Emily Chan
Using a variety of archaeological techniques, Laurano and his team were able to figure out the town’s true identity and learn how it remained so resilient. They used ground-penetrating radar surveys, launched a series of targeted excavations, and analyzed pottery pieces.
After doing a systematic geophysical survey, they created a detailed picture of the town’s layout. The image revealed notable characteristics of the area, such as a roofed theater, spaces for markets, temples, storage facilities, bathhouses, and a river port.
It was far more elaborate than what the researchers had expected to find, especially since when they first started digging, the area was just open fields and contained no noticeable remains.
“There was nothing on the surface, no visible evidence of buildings, just bits of broken pottery. But what we discovered wasn’t a backwater, far from it. We found a thriving town adapting to every challenge thrown at it for 900 years,” said Laurano.
The remains of the roofed theater were a particularly surprising discovery because theaters were rare in Roman Italy. This theater appeared to have been large enough to seat around 1,500 people and was constructed with marble that was imported from across the Mediterranean.
The presence of a roofed theater debunks the idea that it was a backwater town. Instead, it shows that the town had a lot of wealth, power, and refinement. Evidence suggests that the theater was still open even as the empire started going downhill.
Another shocking revelation was the town’s population size. Over 80 percent of the town’s houses were small, with two dozen larger ones sprinkled throughout the settlement. It is believed that the town operated as a major trading center and was able to uphold its reputation as such, bringing in business even when the state of the empire was looking dim.
