New Excavations at Carsulae on the Via Flaminia

Today, let's explore the fascinating site of ancient Karsala in Umbria on the occasion of new ongoing excavations on site that Ancient Rome Live was invited to observe and share. It's an important investigation of an Umbrian town where one of Ancient Rome's most famous roads, the Via Flaminia, ran right through it. We're just 65 miles north of Ancient Rome, in the Umbrian region along the Via Flaminia, which was Rome's great road emanating due north from the capital, which headed all the way to the Adriatic and Rimini. I'm walking down the Via Flaminia. There is one of two quadraphons arches that would lead you into and up the Forum of Karsala. So literally, the city is bisected by the Via Flaminia. So we're talking about one of the most important roads for Romans emanating out of the imperial capital. Also, in the Republican times, this is an important road heading north through Umbria. So we have a construction about 220 BC. And with that construction, you're going to have some Umbrian towns that are connected to it. But you also have the construction due to the road of new cities. And Karsala is one of those new cities. It's fabulous. It's wonderful. And you have today ongoing excavations. And what they're principally looking at is the late Republican remains of the town. And then you have a moment of monumentalization under the emperors. So we think about how the prominence of this road is going to go up and up and up over time. In fact, just beyond us here, beyond the city limits, there is a monumental triple arch dating to the time of Trajan, once lined with marble. So this is part of that monumental thoroughfare, like the Via Appia, on which the emperor would traverse. You have the successful armies coming into Rome for the celebration of a triumph. This was a major artery into the city. And you can get a sense of that prominence, particularly, we know, in two grand moments in the imperial period. One under Augustus. So Tonius tells us he's going to be putting a lot of effort and construction into the management of the Via Flaminia. And then you're going to have it again under the Flavians. And so with that intervention on the part of two powerhouse emperors, you're also going to have monumentality here in the city. The Via Flaminia was created in 220 BC by the censor Gaius Flaminius. Although there were local settlements in the area in the Bronze Age, with Umbrian presence, the real city center of Karzelai was created only with the construction of the road. This brought locals in direct contact with Rome and facilitated trade. The location was ideal, nearby natural thermal springs. And in fact, the later city that flourished after the civil wars under Augustus didn't have any true defensive wall, a testament to the staying power of imperial Rome. It was more than anything a trading post, a meeting point, both for travelers and Roman armies, as well as merchants trading oil, grain, and wool. The city's real development took place under Augustus, coinciding with the entire Via Flaminia circuit's renewal and expansion. It's in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD that we can probably attribute the Forum, partially elevated on a terrace, the Basilica, and Theater. By the end of the 1st century AD, the Amphitheater. There was also the construction of a building in the Forum area dedicated to the imperial cult, as witnessed by the recovery of colossal statuary, including the head and torso of Claudius. So it was a possible Augustean structure. Via Flaminia literally passes through the heart of the Umbrian city. Let's take a walk along it and visit outside the city limits. I'm walking along a magnificent stretch of the Via Flaminia. And when you're outside the city, walking towards the town, you're greeted by this once triple arch, which we can see was in the interior inlaid with marble. You have the holes for the metal clamps. And beyond it, you're leaving outside the city. And what do you do outside the city? You bury the dead. And some of the most prominent tombs are going to be located along the important gates of the city. So here you have one massive rotunda here, attributed to the Ganes Furia. And there are many other tomb remains outside of Karsovai. But it's really impressive to see this town, this town that didn't have any walls, but its real claim to fame and its success was being located along the Via Flaminia. And when we think about the Via Flaminia, we've got to think about one of the most important roads for the Romans, maybe the most important after the Via Appia. And you have so much of it preserved in the archaeological site of Karsovai, Karsovai that today is still being excavated. And we'll take a look at some of those ongoing excavations to learn more about the rich history of this city between the Republic and the Imperial periods. Now let's tour the city and its key monuments, keeping in mind that it was a small town of about 50 acres and a maximum population of 3,000 to 5,000. Inside the city, we have the road bisecting the Forum and Basilica or Law Court. Here's the small theater with a diameter of 62 meters. Nearby, there's a columned hall where today, late antique tombs are being excavated. Next to the theater, there is the imposing amphitheater constructed in a natural depression. It probably dates to the Flavian period and its dimensions are 86 by 66 meters with an arena of 50 by 30 meters, accommodating a couple thousand spectators. Now let's look at the new excavations. There are exciting discoveries that are rewriting the history of the site. There are two main areas of excavation. One is here, a newly revealed pair of structures off the central Forum area, mainly spoliated but with large column fragments and impressive bases. Was it a public hall or was it used for religious activity? Was it a collegium or an association? A few buildings further away was that Augustinian cult structure with the colossal statuary. So although we don't understand yet the true nature of these new buildings being investigated, the excavation will continue to resolve issues and shed new light on the original use of the structures. In the central area of the Forum, there has been the recent discovery of what might be the Municipal Building or Domus Publica of the elected officials. That's how the excavators have been calling it, also known as the Domus of the Mosaic, the mosaic which is currently covered. But beyond it, on the far side of the terrace Forum, is a connected monumental structure which has recently been excavated. It is a large, impressive nymphaeum or fountain that was once fronted by a portico. You can see the recently excavated column bases. This was directly connected to its waterways and lead pipes to the structures of the so called Domus Publica. So it seems then that the Domus Publica structure and the nymphaeum were directly related, if not contemporary one with the other. More details are to be revealed as the investigations continue. What happened to Karzelai in the end? It was not a walled city. So when the lands were uncertain, and times were uncertain, in particular at the end of late antiquity, as new invaders settled in Italy, other nearby cities became more favored. Spoletum, for example, which were more fortified and resisted marauding armies and brigands. Karzelai was largely pillaged for building material. Still, life continued along the Via Flaminia, eventually a well-worn pilgrimage route to Rome. It eventually led to the spoliated use of the standing structure right here, which was converted into a church of St. Cosma and Damiano in the 6th century, later restructured in the 11th century, whose interior medieval frescoes are partially preserved. The city was first investigated by the Cesi family in the 17th century, followed by papal excavations in the 18th century, finally giving way to national excavations in the 1950s and the creation of an archaeological park. In more recent decades, there have been international collaborations, and there is now a more considered effort led by the Archaeological Park of Karzelai itself and its partners, so we can look forward to more discoveries and efforts to make the site more accessible, unraveling the long history of Karzelai along the Via Flaminia. We'd like to thank Musea Nazionale di Perugia, the Regional Direction of the National Museums of Umbria, archaeologists Massimiliano Gasperini, Luca Donin, and Valerio Chiaraluce, Associazione Astro-Unglis, the Archaeological Park of Karzelai, and the Ministry of Culture for permission to film the site as the excavations took place. Thanks for watching Ancient Rome Live, thanks for liking and subscribing, and we'll see you somewhere in the Roman Empire.