Ocriculum

History

The Umbrian city was probably located on the hill under the modern town. After the defeat of the Umbrian tribes at the battle of Mevania in the Samnite Wars, the inhabitants of Ocriculum concluded an alliance with Rome in 308 BC. From this date that the city began to perform a strategic function as a border town between Umbria, the Ager Faliscus and the Sabina and especially following the construction in 220 BC of the Via Flaminia.

A new unwalled city was built about 2 km south of and below the present town probably around this time in order to be closer to the curve of the Tiber and the Via Flaminia, which crossed the river here to enter Umbria. Its river port was the "oil port", signalling the olive culture that supported its economy. A pensor lignarius ("weigher of wood") in an inscription identifies a trade in timber and perhaps firewood.

It became a municipium, governed by quattuorvirs, and was ascribed to the Arnensis tribe, as documented by several epigraphs found on site.

The beauties of its surroundings made it a desirable place for patricians to holiday: Titus Annius Milo, a friend of Cicero and a leading politician in the mid-1st century BC, had a villa there. He was accused of killing Clodius (in 52 BC) after transporting weapons across the Tiber to his villa in Ocriculum; Pompea Celerina, the very wealthy mother-in-law of Pliny the Younger, also had estates there at the end of the 1st century AD.

In the imperial age it flourished as shown by its great monuments and exceptional works of art, due to an economy based on agriculture, commerce and the pottery industry: famous are the well-known cups in relief called "Popilius Cups" and the tile and brick factories whose stamps are known, found in Rome in the Tiber. …

The site

The archaeological area covers about 36 hectares. Excavations on the Roman site in 1775 and following years led to the discovery of the baths, a theatre, a basilica and other buildings.

The massive baths buildings include a great "octagonal room’" in which the spectacular mosaic pavement was found, now in the Sala della Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino. Of the many other superb works of art found (many in the Vatican museum) are the celebrated head of Zeus of Otricoli and the head of Claudius both also shown in the Sala della Rotonda. Winter baths to the north also existed as evidenced by inscriptions, referring to their restoration in the 4th century, and statue bases.

The theatre is built using the natural slope of the land for its cavea, only the ends having three built-up vaulted structures on both the right and left. Behind the rows of seats are two partially visible ambulatories. Of the upper gallery only a sector covered with a barrel vault remains; the external perimeter is formed by a retaining wall reinforced by pillars. In front of the cavea was the scaenae frons adorned with precious coloured marbles and with statues and decorations including the gigantic Muses now preserved in the Vatican museums.

In the city centre next to the theatre is a massive and unique building known as the "Great Substructures" consisting of twelve vaulted rooms on two levels which supported a terrace high above most of the town. It dates from late 1st c. BC to early 1st c. AD. It could have provided a monumental area supporting a temenos (enclosed sacred area) for a temple, similar to sanctuaries of the same period such as at Tibur. The rooms of the upper level have opus reticulatum walls still covered with plaster in some places. It was also perhaps used as a warehouse, given the nearby river port known as "dell'Olio". A smaller version of the substructures nearby expanded the central city area with a terrace. …