The Roman Republic Quashed a Rebellion So Completely That This City Became a Landfill

Archaeologists have just uncovered an ancient city that the Roman army so thoroughly besieged that it was left uninhabited for nearly 200 years.

Researchers from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA), have long believed that the ancient city, Fregellae , was once allied with Rome, until residents rebelled against the republic around 125 B.C.E. But historical records from the time of the siege are quite sparse, and the center has been engaging in archaeological research to learn more about the rebellion.

"It is only mentioned in two or three sources," Dominik Maschek, an archaeologist with LEIZA, tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe. "We hear about the siege, they tell us these people rebelled against the Romans, but we don't know why."

Fregellae sat about 60 miles outside of Rome and was established as a Roman colony. Scholars hold a few theories as to what could have caused the uprising, including the desire for expanding human rights like land ownership and full citizenship.

The conflict took place while Rome’s consuls were waging a military campaign elsewhere. This timing could have been strategic, as the residents of Fregellae may have believed the government lacked the resources to dispatch another army.

Unfortunately for them, the empire was more than prepared. Archaeologists discovered a Roman military camp outside of the city, surrounded by a ditch and rampart. They believe that the camp was created for the siege.

“The violent destruction caused lasting damage to the entire economy of the region,” Maschek says in a LEIZA statement. “The landscape remained uninhabited for over 170 years until the area was finally used as a rubbish dump.” (Small pottery shards at the site discarded years after the siege, reavealed that the area became a landfill.)

In addition to the smaller fragments, researchers also found larger pottery pieces that were part of large vessels that stored produce. Ancient seeds at the site indicate that they were housed in a villa used to cultivate fruit, grain and wine. “The wine was probably not only produced for the local market,” says Mascheck via Google Translate in the statement. “It is quite possible that it was traded within Mediterranean exchange networks as far as Spain and France.”

The villa, the oldest in the city that archaeologists have found, was built 80 years before Fregellae’s siege. A layer of fire damage points to the fact that the Romans attacked the building and its crops at the same time as the city.

“It’s fascinating that we were able to uncover the architectural structure of such an early production site,” Maschek adds. “Despite traces of fire and the almost complete removal of the building materials, the finds offer valuable insights into the rural life and economic activities of the inhabitants at the time.”

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.