Villa dei Volusii

The discovery of this large villa was completely accidental: in 1962 it was found during the works for the construction of the A1 highway at the Fiano Romano tollbooth,[2] very close to Lucus Feroniae sanctuary, even if was known the presence of structures related to a Roman cryptoporticus in the area.[3]

The complete excavation of the entire complex, cut in two by the highway's access ramp, was done from 1962 to 1971 by the highway company (Società Autostrade) with the supervision of the regional cultural heritage department.[4] Then the refurbishment operations continued until the 1990s, with the restoration of the mosaic floors, walls and structures, the setting up of a small antiquarium and lastly, the installation of wooden roofs to protect spaces exposed to atmospheric agents.[5]

Mosaic in detail

This villa rustica fits perfectly into the group of villas built in the Roman republican age by the senatorial families not far from Rome, in a fertile and highly disputed territory from the point of view of the real estate market of the time, being not only a country residence but also a center for production facilities.[6]

The villa was built around the middle of the 1st century BC from the senatorial family of the Volusii Saturnini, probably on a pre-existing structure that belonged to the Egnatii family,[7] opponents of Augustus who had their assets seized after their death.[8] From Quinto Volusio, a character known to Cicero, the villa passed to his son Lucio Volusio Saturnino, consul in 12 BC, who enlarged the building, adapting it to the style of the Hellenistic villas, in vogue in the Augustan age, equipping it with residential and spa facilities,[9] enriching it with new mosaic decorations and expanding the stately sector with the construction of a gigantic peristyle with the lararium inside with the statues of the family's ancestors.[10]

On the death of the last descendant of the Volusii family, Quinto Volusio Saturnino who was consul in 56 AD, the villa was probably acquired by the imperial state property.[11]

The complex was further enlarged in the Hadrianic-Trajan age, it underwent restorations between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD and was frequented until the 5th century AD, when a small cemetery was set up in the residential part.[12]

Starting from the early Middle Ages, a religious building was first built and then a small fortified center with towers and, finally, a rustic farmhouse[13] reported in the maps of the area of the 16th century.[14]

Mosaic floors at Villa dei Volusii

The villa stood about at 400 metres (1,300 ft) from Lucus Feroniae, built on an embankment that offers a panoramic view of the lower Tiber valley, alongside the Via Tiberina.

It extended on two levels with the upper one which housed the noble residence with a polystyle atrium, rooms on the left side, cubicles and triclinium on the right, tablinum on the back, while on the right side of the noble quarter stood the peristyle with the lararium.[15]

Overall, around sixty rooms have been identified built in the republican or imperial era, with residential or productive functions, such as an oil mill, a cistern, nymphaeums, an ergastulum,[16] and various cubicles.

The archaeological site of the Villa dei Volusii is accessible by Lucus Feroniae one by means of a pedestrian bridge crossing the provincial road 15/A Tiberina, which separates the two sites.[17]

The site is also accessible, upon reservation, from the Feronia Ovest Rest Area of the A1 highway (towards Rome).[18]

The Villa dei Volusii, as well as Lucus Feroniae, was included in the project of the Virtual Museum of the Tiber Valley.[19] This project was carried out by the CNR and its goal was to produce an integrated system of knowledge and cultural enhancement of the middle valley of the Tiber to promote the territory and cultural dissemination. In particular one aim of this project was the 3D reconstruction of the rooms of the villa.

The management of the site is in concession to the highway company (Autostrade per l'Italia).[20] Admission is free.

• Torelli, Mario (1973). Supplemento all'Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica (in Italian). Rome.
• Tomassetti, Giuseppe (1980). La campagna romana: antica, medievale e moderna (in Italian). Vol. 3. Cassia, Clodia, Flaminia, Tiberina, Labicana, Prenestina.
• Sgubini Moretti, Anna Maria; Moretti, Mario (1977). La villa dei Volusii a Lucus Feroniae (in Italian). Rome.
• Gazzetti, Gianfranco (1997). La villa dei Volusii a Fiano Romano (in Italian). Rome: Quasar.
• Boenzi, Giuliana; Ciccarese, Antonella; Di Giammatteo, Paola; Fei, Francesca; Gazzetti, Gianfranco; Stanco, Enrico Angelo (1997). Terra di Fiano : ricerche di storia, arte, archeologia (in Italian). Quasar.
• Sgubini Moretti, Anna Maria (1998). "La ristrutturazione in età augustea". In Sgubini Moretti, Anna Maria (ed.). Fastosa rusticatio: la villa dei Volusii a Lucus Feroniae (in Italian). L'Erma di Bretschneider.
• Sforzini, Clementina (1998). "Le fasi successive". In Sgubini Moretti, Anna Maria (ed.). Fastosa rusticatio: la villa dei Volusii a Lucus Feroniae (in Italian). L'Erma di Bretschneider.
• De Franceschini, Marina (2005). Ville dell'agro romano (in Italian). Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
• Marzano, Annalisa (2007). Roman villas in central Italy : a social and economic history. Boston: Brill.
• Zanni, Sara (2013). La Villa dei Volusii Saturnini a Lucus Feroniae: ambienti virtuali per la ricerca archeologica (Doctoral Thesis) (PDF) (in Italian). Milan: Milan University. Retrieved 2022-04-27.

• Official website (in italian)
• Villa dei Volusii on Lazio cultural heritage department web site (in italian)