THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA OF FERENTO

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA OF FERENTO

On the provincial road Teverina, just beyond Acquarossa, the Roman city of Ferentium founded in the third century. BC, reached its maximum splendor in the imperial age and during the Middle Ages it was among the main antagonists of the city of Viterbo whose inhabitants in 1172, with the pretext accusation of heresy, completely razed it to the ground. Today, the archaeological area presents the imposing and well-preserved ruins of the Roman theater, built during the Augustan age and another important building, that of the baths, with the different still recognizable rooms (frigidarium, tepidarium, calidarium) of which we still have the mosaic flooring and parts of columns and walls.
Since April 2015, the Archeotuscia Onlus Association, thanks to an authorization from the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendence for the metropolitan area of ​​Rome, the province of Viterbo and southern Etruria, is the body to which it was entrusted the area, ensuring the management of the green, the maintenance and cleaning of the archaeological spaces, and above all the opening to visitors.
In fact, in concert with the Superintendency, the Association has developed a whole series of scientific and cultural activities and initiatives that make the archaeological site alive and usable.
As regards the knowledge of the site, a large bibliography allows us to have a clear and outlined picture starting from the third century BC. C., until the XII century AD. C.
The ruins of the Roman city of Ferento are located on an elongated tufaceous tongue extending about thirty hectares, which overlooks the Vezzarella and Acquarossa streams in a truly spectacular way.
The city of Ferento was crossed by the via publica Ferentiensis, a transversal artery that connected the via Cassia with the Tiber valley and which, passing through Ferento, constituted its decumanus maximus.
Roman Ferento was born following the abandonment of the Etruscan town of Acquarossa and assumed considerable importance especially during the imperial period.
In fact we know from Tacitus and Vitruvius that the city became a municipium and that it was ascribed to the Stellatina tribe, but only in the Julio-Claudian age did it reach its maximum splendor with the construction of sumptuous public buildings including the theater, the amphitheater, the baths and the forum which, thanks to the generosity of two private citizens, Sesto Ortensio and Sesto Ortensio Claro, was completely redeveloped. The decumanus was also equipped with a large colonnaded portico overlooked by a large block, the tabernae, intended for commercial activities.
Ferento was adorned with the title of civitas splendissima, as an inscription from the 2nd century AD reminds us. found nearby, but it is also famous for being the birthplace of Emperor Marcus Salvius Otho, who reigned only 3 months in 69 AD, as well as Flavia Domitilla, the wife of Emperor Vespasian and mother of Flavia Domitilla Minore, Titus and Domitian , both emperors of Rome.
Starting from the 3rd century AD. the news on Ferento becomes more uncertain.
SANT’EUTIZIO MARTIRE, born in Ferento on 15 May 270 approximately, is from this period. He was a Christian from the city of Ferento, martyred in 270 ca. during the persecution wanted by the Roman emperor Aureliano.
After the barbarian invasions Ferento became the seat of a diocese at least from the 6th-7th century; with the subsequent conflict between Lombards and Byzantines for the city a slow decline will inexorably begin with a consequent demographic decline. In 740 the king of the Lombards, Liutprando, left the ancient city of Ferento, arrived in the Nera Valley and founded Ferentillo.
Over the course of the 11th and 12th centuries, Ferento seems to have organized itself into a municipal autonomy with the town that had slowly repopulated itself. But the decline and the definitive destruction of the city of Ferento will take place in 1172 by the Viterbo people. This fact seems to have arisen from continuous rivalry between the two centers on the control of the territory.
Following the destruction of Ferento, a part of the population took refuge in the locality of “Le Grotte (present-day Grotte Santo Stefano) while others were allowed by the Viterbesi to move to the city near the San Faustino area.
To better highlight the annihilation of the rival city, the Viterbo people also added the palm, symbol of Ferento, to the lion of Viterbo, thus giving rise to the Viterbo municipal coat of arms which is still so represented today.

THE DISCOVERY AND THE EXCAVATIONS

The discovery of Ferento is linked to the name of Luigi Rossi Danielli, an archaeologist from Viterbo who, together with the “Pro-Ferento Archaeological Society”, established in 1906, conducted research and excavations on the Pianicara hill at the beginning of the twentieth century, excavating a large part of the theater and highlighting the nearby spa.
Between 1925 and 1928 the Superintendence of Antiquities of Rome completed the illumination of the theater and the excavation returned, among other things, a prestigious statuary furniture composed of nine Muses of classical mythology (Melpomene, Talia, Erato, Euterpe, Clio, Terpsichore , Urania, Calliope, Polimnia) that adorned the niches of the lower order of the proscenium and a copy of the Pothos by the famous sculptor Skopas, located in the auditorium of the theater (today in Viterbo at the National Museum of Rocca Albornoz).
From 1994 to 2009 the University of Tuscia of Viterbo on concession of the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of southern Etruria, conducted systematic excavations with excavation campaigns aimed at the western sector of the plateau, returning five sectors that have allowed new acquisitions particularly interesting for the medieval settlement.

THE NECROPOLIS

There are numerous necropolis surrounding Ferento, the necropolis of:

• Procoietto: III-II century BC, mainly chamber tombs;
• Talone: IV-II century BC;
• Poggio della Lupa: famous above all for the Tomb of the Salvi, the family that gave birth to Emperor Marcus Salvius Otone, a tomb dating back to the 2nd-1st century BC. Interesting is the presence at about 200 meters from this tomb of the so-called “Ferento Mine”, the tunnel develops for at least 50 meters under the cliff of the hill, aimed at the search for iron ore, generally limonite.
• Poggio della Lestra.

WHAT YOU CAN VISIT

The patient and constant work of the Archeotuscia Association has allowed most of the excavations to be brought back to usability. Thanks to their cleaning and maintenance work, the following environments can be visited:

Theater

The theater of the ancient Ferentium is oriented almost perfectly to the N-S, with the cavea opening facing south. Its original layout dates back to the first decade of the 1st century. A.D. (12 – 17 AD). The cavea, of which thirteen restoration steps remain today, once reached 60, 33 m. in diameter and could accommodate up to 3,000 spectators.
The lower sector of the cavea (imea cavea) is dug directly into the rock (aniciana stone praised by Vitruvius, de arch., II 8), while the central and upper sectors (media and summa cavea), currently lost, were substructures. Two galleries (or cryptae), the lower currently visible blind and the upper disappeared, semicircular, in cement, separated by a system of radial chambers (or wedges), helped to support the weight of the steps in the central and upper part of the cavea, completely surrounded by twenty-seven round arches (2.50 m. diam.) in peperino (square work). Two flights of stairs, of which partial traces of the walls and steps remain, allowed direct access to the summa cavea from outside the stage building.
The orchestra (20.40 m. Diam.), Paved in peperino, has the balteus delimiting the proedria and the rainwater drainage channel (euripus), disposed of below the floor through three sewer tunnels. The two mirrored parodoi (or side corridors) of access to the steps and the orchestra, equipped in ancient times with vaults, have an inclined plane, flanked by opus reticulatum masonry and paved with slabs of peperino.
Between the orchestra and the frons scaenae opens the scenic pit (5 m wide and 1.50 m deep), inside which it is possible to see ten square wells in opus reticulatum, attributable to the functioning of the curtain (which in ancient moved from bottom to top) as well as the receipts for the beams of the plank that, on the occasion of the theatrical performances, covered the pit constituting the proscaenium (stage) on which the actors performed.
The partially preserved frons scaenae consisted of eleven doors in ancient times; currently only seven remain: three lead onto the stage, the other four led to the service areas (parascaenia), located on the sides of the scenic façade. For their stage movements the main performers used only the widest door (3 m.), The regia valve (or porta regalis), with a straight bottom between arched sides, while the secondary actors used the two side doors (2.50 m.), the valvae (or portae) hospitales of rectangular plant. The frons scaenae, originally on two orders, was decorated with numerous statues, punctuated by columns in precious polychrome marble and by niches intended to house the sculptural cycle of Apollo and the nine Muses, attributable to the second construction phase of the theater (150-170 AD. ), similarly to the masonry interventions in opus vittatum of the scenic facade. The subsequent interventions, mainly made to the architectural decoration, are dated between the end of the second century. A.D. and the beginning of the III century. A.D. (Severan age: 193-211 AD); finally, the last interventions are placed at the beginning of the fourth century. A.D. (fragments of Asian Corinthian capitals; scenic pit restorations in the so-called opus vittatum mixtum).

The Baths

Located on a large area (60 x 37 m.) To the E of the theater and open to the Decumano Massimo, the public baths of Ferentium consisted of an imposing building with a height of no less than 9 m., As evidenced by the ruin in brick work preserved in the SE corner of the complex. Through three entrances with two steps each led to a porticus, enclosed by a peristasis of cipollino marble columns, on which various accessory rooms opened, including probably an unctuarium (massage room).
At the center of the portico, the natatio, a large rectangular basin (8.25 x 4.95 m.) Deep only 1 meter, which welcomed the ancient visitors of the baths, allowing them to cool off in view of the ablutions. Two sigmoid-shaped fountains adorned the actual access to the bathing establishments with their water features. The first rooms that can be seen, to the right and left of those who enter, are the only ones to have preserved mostly intact the ancient mosaic flooring in black and white tiles, dating back to the first construction phase of the building (first half of the 1st century . AD; Julio-Claudian age), shortly after the construction of the theater. These rooms, two on each side, were used as changing rooms (apodyteria). There follow the two mirrored basins for ablutions in cold water (frigidaria), with marble wall coverings (of which traces still remain in the lower part of the walls) and access steps. The replacement and cleaning of the water were guaranteed by a hole for filling and emptying the tanks, which is still visible today. Through a corridor, from the room of the two frigidaria you passed to that of the tepidarium (bath for ablutions in warm water), with brick walls equipped with terracotta tubules for the diffusion of warm air, to then conclude the thermal treatment in the calidarium (rooms for ablutions in very hot water), which in Ferento, in addition to being rigorously exposed to the S, according to the Vitruvian dictates (Vitr., de arch., V), consisted of two distinct rooms: a larger calidarium intended for men and a smaller one for women. In these latter rooms, the terracotta tubules for the passage of hot air and the suspensurae supporting the floor can be clearly seen, which allowed the same pipes to spread the heat evenly throughout the room. Along the walls of the rooms there were a series of docks used during the spa treatment. Sector O of the complex was used as service areas, frequented exclusively by slave labor, in which it is possible to identify a praefurnium, the large furnace that fed and kept constant the high temperatures necessary for the functioning of the thermal system; the heat thus propagated was channeled and radiated by means of a terracotta channeling below the floor levels. The fulcrum of the entire complex was located in the center of the last room towards the S side and consisted of a large exedra with a curvilinear section, decorated with polychrome mosaic tiles, most likely destined to house one or more marble simulacra, connected to the cult of waters. Over the centuries, the baths underwent numerous extensions and redevelopment interventions, such as the one financed by the illustrious Ferentana family of the Hortensi (CIL, XI 7431) in the Julian – Claudian age (1st century AD). In the early Middle Ages, the partially buried building was obliterated by a block of private homes.

The Decumanus maximus

l decumanus maximus (main urban road axis with E-W orientation) of the ancient Ferentium, a part of the city of the via publica Ferentiensis paved with large polygonal flint paving stones, between the partly destroyed crepidines (sidewalks), 3.60 m. Intersecting with the other main road axis, the cardo maximus with N-S orientation (currently not localizable), it determined the orthogonal structure for strings of the urban road network, perhaps dating back to the third century. BC, identified by examining aerial photographs, in the eastern sector of the Pianicara plateau. The via publica Ferentiesis, whose name has been handed down to us from epigraphic sources (CIL, XI 3003), connected the consular Cassia Viterbese (mansio delle Aquae Passeris, loc. Bagnaccio – terme del Bacucco) to the river ports on the Tiber. Leaving the town on the western side, Via Ferentiensis already branched off at the height of the so-called mausoleum of the Postumii. One of its byways, still visible, descended into the underlying San Gemini valley to cross the Acquarossa ditch on an Etruscan bridge, while its main eastern route pointed towards the northern area of ​​the Falisco countryside and, more precisely, towards the port. river on the Tiber in loc. Seripola (Orte). Leaving the ancient Ferento, on the same eastern side the route continued forming an extra-urban road that led to the Tiber valley, where traces are lost. Furthermore, one of its diverticula descended from the Pianicara plateau towards the Guzzarella ditch to connect the centers of Magugnano and Grotte S. Stefano.

The Tabernae

Between 1994 and 2002 archaeological excavations conducted by the Department of Sciences of the Ancient World of the Faculty of Conservation of Cultural Heritage of the University of Tuscia in Viterbo and directed by Dr. Gabriella Maetzke, allowed to bring to light, among other archaeological evidence , a complex of commercial spaces (tabernae), open along the N side of the maximum Decumano. At the end of the investigations, these environments, whose reconstruction was made extremely complex by subsequent medieval interventions, were buried again to ensure safe conservation in anticipation of an adequate preparation. The tabernae are delimited by a series of parallel walls orthogonal to the basolata street, made with different techniques (almost reticulated with corner blocks and craticium), some probably resulting from the reuse and regularization of pre-existing structures. They define several rectangular rooms, of various sizes, with access to a porticoed area about 6 m wide, defined by tuff column bases close to the road axis. The rooms, floors mostly in cocciopesto, provided for large entrances defined by long stone thresholds (in the only preserved example this measures 3.80 m and retains the recesses for wooden sliding doors) and an internal joint in several rooms , delimited to date by fragments of wall structures which unfortunately do not allow us to accurately trace the division of the spaces, some of which are intended for sale (those open on the Decumano), others for production or administrative activity. No traces of upper floors have been identified in Ferento, although it seems a plausible hypothesis, nor spaces with a residential function, perhaps located further to N.
The commercial character of this area is confirmed by the high quantity of coins found on the floors of the rooms, whose dates cover a chronological horizon ranging from the Republican age to late antiquity (4th century AD).

The Domus with an atrium

In the Republican age, in the longitudinal strip adjacent to the Decumanus maximus (at the time, perhaps, only a stretch of the Via Ferentiensis), ironworking workshops arose, the presence of which is documented both by the discovery of numerous slags and by the location of a a good number of underground wells dug into the tuff, probably functional to the same production, obliterated under Tiberius (14-37 AD) or Claudius (41-54 AD) to make way for private houses. One of these, located in the N-O sector adjacent to the theater, is the domus ad atrium of the Julio-Claudian age (14-54 AD), whose extremely incomplete structures you are now visiting. Already brought to light following the earthworks of 1957, it was the subject of scientific investigations in 2001, under the guidance of prof. Carlo Pavolini on behalf of the University of Tuscia in Viterbo. The visible wall fragments are made with very varied techniques, given the use of different types of materials arranged in various ways and flooring in limestone flakes bound by mortar. The domus was equipped with a view on the Decumano composed of a large portico of which some volcanic stone drums and three tabernae remain). The communication between the outside and the inside of the house was supervised from the post of the ostiarius (porter) and implemented through the succession of the vestibulum and fauces (6), making up the entrance to the domus. On the entrance there was a living room and reception room (11), probably to be identified in the tablinum and a triclinium. Adjacent to room 11, there was an L-shaped corridor (and an alleged stairwell, which led to an upper floor. roof converging inwards, centered on the impluvium in molded slabs of volcanic stone, in excellent condition. The atrium onto which four cubicula, or bedrooms, opened, was closed in the background by the perimeter wall of the building, which divided the rooms from the house by a sort of open courtyard, located behind the house and, therefore, reachable only from the outside, and equipped with at least three cisterns, served by a system of channels aimed at conveying the water coming from the impluvium. A similar reservoir was probably located below the room, where the floor has sunk in. The domus with the Ferentana atrium shares many of its planimetric-architectural peculiarities with to the Pompeian domus of the Sacerdos Amandus, in via dell’Abbondanza, whose irregularities are the result of numerous building transformations, the same ones that most likely the house in Ferento underwent.

The complex of public cisterns

One of the numerous crossbeams of the Decumanus maximus divided the NW sector affected by the presence of the domus ad atrium from a mighty system of public cisterns leaning against the arches of the theater, erected in the Julio-Claudian age (14-54 AD), simultaneously with the construction of the baths . The plant (14 x 26 m.) Consists of three large communicating rooms, made of opus mixtum with tufaceous cubilia of irregular shape juxtaposed with brick appeals, consisting of five rows of tiles or bricks and paved in cocciopesto. The water complex was placed in a plausible relationship with the city aqueduct of the ancient Ferentium, of which the cisterns would constitute a castellum aquae terminal, primarily used for the entertainment building, but probably also for the public baths themselves.

Towards the eastern end of Piancara is the amphitheater still not excavated and visible only in part, above all thanks to aerial introspection.

Text by Archeotuscia Onlus.

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