The Roman Villa of Barricelle, a hamlet of Marsicovetere, PZ, surrounded by greenery, has been included in the program of the FAI Spring Days scheduled for the weekend of 25 and 26 March next, organized every year by the Italian Environment Fund.
https://www.fondoambiente.it/luoghi/villa-romana-108790
Along the left bank of the Agri, 20 kilometers from Grumentum, stands the Roman villa of Barricelle, identified in March 2006 during the installation works carried out by Eni and excavated until 2017 for approximately 3000 mXNUMX.
The structure falls into the typology of rustic villas, systems which, since the XNUMXst century. BC, they arise in the countryside at the center of the estates of rich aristocratic families, to facilitate the control and management of land properties.
OUR SPOT
The owner of the large estate to which the Barricelle villa belongs is, as attested by the stamp on the exposed tile, Caius Bruttius Praesens, a member of a powerful and rich Lucanian family.
In the XNUMXst century AD, he built the first structure of the villa, divided into two buildings separated by a large courtyard: to the right of this, there are the servants' quarters, the stables and a torcularium/oil plant; on the left, the vestibulum/entrance, the large central square atrium and, around this, the cubicula/bedrooms, the triclinia/dining rooms, a winery (with press, lacus/settling tank for the must and dolia /containers for storing wine), an oil plant (with lacus/tank with settling well and side ladders) and a wool washing plant.
Destroyed by an earthquake at the beginning of the XNUMXnd century. AD, the villa was soon rebuilt, larger and richer, as demonstrated by the large peristyle/portico space, which became its fulcrum, punctuated by pillars surmounted by columns.
The reconstruction is connected to an important event's audience: in 178 AD Caius' niece, Bruttia Crispina, marries the emperor Commodus. The villa then became imperial property, perhaps managed, in the name and on behalf of the princeps, by his freedman Moderatus, whose name is on the exposed seal.
The sad epilogue of the imperial wedding – in 192 AD Bruttia is accused of adultery and exiled to Capri - leading to the abandonment of the villa in the XNUMXrd century. AD The system will live again between the XNUMXth and the beginning of the XNUMXth century. AD. Human groups of uncertain origin will settle inside it, transforming it profoundly: the columns of the peristyle will be fired in the limestone to obtain lime; the metals will be remelted in the smelting furnace. In the rooms, once residential and representative, living spaces will be built with dirt floors and central fireplaces for cooking and heating.
Imperial glories are long gone. The villa is heading towards oblivion, but it will continue to tell its story thanks to the valorisation project that the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Basilicata will carry out in collaboration with Eni and Shell, on the basis of a memorandum of understanding signed in 2011. edited by: M.P. GARGANO
