Excavations Reveal Ancient Razed City and its Long Inhabitance Standstill

Archaeologists have recently uncovered a villa on the outskirts of the ancient city of Fregellae, an area southeast of Rome razed by the Roman army in 125 B.C. due to a likely dispute over Roman citizenship rights, Live Science reported. According to Dominik Maschek from the Leibniz Centre for Archaeology and Trier University, the city, destroyed during a rebellion, remained uninhabited for over 170 years until it was repurposed into a landfill.

Maschek explained that archaeological excavations revealed fire damage, indicating that the villa's buildings and surrounding crops were destroyed simultaneously with the city. During their investigations, researchers also found a Roman military camp nearby, protected by a fortified wall and moat.

Initially founded as a Roman colony, Fregellae included many Samnites, non-Roman people who had once been enemies of the Roman Republic. This diverse demographic likely fueled the grievance that led to the rebellion since they were granted "second-rate" citizenship with fewer legal rights.

Few historical records detail the events surrounding the revolt, mostly limited to mentions of a siege by a Roman army commanded by the praetor Lucius Opimius, a magistrate of the Roman Republic. Archaeological evidence is thus crucial in understanding these occurrences. Exploring the site, archaeologists unearthed large pottery vessels used for storing farm produce like wine, grain, and fruit, indicating that the villa served as an agricultural center possibly exporting its products.

Maschek noted that Roman allies' insurrections in Italy, between 91 and 87 B.C., demanding full Roman citizenship, could parallel the earlier rebellion at Fregellae. The decision by some Samnite families to relocate to Fregellae in hopes of better ties despite limited rights had been considered by the Roman Senate decades before the revolt but left unresolved.

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