2003-2012
For close to a decade, the Department of Classics at the University of Colorado has conducted summer excavations and student field training at the Villa of Maxentius, a vast, tripartite complex located on the Via Appia Antica in Rome. The 2003 – 2006 seasons (conducted in collaboration with the Comune di Roma and Kalamazoo College) focused on a better understanding of the massive early fourth century apsidal hall of the villa proper, commissioned by the emperor Maxentius between 309-312. The 2007-2012 seasons (conducted in collaboration with the Comune di Roma) shifted focus to the substantial but heavily damaged remains of an earlier, second century C.E. quadriporticus preserved in the same sector as the later Tetrarchic reception hall. As a result, our research teams have isolated and identified significant new architectural and material evidence to better illuminate the multiple phases of Roman construction and destruction at this verdant, picturesque site on Rome’s oldest paved road. Under the guidance of our Italian/American staff, undergraduate and graduate students from CU Boulder and other universities have been trained in the strategies and processes for stratigraphic excavation, GIS surveying and data collection, archaeological photography and drawing, ceramic analysis and small finds registration and storage. The project was funded through external grants, generous private donors and various agencies at the University of Colorado. The 2012 season, co-directed by Prof. Diane A. Conlin (CU Boulder, Classics) and Dr. Gianni L. Ponti (American Academy in Rome and IES Rome), marked the final season of this highly successful, multi-year excavation. Final publication of the results of the CU campaigns at the Villa of Maxentius is in progress.