Casa Romana in Spoleto: A Roman Urban House
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.2
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Classical
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Roman
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- House
On this page10 sections
History
Casa Romana is a Roman domus, or urban residence, in Spoleto, Italy, built at the beginning of the first century AD. Constructed on a terrace immediately above the Roman forum, the house belonged to the world of wealthy Roman urban residences, where domestic rooms could also support receptions and public social activity. Part of the house lies beneath Piazza del Municipio and part beneath the Palazzo del Comune.
Construction and later use
The house was restored during the century after its construction and continued in use until the early medieval period. It was probably partly destroyed by a fire at that time. Its position and decoration indicate a substantial urban residence, although its overall dimensions were smaller than those of other high-status Roman houses. An upper storey has therefore been proposed as a possible explanation for the limited ground plan.
The surviving front section was largely removed during the fifteenth-century construction of the Brancaleoni family palace. Rooms belonging to the house came to light again in 1784, when the overlying Palazzo del Comune underwent a complete renovation, but they were later concealed. Their recovery resumed during nineteenth-century archaeological work.
Excavation and interpretation
Giuseppe Sordini began the first excavation campaign in 1885 and continued into 1886. The work received financial support from the English ambassador Sir John Lumley-Savile, then faced an interruption of about four years. Later investigations were supported by the Ministry of Public Instruction and the Municipality of Spoleto. Limited funding delayed the recovery of rooms near the peristyle until 1912, and excavations continued through 1914.
A fragmentary inscription from the house’s well dedicates an object or offering to the emperor Caligula, who ruled from AD 37 to 41, in the name of a woman called Polla. On this basis, epigraphists of the German Archaeological Institute cautiously proposed an association with Vespasia Polla, the mother of the future emperor Vespasian. Vespasian ruled from AD 69 to 79 and was a native of Norcia, while Vespasia Polla is known to have owned property in the Nursian-Spoletine area.
Sordini documented the rooms and their materials as excavation progressed. He published his findings in La Nuova Umbria under the pseudonym Spoletanus, with his most complete account appearing in installments in 1913. L. Astolfi, Giuseppe Moscatelli, and Benigno Peruzzi produced watercolor, pen-and-ink, and pencil drawings of principal finds from the early excavations, preserving visual records of the discoveries.
Conservation and present interpretation
In 1890, the excavated rooms were roofed from above and an entrance was opened from Via Visiale. In 1943, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence restored mosaics that had bulged after substantial water infiltration from the paving of the square above. Further interventions and restorations continued for about ten years and were completed in 2002.
The Palazzo del Comune was restored after the 1997 earthquake and returned to its original appearance. Casa Romana is used as a visitable archaeological museum, with important objects recovered from the excavations displayed in cases within the house.
Remains
Casa Romana occupies a terrace on Via Visiale, between Via del Municipio and Via Saffi, immediately above the forum. Its rear side rests against a high embankment that was cut down by approximately three metres to create a level building surface. Later urban structures cover the excavated rooms, including the Palazzo del Comune. The present entrance leads directly into the atrium, following the destruction of the original front section and entrance during later building work.
Plan and central rooms
The domus follows the traditional arrangement of a wealthy Roman house, with rooms organized along a long axis from the entrance through the atrium to the tablinum. The excavated central and right-hand areas include the atrium, a cubiculum, an ala, the tablinum, and the triclinium. The atrium forms the central space around which the other rooms are arranged.
Atrium and water system
The atrium contains an impluvium, a basin for collecting rainwater, beneath the compluvium, an opening in the roof that admitted light and rain. This arrangement formed the house’s internal water-collection system. Cubicula, or private rooms, and alae, side rooms opening from the atrium, flank the central space and retain notable mosaic floors.
Tablinum and reception rooms
The tablinum lies on the same axis as the atrium and served as the principal reception and representation room. Two rooms flank it, and their mosaic decoration is probably later than that of the other floors. The room to the right is a triclinium, a dining room, set at a raised level and retaining fragments of painted fresco decoration.
Peristyle area
The room to the left of the tablinum connects with the peristyle, the house’s internal colonnaded garden. Fragments of its columns remain, linking this area with the more formal sequence of rooms around the atrium.
Decoration and surviving materials
The house contained extensive decorative work in several materials. Mosaic floors covered rooms and thresholds, while wall frescoes, stucco ceilings, and polychrome terracotta elements decorated the interior and roof. The mosaic floors were in very good condition in 2014 after the restoration campaigns completed in 2002.
Recovered objects from the excavations are displayed in cases inside the archaeological house. Together with the fragmentary well inscription and the surviving rooms, these materials connect the physical remains with the house’s early imperial date and its long use before later construction altered the site.
