocene terraces are found at an elevation of 50-100 m above the present channel (Carta Geologica d'Italia, Foglio 187, Melfi). The deposits present in a tributary stream, which drains the ravine 300 m east of San Giovanni, show a well-developed, typical upwardfining sequence from gravels into sands and silts, and form a well-defined flood-plain at 1.27 m above the channel. These deposits merge, conformably, with the flood-plain deposits of the main valley. The depositional sequences illustrate a period of valley filling over the much older Pleistocene materials, up to a level of about 1.5-2.0 m in the Fiumara di Avigliano, followed by a period of incision. This pattern accords with the general picture given by Vita-Finzi (1969). In the coastal Mediterranean regions the pattern of alluviation, cutting, and refilling has been the subject of some controversy (Judson 1963; Gunther 1964; Flemming 1964; Burton 1964; Vita-Finzi 1964). Much discussion focuses on correlating general sea-level change, seismicinduced local land-surface movements (which would have affected adjacent marine levels), and the effects of climatic changes and human activ-

12 The Physical Environment ities on sediment yields and associated channel aggradation or degradation. Vita-Finzi (1969) favours a gradually waning phase of channel cutting from Neolithic through Roman times, followed by large-scale channel filling in the medieval period and a modern phase of erosion that is now trenching the Medieval fill. This sequence is confirmed in its general outline by Judson in Sicily (1963) on the basis of carbon-14 dating and is supported by detailed sections near Salerno (Vita-Finzi 1969). The section of the Fiumara di Avigliano near San Giovanni is some 75 km in linear distance from the sea. The actual river distance is approximately 100 km. It is therefore unlikely that any historic relative sea-level changes would have affected the channel morphology in the San Giovanni region. While it is often convenient to regard such alternations in channel cutting and filling as climatically induced, throughout the last 1,500 years in the San Giovanni region the large-scale effects of human occupancy must have had effects on stream run-off and sediment loads (Bell 1982; Delano-Smith 1981). Large-scale deforestation may have caused dramatic changes in the watershed in the Late Iron Age or in Roman times, when the area was densely populated (see chapter 3). The removal of the woodland cover would have produced both flashier run-off and increased sediment yields. Such changes tend to produce accelerated erosion in the stream headwaters and channel filling farther downstream, as the ratio of water to sediment in the stream increasingly favours channel aggradation. In the lengthy period of depopulation and civil unrest following the Roman period (see chapter 3), large tracts of land are likely to have reverted from agriculture to a semi-natural, woody, vegetated state. As a result, run-off would be reduced, and sediment supplies curtailed. In general, these conditions would have favoured upstream channel aggradation. In later medieval times, as population increased and the demands for fuel and building

materials again reduced the tree cover, the earlier run-off sediment load pattern would have been reinstituted. It is known (Tichy 1957) that wholesale deforestation occurred throughout Basilicata during the nineteenth century. The result was an acceleration in the post-medieval channel-cutting phase that is well documented in other areas of Italy, and is evident in the main channel systems of the region around San Giovanni.

2. Morphology and soils of the San Giovanni site The morphology and soil characteristics largely reflect the topographic conditions of the surface on which the villa was built. It lies on a benchlike slope of moderate gradient (ca. 8°), about 200 m above the Fiumara di Avigliano. Its actual location is at the break just above where the slope descends steeply into the valley proper (Fig. 6). Upslope from the villa the ground rises rapidly to culminate in the landslip-formed escarpment that acts as the topographic backdrop to the site of the villa. East and west of the building densely wooded ravines separate that portion of the bench on which the villa was built from its counterpart along the northern side of the Fiumara di Avigliano (Fig. 6). The landscape surrounding the villa is scarred with mass-movement features, which are seen in a series of low scarps and truncated bedrock and soil deposits, visible in many roadcuts (Fig. 10). The nature of the soil deposits in and adjacent to the site of the villa indicates the interactions between erosional and depositional processes and topography. Topography has a marked effect on the distribution of soils and their characteristics. Slope position determines many soil properties seen in the soil profile, including thickness and various pedogenic qualities. Soils in basal-slope positions are frequently thicker, wetter, and more clay-rich than their upslope counterparts (Gerrard 1981). Moreover, such soils often exhibit marked cumu-

The Physical Environment 13 lative soil profiles because of the influx of upslope materials (Birkeland 1974). The presence of physical barriers across hill slopes encourages soil accumulation, as is seen clearly in the soils at San Giovanni. A soil profile (Fig. 11) was taken at the northeastern corner of the villa excavation (see Table

2). This exposure, which formed the control for two other soil profiles, provided an excellent example of the nature of the soil deposits and some indication of the processes of soil accumulation. The two other profiles were excavated north and east of the site of the villa for comparative purposes.

TABLE 2 Villa site soil profile Unit

Depth (cm)

Acid reaction (dilute 20% HC1)

1

0-15

Strong

Dark brown (7.5YR4/4), coarse, silty loam; on the surface is veneer of soil aggregates and small stones. Includes numerous pieces of mortar from top of formerly buried walls, which give a whitish speckle to the soil. Contains some pebbles and pieces of tile. Root penetration through this unit (sown with wheat in previous year). Transitional without any identifiable change except colour and texture to unit 2.

2

15-40

Strong

Brown (7.5YR4/5). Contains small pebbles and angular fragments of bedrock derived from upslope. Unit 2 is a coarse, silty loam with a weak granular structure (very friable). Extends down to present depth of ploughing to give a sharp boundary with unit 3.

3

40-92

None

Brown (10YR5/3). A dense, hard, clay-rich unit with weakly developed coarse or blocky structure. Very few pebbles or tile fragments. Mostly a clay loam with few pores. Clear wavy boundary to unit 4.

4

92-115

None

Dark brown (7.5YR4/2). Mostly angular rubble of tile and wall (?) fragments with interstices filled with washed-in silt and clay.

5

115-143

Slight to strong

Dark brown (7.5YR4/2). Tile, angular wall (?) fragments and rounded cobbles and large pebbles. Well-developed clay skins, especially on the tile fragments. Matrix is almost entirely clay. Some carbonate encrustations on the cobbles, which gave strong reaction to dilute HC1. Rests directly on unit 6.

6

143-152

Slight to strong

Dark brown (7.5YR4/3). Bedrock surface (Pliocene conglomerates). A coarse, pebbly, and cobble-rich conglomerate of sandstone and limestone cobbles in a sandy matrix. Many of the stones have a thick carbonate coating (1-2 mm) and weathering rinds are well developed on the limestones. Gradational contact to unit 7.

7

152+

None

Strong brown (7.5YR4/6). Highly weathered sandstone pebbles and cobbles, many of which have disintegrated in situ. Matrix is hard, compact, clay-rich sand.

Description

The arrangement of this section may be interpreted as follows. Units 6 and 7, together, repre-

sent the base level on which the walls of the villa were originally constructed. The top of unit 6,

14 The Physical Environment then, probably would have been the original 'walking surface,' and it may be that some of the limestone cobbles were spread and compacted by daily activity at the time that this portion of the villa was occupied. Units 4 and 5 contain pieces of collapsed wall and roof tiles, which indicate deposition of material that followed the destruction of the villa in the second quarter of the sixth century AD. The clay-rich and thick unit 3 represents slope-wash fines, which accumulated against the ruined walls following the destruction of the villa. The paucity of any coarse fragments indicates that downslope wash processes were retarded, possibly because of denser vegetation conditions. Units 2 and 1 form the present soil and subsoil. These are both coarser than unit 3 and contain abundant tile fragments and stones. These may be derived from the local site as a result of ploughing, or they may be deposits from upslope brought down by more vigorous slope-wash activity, reflecting present agricultural practices. This section may be compared to two other soil pits that were excavated north (Fig. 12) and east (Fig. 13) of the site of the villa. Figure 12 shows a profile 2 m deep from a pit dug 30 m upslope of the doorway/entrance at the northeast corner of the villa. Six well-defined units occur in the exposure. The upper two units (1 and 2) coincide with the upper two units of the villa site profile (Table 2); that is, they form the present soil. Unit 3 corresponds with the unit 3 defined at the villa site (Table 2), although in the case of Figure 12 the material is somewhat coarser (sandier). Below this unit, in unit 4, is a charcoal-rich layer (depth ca. 122 cm) that accords with the rubble layer of unit 4 in the soils of the villa site. This charcoal may represent input of debris from the destruction of the villa, or it may be derived from the area of a nearby kiln. Below this charcoal layer is a zone (between units 4 and 5) of pebbles and occasional cobbles that is analogous to units 4 and 5 of the soil of the villa site. Unit 6 (Fig. 12) is the clay-rich (matrix) and pebbly conglomerate that forms the local bedrock. The base of unit 4 is defined again as the ' courtyard surface,' which represents the

level of the ground at the time of the construction of the villa. Figure 13 shows a soil profile excavated about 30 m east of the villa. At a depth of 60 cm, the top of a field wall (?) was encountered. Continued excavation to a depth of ca. 120 cm again revealed materials (pebbly, clay-rich) similar to those shown in Figure 12 and Table 2, and at similar depths. The present soil (unit 1) in Figure 13 shows clearly the sharp division above the current depth of ploughing (seen in the percentages of both organic carbon and calcium carbonate). No paleosols were found, nor was any radiometric-datable material located, except for the charcoal fragments discussed above. Since the date of this layer is known, carbon-14 analysis was not attempted on the charcoal. All the soil profiles indicate strong cumulative properties, i.e., sharp divisions between different units. The conclusion is that they represent successive deposition and truncation of materials derived principally from upslope sites. If the profiles represented steady accumulation phases - with little or no removal of input material then they show at least 1.20 m of accumulated deposits above the level that may be regarded as the ' Roman' ground surface. It is evident, however, that an undetermined amount of soil has been removed at various times, and that there is no definitive way of estimating this loss. G. FOREST VEGETATION COVER IN THE SAN GIOVANNI REGION S.G. Monckton and LA. Campbell Vegetation cover - its character, density, and distribution - represents one of the most dynamic factors of the natural environment. The nature of the vegetation reflects differences in soil, topography, and climate, and the effects of human-induced changes. These include clearing for grazing animals or crops, selective or wholesale cutting of woody vegetation for fuel as well

The Physical Environment 15 as building materials, and introduction of nonnative species into the plant community. Changes in the tree cover are likely to be particularly evident as a result of human impact. One of the many questions relating to the occupancy of San Giovanni and the general region concerns the assessment of how the nature and distribution of the present forest cover corresponds to that of the Roman period. This factor is important since the local environments of settlements in this region could have strongly influenced the character of farming and animal husbandry practised by the Roman agri-

culturalists. For example, oak (Quercus spp.) and beech (Fagus spp.) forests are important sources of mast for livestock, especially pigs, which formed a major element in the farming system of Roman Italy. In order to place the discussion of possible changes in vegetation in a historic context it is necessary to consider the nature of the present altitude, soil, and vegetation relationships in southern Italy (Table 3). The data shown in Table 4 can be assessed against the nature of the present forest cover in the San Giovanni region.

TABLE 3 San Giovanni regional forest analysis

Forest

Sample area (m2)

Beech trees: No.

Beech trees: Mean dia. (cm)

Oak trees: No.

Oak trees: Mean dia. (cm)

Fir trees: No.

Fir trees: Mean dia. (cm)

Total trees count

San Cataldo

500

59

26.1

5

14.1

—

—

64

Avigliano

738

—

—

47

26.7

10

22.1

57

Toppa Romito beech

201

16

32.3

—

—

—

—

16

Toppa Romito oak

300

5

77.3

38

51.0

—

—

43

In 1982,1983, and 1984, detailed studies were taken in four forested areas (Fig. 3; Table 3). Forests within the region consist of a patchwork of successional and stable forest stands.1 Successional stands occur where the forest is more or less continually thinned for fuel or construction materials or both. Oak (Quercus spp.) is the dominant species here, occasionally accompanied by fir (Abies spp.). The underbrush is rarely higher than 1 m in areas of extensive lumbering, but in other locations an almost impenetrable secondary shrub storey has regenerated. Stable communities are present where stands have reached maturity, the natural competition of species resulting in almost no undergrowth and in an extremely low diversity of species. Only one stand sampled in the survey was

placed in this category, the forest being composed entirely of beech (Fagus sylvatica). Numerous tree genera currently bordering fields and villages were not encountered in the forest survey. Included in these were sweet chestnut (Castanea saliva), cherry (Prunus spp.), pine (Pinus spp.), sumach (Rhus spp.), walnut (Juglans spp.), and sycamore (Platanus spp.), to name the more common ones. Willow (Salix spp.) is especially prominent in areas bordering streams and along the Fiumara di Avigliano. Four forest areas were surveyed: the San Cataldo forest; a forested region between Ruoti and Avigliano (here referred to as the Avigliano forest); and two forest stands located on Monte Romito. The altitudinal range covered by these forested areas extended from 600-800 m, in the case of San Cataldo, to 900-1,200 km, on Monte

16 The Physical Environment Romito. This range encompasses the lower and upper montane life zones (Table 4). The survey was based on random sampling of trees within measured sample areas, identifying them, and measuring their diameters at ground level. This technique gave both a relative percen-

tage of the different tree species in each forest and some (size-based) indication of the relative age of each stand, and follows standard sampling practice (Phillips 1959; West, Shugart, and Botkin 1981). The data summarized from the surveys are shown in Table 3.

TABLE 4 Typical altitude, soil, and vegetation relationships in southern Italy Elevation (m)

Mean annual temp (°C)

Mean min. monthly temp.

1. Mediterranean

0-500

14-19

2. Lower montane

500-1,200

3. Montane

1,200-1,800

Soil

Characteristic vegetation

9-4

Mediterranean red earths, terra rossa; clays and clay loams, pH to 7.5. Maximal soil profile development

Gariga or macchia, Quercus ilex L.; Myrtus spp.; Erica arborea, Olea europaea

10-14

6-0

Brown forest soils, brownreddish brown; loams and clay loams, pH 7.0-6.5, medial soil profile development

Lower beech forests with oak and chestnut; Fagus sylvatica, Quercus cerris, Castanea sativa, Abies alba

7-10

-1

Dark brown and greybrown podzolics, and altisols; loams, pH 5.5-6.5, minimal soil profile development

Upper beech forest with fir and pines; Fagus sylvatica, Castanea sativa, Abies alba, Finns spp.

Source: based on Zinke 1963 and Tichy 1962

The San Cataldo Forest consists predominantly of beech (Fagus. sylvatica) and has been subject to extensive logging operations, evidenced by the frequent occurrence of freshly cut tree stumps. The average age of the trees, based on tree-ring counts on the stumps, is about fifty years. This finding may reflect the cycle of thinning, in which case it is unlikely that many trees are allowed to survive beyond about a hundred years. The implications are that, although the forest area may well extend back to the Roman period, the relatively rapid rate of replacement of the trees has all but erased any indication of the actual age of the forest itself. Rotted stumps on the forest floor were never in excess of 75 cm in diameter (Table 3), or ninety tree-ring years, at the time of cutting.

The Avigliano Forest is dominated by oak (Quercus spp.) and, as in the case of the San Cataldo forest, the majority of the trees are young. The average diameter of the oaks was 26.7 cm, and of the fir (Abies spp.) was 22.1 cm. One local authority claimed that earlier in this century there was much fir in the area.2 There is no evidence for this in the forests today, nor any explanation as to why fir should occur in the Avigliano forest and not in any of the others. Local site conditions such as soil and drainage may be involved, but the evidence is inconclusive. It is doubtful whether fir represents a successional species, because it does not occur in other areas that appear to have undergone disturbance comparable to that in the Avigliano forest. The difference in altitude between this

The Physical Environment 17 and the other forests is negligible, and so variations in climate are not a factor. The Monte Romito Beech Forest: although only a small sample was used (Table 3), the results indicate that this forest is probably more representative of its type than are any of the others of their respective areas. Monte Romito consists of almost pure stands of beech (Fagus sylvatica) over extensive areas. The dense forest canopy prevents a thick understorey of shrubs, and a thick leaf litter blankets the ground. The average tree diameter was 32 cm, with a range of 8 to 60 cm (Table 3). The average size is probably smaller in the sample area than in most of the Monte Romito area, because of 'tree throws ' (trees blown over by the wind) that had been succeeded by younger saplings. Many of the trees were tagged for cutting, though it appeared that the planned logging was the first for at least two hundred years. The Monte Romito Oak Forest, like the Avigliano forest, showed signs of periodic thinning. The average tree diameter was 51 cm, but many (ca. 84%) of the trees were multibased, indicating a long history of logging operations. The basal trunks were frequently inaccessible for direct measurement; therefore, estimations based on measurements of the distance across the secondary divergent trunks were used. Such estimations probably result in an exaggeration of the diameters in some cases. Among the oaks, five very large beeches (60-100 cm diameter) were encountered. These may represent remnants of an earlier, now largely felled, beech forest. Thus, the oaks here may be successional. The results of the forest survey indicate that the diversity of tree genera within the forest stands, while conforming generally with the geographically anticipated composition (Table 3), are less variable in character than they would be under natural conditions. In particular, no sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) and few fir (Abies spp.) were found. Chestnut trees evidently were present in early times, as the use of such placenames as Castagna la Corte and San Nicola di Castagna indicates; the absence of a sizeable fir

component has been discussed above. Salinardi (1973, 128), in his analysis of agricultural and forest land in the commune of Ruoti between 1753 and 1959, notes that the area of chestnut and pasture fluctuated between 1.43 and 21.36% of the total area. In 1793 the area was 478 ha (9.56%); it fell to 123 ha (2.47%) by 1812, reached a maximum extent of 1,176 ha (21.36%) in 1929, but, by 1959, was only 80 ha, or 1.45%, of the total land-use. These trends are followed almost exactly by similar changes in the area given over to vines and olives and would seem to be a response to marked periodic increases in cereal cultivation, which required a reduction in the wooded portion of agricultural land. It is possible that selective cutting has eliminated several genera by maintaining a plagioclimax community.3 Thus the prevalence of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) in areas bordering cultivated land suggests that it is a member of anthropogenic, not 'natural' vegetation.4 Environmentally, the climatic climax vegetation would include many genera not now found. While the elevation of San Giovanni at ca. 670 m places it in the lower montane life zone, local microclimatic effects produced by aspect and exposure make exact conformance with the relationships shown in Table 4 difficult to apply with certainty. More significant is the fact that San Giovanni lies, climatically, within the ecotone5 between the lower montane and the Mediterranean life zones. The mean annual temperature of San Giovanni of about 12°C means that, in any given year, the climate could vary from almost true Mediterranean to montane, with concomitant effects upon annual vegetation such as cereal crops. In like manner, larger-amplitude changes of climate reflecting decadal averages, or longer, would have significant effects on the forest cover, depending upon the magnitude and duration of the changes and their direction, i.e., to either warmer (drier?) or cooler (wetter?) conditions. These climatic trends could, in association with the results of human influences on the vegetation, have had significant effects upon the

18 The Physical Environment nature of the forest cover during Roman times. There is, however, little evidence that can be used as a direct indicator of the general nature of the forest cover during this early period. One of the best proxy indicators of climate that could be used is pollen analysis. Four soil samples were taken from the site of the villa and analysed for pollen content.6 Three samples proved sterile of pollen, and one contained a small number of grains, among which were recognized those of Gramineae (grasses), Compositae (daisy family), and Tubuliflorae (sunflower family). The lack of pollen content may be a result of the nature of the soil conditions.7 Near the summit of Monte Romito (Fig. 3) there is a small lake, Lago Romito, in which the sediment infill may provide a pollen record extending back to the Roman period, if not earlier. No cores, however, are available for analysis. A long pollen record is available from Laghi di Monticchio (Watts 1985), 23 km north of San Giovanni in an environment that is almost identical to that of the villa site. This record, which extends at least to latest Pleistocene times (ca. 50,000 14C years BP), contains interesting material on early Holocene vegetational sequences, but little useful information for the more recent period of Roman occupation. The latest part of the record (Watts 1985, 494) appears to show a decrease in the oak (Quercus spp.) pollen and a slight rise in the beech (Fagus spp.) pollen, but on the basis of the carbon-14 dates recorded it is not possible to say how recently this trend occurred. Since both oak and beech are common tree species throughout the region today, and since they appear extensively in the pollen record for at least the last 18,000 14C years BP, it seems safe to conclude that the general nature of the forest cover in terms of its characteristic trees has not varied significantly. In other words, the general nature of the climate may not have varied considerably for a lengthy period of time. This observation is supported by analysis of snail shells found in the villa midden material. The twenty-one species described are all common in the area today; there is a similarity or coinci-

dence of present environmental conditions, and therefore probably of vegetation, with those of Roman times. The forests of the San Giovanni area reflect a history of disturbance caused by logging and clearance, at least over the last one hundred to two hundred years. This process is well documented in an extensive study of the province of Basilicata (Tichy 1957, 1962). At present about 30% of the area around San Giovanni is densely wooded. This estimate is based on aerial photographic and cartographic interpretation over the 130 km2 survey area described in chapter 3. Most of this forest cover is restricted to the higher, more rugged areas above 1,200 m elevation, but many of the deeply incised valleys are covered with thick, almost impenetrable wooded vegetation. Salinardi (1973) records that the measurements of 'boschi 7 (woodland) throughout the period from 1753 to 1959 varied from a low of 1,539 ha in 1959 to a high of 1,937 ha in 1812 (27.95 to 38.84%, respectively) for the Comune di Ruoti. Given that there was some overlap between the survey area and the Comune di Ruoti, and that the landscape typology of the Ruoti region is similar to that of the surveyed area of 80 km2 centred on San Giovanni, the two sets of independently derived estimates of forestcover percentage are very close. These estimates suggest that, since the present landscape is probably at or near maximum levels of rural occupancy, it is likely that at least 30% of the region was always forested, and that in several earlier periods this percentage could have been much greater. In the San Giovanni region the trees are relatively young, probably less than a hundred years in the case of the San Cataldo and Avigliano forests. The Monte Romito beech forest appears to be of some antiquity, as seen in its development to a mature or climax state. The fact that this forest still exists in its present form, given the unprecedented scale of present disturbances, suggests that the chances are extremely high of forested conditions having existed in this area for some considerable period, perhaps since Roman times.

3

The Field Survey C. Roberto and A.M. Small

Between 1979 and 1983 an intensive field survey was carried out in a large area surrounding the villa at San Giovanni with the aim of establishing the pattern of settlement of which the villa formed a part, and of throwing light on the relationship between the villa and other sites in the vicinity.1 The strategy adopted was to cover all the accessible ground within a radius of 6 km of the villa. The whole area so defined would amount to approximately 113 km2. In practice, however, the modern towns and denser woodlands had to be excluded, so that only about 80 km2 were covered. A total of sixty-five sites of all periods were identified within the survey area, an average of one site per 1.2 km2; a large number of other find spots, identified as scatters of material or slope wash, were recorded. The ratio of the number of sites to the area appears to be unusually high for mountain country, and the recovery rate can be regarded as satisfactory for this kind of terrain (for comparative figures see Bintliff and Snodgrass 1985. Cf. especially the ratio of one site per 1.8 km2 recorded in the Biferno valley in Molise [Barker, Lloyd, and Webley 1978]). Nevertheless it is likely that some sites have been missed, especially in unploughed land. In a few cases eroded material points to a site higher up a slope that can no longer be detected on the spot: any such site has been omitted from the statistics given in this chapter. Total recovery of sites is an ideal unlikely to be achieved, even on level ground and in the most

intensive surveys, as the experience of other fieldworkers has shown (compare the Boeotia survey in which Bintliff and Snodgrass [1985, 143] calculate that only about 57% of sites of the classical period are likely to have been discovered, despite the intensive character of the survey). Consequently the figures for the number of sites that we give here should in all cases be regarded as minima. The full catalogue of all sites and the details of the material found on them will be published separately, together with a general analysis of the results of the survey. We are concerned here only with those data that throw light on the environment of the villa at San Giovanni. A. THE PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE FOUNDATION OF THE VILLA Eighteen sites in the survey area can be dated to the Late Iron Age (ca. 500-300 BC), and thirtyeight to the Roman Republican period (ca. 30030 BC). It is clear, therefore, that the Roman intervention in this part of South Italy was followed by an increase in the number of settlements and, since the average size of the sites also increased (from nearly 7,500 m2 to just over 12,000 m2), we must infer that there was a large increase in the population. Analysis of the pottery types, however, shows that this increase took place at the beginning of the period, and

20 The Field Survey peaked around 200 BC (Roberto, Plambeck, and Small 1985). The sites of this period were scattered in the valleys of the Fiumara di Avigliano and the Fiumara di Ruoti, up to a maximum of 900 m above sea level. The centre of the area was probably at Ruoti, where there appears to have been a large community. This period of rapid increase in the number of sites was followed by an even more rapid decrease, which began in the second half of the second century BC and continued until the beginning of the Principate. For most of the first century BC, settlement in the survey area was very thin, and apparently impoverished. B. PERIOD 1, THE FIRST PART (ca. AD 1-70) Revival began early in the Principate. The earliest datable pieces of Augustan pottery from San Giovanni are two fragments of Italian terra sigillata of Haltern Type 1, or a variant of it, datable ca. 20 BC-AD 15 (they include No. 2 in our catalogue, below. Cf. Simpson 1986). It is interesting to note that only one other site in the survey area - a large settlement situated only 0.9 km northwest of San Giovanni - has yielded Italian terra sigillata of this type. That settlement goes back to at least the fourth century BC, but it may well have developed into a village attached to the villa at San Giovanni. Evidently the foundation of the villa was one of the first initiatives in the redevelopment of the area under the Principate. Twelve sites (including San Giovanni) can be dated to the Julio-Claudian period, and so are broadly contemporary with the first half of our Period 1. Their distribution is shown in Figure 14a, with symbols indicating their ranking in terms of the estimated original area of each site. The early villa at San Giovanni, which appears to have been fairly typical of villas in the mountainous interior of Italy, as argued in chapter 4, measured approximately 4,000 m2, and we have taken this figure as a convenient gauge for assessing the significance of site sizes in the survey area. We have assumed that sites measuring less than 2,000 m2 are too small to have been

villas, and are more likely to have been huts or small farmhouses, perhaps run by a single family. Sites measuring between 2,001 and 5,000 m2 may well have been villas, although some may have been small villages. Sites measuring between 5,001 and 10,000 m2 are on the large side for villas, and are most likely to have been villages, though the possibility that they were large villas cannot be ruled out. Sites measuring more than 10,001 m2 were most probably villages (Small 1991). The figures for the area of these sites cannot, of course, be considered exact. In hilly country like this part of Lucania, sherds are often likely to have been spread downhill beyond the original nucleus by ploughing or erosion, and so may give a misleading impression of the size of a site. Our estimates of site size take account of this factor, so far as is possible. A more difficult problem arises in the case of sites that were occupied in several different periods. They may have fluctuated in size, but the extent of the site in each period may not easily be recognized from the material collected on the surface. In interpreting the distribution map, one must, therefore, bear in mind that some sites have been missed, and that, in some cases, the estimates of site areas may be too large. The argument we advance here is therefore tentative. Applying the classification we have just outlined, we find that, in the Julio-Claudian period, there were five villages or probable villages and seven villas in the survey area, datable by fine wares. The sites nearest the villa at San Giovanni are both villages, one of which is located approximately 0.9 km to the northwest, the other 1.2 km to the southwest. The nearest villa is 1.4 km to the southeast, with a village adjacent to it. The remaining villas are more than 4.0 km distant. One of these, to the south of San Giovanni, has an adjacent village. Two others, to the southwest, lie near the border of the survey area, and it is conceivable that they too had villages nearby, outside the limits of the survey. Similarly, a village near the limit of the survey to the west of San Giovanni may have had an adjacent villa. It would seem, therefore, that villas were frequently associated with villages. This inference should not surprise us, since it is

The Field Survey 21 probable that villages were often owned by the proprietors of villas, and inhabited by their coloni, who presumably provided labour for the villa, as well as cultivating their own land (Shackleton Bailey 1965, 289). It seems probable, therefore, that the owner of the villa of Period 1 at San Giovanni could draw labour from at least one, and possibly two, villages in the neighbourhood. This would imply that the estate was of considerable size and extended westwards from the villa over the cultivable slopes to the north of the Fiumara di Avigliano. The sites of the Julio-Claudian period are scattered in the valleys of the Fiumara di Avigliano and the Fiumara di Ruoti at between 590 and 800 m on slight slopes. Most are situated in southward-facing locations, as at San Giovanni, where they could get maximum advantage from the sun. The higher altitudes and the steeper slopes where there are no ancient sites must have been left uncultivated. They were presumably used for forest and rough grazing, as they still are today. C. PERIOD 1, THE SECOND PART (ca. AD 70-220) Twenty-six sites (including San Giovanni) have produced early African Red Slip, or other material of the second century, and are likely to have been occupied during the second half of Period 1. The number of sites, therefore, continued to increase well into the second century. Two sites of the Julio-Claudian period have not produced material of the second century, and had probably disappeared, but there were fifteen new foundations. The statistical analysis of the artifacts by site suggests that the total number occupied rose gradually to a peak in the middle of the second century and then declined (Roberto, Plambeck, and Small 1985). As Figure 14b shows, the increase in the number of sites in the second century is accounted for entirely by sites in our largest two categories (villages and probable villages), up from five to nineteen. The number of smaller

sites remained constant. In spite of the great increase in population these figures must imply, most of the new villages were founded close to existing settlements, and it seems probable that the relationship of village to villa, noted above, still continued. It is clear, however, that much more land must have been brought under cultivation to support this increased population. The two new villages to the west of San Giovanni, at a distance of 2.0 and 2.1 km, may have been dependencies of the villa. If this is so, they show that the owner had extended the cultivated part of his estate still farther to the west. The fact that the number of villas remains constant and on the same sites suggests that there had been little change in the pattern of ownership of the land. D. THE PERIOD OF ABANDONMENT (ca. AD 220-350) The early villa at San Giovanni was abandoned ca. AD 220, and remained unused until ca. AD 340/350. The field survey shows that ours was by no means the only settlement in the area to be deserted in this period (Fig. 14c). The number of inhabited sites began to fall after the middle of the second century, and continued to decline throughout the third. By the end of the third century, we can point to only seven sites still occupied within our survey area, and all of these are villages. It seems that all the villas and many of the villages were abandoned. What this implies for the pattern of land ownership is not clear. It would be rash, however, to conclude that the former villa owners had lost possession of their properties, for, as we argue in chapter 6, it is probable that the villa at San Giovanni was maintained during this period, even though it was not regularly inhabited; the same may have been the case for other villas as well. What is apparent is that the conditions of settlement changed drastically in the third century; the rich ceased to live in unprotected buildings in the open countryside, and the total population of the area declined to something like a third of its maximum level in the second century.

22 The Field Survey E. PERIOD 2 (ca. AD 350-400) The villa at San Giovanni began to be inhabited again ca. AD 350, and this period of occupation (our Period 2) lasted until ca. AD 400. The field survey shows (Fig. 14d) that four other sites that had been abandoned in the third century were also reoccupied in the fourth, including two villages and two villas. In general there is a marked change between the settlements of the third century and those of the fourth. Only two sites that had been occupied in the third century continue in the fourth, both of them villages. Three villages that had been occupied in the second and third centuries are not attested in the fourth. One new village and one new small farm were founded in the fourth, on new or longabandoned sites. The number of sites remains approximately the same, and it is unlikely that there was any increase in the total population of the area. The change in locations of the settlements of the third and the fourth centuries shows that the decline in the rural population would have been much more precipitate if it had not been compensated for, to a large extent, by resettlement in areas that had been out of cultivation for some time. It seems reasonable to connect this with the development of pork production, and perhaps also with veteran settlement, which are discussed elsewhere in this volume (see chapter 4). The pigs would be raised on uncultivated land, which would have been especially suitable if it had reverted to oak forest. The new pattern of agriculture of the fourth century appears to have been organized from three villas, including San Giovanni. All the villages are within easy walking range of the villas. The only site that is at all distant is a small farm 3.5 km to the southwest of San Giovanni. F. PERIOD 3 (ca. AD 400-550) The villa of Period 2 at San Giovanni was demolished ca. AD 400, and replaced by the much grander structure of Period 3, which came to an

end shortly before AD 550. The survey evidence for this period (Fig. 14e) is chronologically less precise, since the table ware most commonly in use was Late Roman Painted Common Ware, which lasted throughout this period. Nine sites have produced untyped wall sherds of this pottery datable to only ca. AD 375-550 or later. The terminal date we have used is the end of San Giovanni, but the ware may have continued to be produced after the destruction of the site. (For an attempt to weight the evidence of the pottery in relation to its duration, see Roberto, Plambeck, and Small 1985.) It is possible, however, that as many as eleven sites were inhabited during this period, including seven that we can classify as villages, three as villas, and one as a small farm. Three of the villages and all three villas continue from the previous period, but four of the villages and the small farm are on totally new sites, or sites that had been deserted for some time. Two other villages and the small farm of the previous period had been abandoned. On balance, the evidence suggests a good deal of continuity in the agriculture of the area, and possibly even some expansion of settlement. There is no certain evidence for any site in the survey area continuing after the destruction of San Giovanni. It is possible, as we have noted, that some of the sites that have produced Late Roman Painted Common Ware may have continued later, as may five sites that have yielded undifferentiated pieces of terra sigillata chiara (ca. AD 300-700). The Roman pattern of rural settlement, characterized by small farms, villas, and villages scattered across the countryside, seems to have come to an end during the course of the sixth century. No site in the survey area has produced artifacts datable to the Early Middle Ages. We cannot absolutely rule out the possibility that such artifacts existed but have not been identified, or even that the pottery industry had altogether collapsed, so that the inhabitants were using vessels of perishable materials; but the most obvious conclusion to be drawn is that the area was now well-nigh deserted (cf. chapter 4). It was not recolonized until the Late Middle Ages, and with a very different pattern of settlement.

4

The Historical Background AM. Small and R.J. Buck

A. POLITICAL BACKGROUND The literary sources for the study of the history of Lucania to the death of Justinian are few, brief, and obscure: some passages in Livy; a handful of anecdotes in Frontinus, Plutarch, and Aelian; terse mentions in Justin, Heraclides Ponticus, and Nicolaus of Damascus; a short excursus in Strabo; casual references made by other authors, from Horace to Orosius; brief remarks in the law codes and in Cassiodorus; and enigmatic campaign summaries in Procopius. References to the area around San Giovanni are virtually non-existent. A great deal of evidence, then, for the history of Lucania in general and San Giovanni in particular must be drawn from non-literary material, notably archaeological and epigraphic. The excavations, notably those of the Soprintendenza alle antichita della Basilicata, often present insights into life and culture in Lucania. Various archaeological surveys have provided relevant material, such as a survey along the line of the Via Herculia, carried out by S.P. Vinson and others, and our own full-scale survey of the area in a 6-km radius around San Giovanni. Magaldi's 1947 study, though old, remains the standard work on the history of the area. Adamesteanu (1974) presents much of the archaeological evidence uncovered during his tenure as superintendent, which is useful in supplementing the evidence for the history of the region. Other useful works include Soprintendenza alle antichita della Basilicata (1971); Bor-

raro (1975); Lattanzi (1980, 1983); and Gualtieri, Salvatore, and Small (1983). A good general work is Potter (1987). Much material, as will be noted below, has been published in the form of articles. 1. Early Lucania The earliest inhabitants of Lucania, before the coming of the Lucani, receive little mention in the literary sources beyond a few names: Oenotri and Chones in most of Lucania (Strab. 6.1.2, perhaps from Antiochus of Syracuse and possibly Apollodorus), and lapyges in the easternmost parts around Metapontum (Strab. 6.1.4). The Chones are said to have been an Oenotrian tribe, to have lived inland from Metapontum and Siris, and to have called their territory Chone (Strab. 6.1.4). Possibly they lived as far inland as the Ruoti-Avigliano area. It is generally thought that the Lucani were moving into the area later termed Lucania and replacing the Oenotri and Chones by 500 BC. They had attacked Thurii by ca. 435 (Polyaenus, Strut. 2.10.2), and the Bruttii attacked New Sybaris in 445 (Diod. 12.22.1; Accame 1955, 164-173; Potter [1987, 38] prefers a date of 420-390). Strabo (6.1.4) reports a tradition that the Bruttii were a rebellious offshoot of the Lucani; since they were identifiably separate by 445, they should have been in their respective areas for an appreciable time, and thus to have

24 The Historical Background had the opportunity to become distinct groups. Therefore 500 BC is not an unreasonable date for the Lucani to have entered Lucania. Some traditions suggest that they entered only after the Oenotri were ejected by the Samnites (Strab. 6.1.2), which perhaps implies that the Lucani were recognized as an ethnic group distinct from the Samnites only after they had overrun Lucania. It seems unlikely that the subsequent boundary betwen Samnium and Lucania was ever firmly established (cf. Hor. Sat. 2.1.34-38), but San Giovanni must have been south of the main zone of transition (Thomsen 1947, 81-84), which embraced Venusia (Venosa), Forentum (Lavello), Bantia (Banzi), and Acherontia (Acerenza), that is, the region between the Ofanto and the line of the mountain range lying to the north of Avigliano and Potenza - Monte Santa Croce, Monte Caruso, and Monte La Torretta (Fig. 2). The area around Avigliano and San Giovanni, which is readily approachable from the north, was probably one of the earliest occupied by the Lucani (Lepore 1972, 1881). The Lucani spoke Oscan, as several inscriptions testify (Russi 1973, 1910, 1932; Lejeune 1971, 57ff.; Adamesteanu and Lejeune 1971, 52ff.). They were noted in antiquity for their physical toughness, puritanical morality, and austere way of life, tempered, however, by exuberant hospitality (Just. Epit. 23.1.7-9; Heraclid. Pont. FHG II, 218 no. 20; Ael. VH 4.1; Nic. Dam. FGrH 90 F 103[b]; Aulus Gellius 6.11.7). They were ruled by a king elected, according to Strabo (6.1.3), for war, and a nobility from which their magistrates were drawn (Magaldi 1947, 81-86; Beloch 1880,167-174). Heraclides Ponticus (FHG II, 218 no. 20) records the name of one such king, Lamiscus, who had a wolf's claw for one of his toes, and the name of another is probably preserved on an inscription 'Em %eq N\)uueX,ot) &pxe