29/05/2026
Yesterday in Rome, Sabine R. Huebner and Stefania Alfarano presented the first results of the new Basel research project on the Villa dei Casoni at the 15th Convegno Lazio e Sabina at the German Archaeological Institute: “Il Basel Villa dei Casoni Research Project (RI): nuove indagini e risultati preliminari delle campagne 2025–2026.”
The presentation focused on new insights into the earlier phases of the Republican villa complex. Located on a ridge along the slopes of a water-rich mountain, the site commands striking views over both the Tiber and Farfa valleys.
We presented results from recent non-invasive investigations, including geophysical surveys and LiDAR analyses. Particular attention was devoted to a polygonal enclosure wall which was compared to other examples of polygonal masonry in central Italy and may have served a cultic or defensive function before being incorporated into the construction of a Roman villa in the second half of the second century BCE.
LiDAR analyses further identified a previously unknown ancient road leading toward the ridge occupied by the polygonal enclosure and the later villa.
Outside the polygonal enclosure, geophysical surveys revealed previously unknown subsurface structures of 20-30 rooms belonging to at least two building phases, which may belong to the pre-villa phase of the ridge and could have been annex building to the polygonal eclosure or a pre-Roman hilltop community. These structures appear to have been levelled no later than the Augustan period, when the villa’s monumental garden terrace with its fish pool and nymphaeum was constructed and the site transformed into one of the most impressive villa landscapes of the Sabina.
