Rich urban Domŭs
The excavation beneath Palazzo Sanvitale, in the northeastern part of the Roman city, uncovered sections of two urban blocks separated by a minor decumanus. The remains of two domŭs were brought to light, divided by the street and bordered to the east by a canal. Both houses date back to the 1st century BCE when they featured large opus signinum floors (a type of concrete with embedded marble tesserae). Later, during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, the domŭs were expanded, equipped with heating systems and adorned with large mosaic floors.
A rich collection of black-glazed pottery reflects the city’s earliest occupation phases, with Central Italian wares dating to the 2nd century BCE. Later, these were replaced by Italic and Northern Italic red-glazed pottery (terra sigillata). Alongside them, household and kitchen ceramics, scales, writing tools, and finely crafted bronze objects—used for domestic worship and personal adornment—offer insight into daily life.
7a.
Sophisticated Architecture
The second construction phase introduced architectural decorations, black-and-white geometric mosaic floors, and suspensurae—round bricks that created an underfloor space for heating.
7b.
Black-Glazed Pottery
Plates, bowls, pyxides, and oil lamps with black glaze, dating from the 3rd to the 1st century BCE, suggest the area was in use before its final urban development. The presence of Central Italian pottery indicates trade connections with the settlers’ regions of origin. A Northern Italic black-glazed oil lamp, decorated with a comic mask, dates to the 1st century BCE.
7c.
Terra Sigillata and Red-Glazed Ware
Plates and bowls in terra sigillata and red-glazed pottery, produced in Arezzo and locally, date from the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. The open-spout oil lamp, stamped “VIBIANI”, a characteristic Northern Italic product, was in use between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE.
7d.
Bronze Artifacts
Small bronze finds include a statuette of Isis-Fortuna, a second draped figure, personal ornaments, decorative furniture fittings, and a small disc with a movable ship-shaped element—possibly a sundial.
7e.
Daily Life and commercial Items
Storage jars, cooking pots, bowls, and lids in common ware, glazed ceramics, and fire-resistant pottery reflect the daily life in a Roman household. Meanwhile, two-arm balances, steelyards with bronze weights and counterweights, and bone styluses for writing on wax tablets hint at the activities carried out by the dominus or in commercial spaces often located in rooms facing the street.