Oplontis
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Oplontis is an
ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...
, located in the town of Torre Annunziata, south of
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
in the
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
region of
southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...
. The excavated site comprises two
Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...
s, the best-known of which is Villa A, the so-called Villa Poppaea. Like the nearby towns of
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
, Oplontis was buried in ash during the volcanic
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius, a stratovolcano located in the modern-day region of Campania, erupted, causing List of volcanic eruptions by death toll, one of the deadliest eruptions in history. Vesuvius violently ejected a Eruption column, cloud of ...
. However, the force of the eruption was even stronger than at these cities as not only roofs collapsed, but walls and columns were broken and pieces thrown sideways.


History and excavations

The town of Oplontis probably developed under where Torre Annunziata stands today. Excavations have revealed buildings particularly on the east and west sides of the town, the eastern one in the immediate vicinity of Villa A and the other almost at its boundary with
Torre del Greco Torre del Greco (; ; "Greek man's Tower") is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, with a population of c. 85,000 . The locals are sometimes called ''Corallini'' because of the once plentiful coral in the nearby sea, and becaus ...
. It is thought that in antiquity, as elsewhere (e.g. at
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
and
Stabiae Stabiae () was an ancient city situated near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia and approximately 4.5 km (2.79 miles) southwest of Pompeii. Like Pompeii, and being only from Mount Vesuvius, it was largely buried by tephra ash in ...
), luxury residential villas like Villa A lined the coast, whereas most productive (agricultural) villas were located farther inland. Among the finds in the western zone, the most important is the Roman bath complex on the sea shore at Oncino (the Terme Nunziante) as a public building of Oplontis. R. Liberatore recorded the archaeology in detail and he identified it as belonging to Lucius Nonius Florus whose name is stamped on the edge of a terracotta basin in the baths, decorated with vegetal forms and galloping horses. Unfortunately, the construction of the modern baths above them caused their destruction. Later two underground water supply or drainage tunnels belonging to the baths were found. In addition remains of two residential villas were discovered nearby, one owned by Caius Siculius Caius Filius whose seal was found and from which a fine fresco was retrieved, though many other remains in the area were destroyed and stolen.


Excavations of Villa A

The first of the villas, known as Villa A, was discovered in 1593–1600 during the great construction project by Fontana of the Sarno aqueduct to feed the mills at Torre Annunziata, the same aqueduct that was tunnelled through Pompeii where he also found the first remains, but similarly no attempt was made to explore the ruins in Oplontis. This aqueduct still runs through the centre of Villa A. In 1785 the Spanish architect Francesco La Vega explored this area, known as Le Mascatelle, with tunnels and found beautiful objects but soon gave up due to toxic gases. In 1839–40 excavations in tunnels were restarted by Michele Rusca using La Vega's publications and he discovered for the first time the extent and quality of the building including two peristyles, mosaics and other decorations. He had to stop due to lack of funds. From 1880 a series of mills and pasta factories were built in Via Fontanelle in the Oplontis area and ancient Roman walls, marble columns, mosaic pavements, and many fragments from a variety of objects were found in their foundation trenches. At the Iennaco pasta factory were found marble basins and lead pipes, two marble statuettes of “exquisite Greek production” one of the goddess
Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...
. Many mosaics and frescoes were destroyed. A spring of mineral water erupted during drilling at a depth of 11m and its water was marketed. In 1934, during construction of a private building in Via Fontanelle more finds came to light. Remains were found of some '' opus reticulatum'' and of a probable '' cryptoporticus''. Vincenzo Cuccurullo ordered test trenches to be dug to which brought to light another perimeter wall in ''
opus incertum ''Opus incertum'' ("irregular work") was an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman construction technique, using irregularly shaped and randomly placed uncut stones or fist-sized tuff blocks inserted in a core of ''opus caementicium''. Initially it consist ...
'' with light traces of white plaster with traces of a vault. From this time ever more frequent finds came to light as the town expanded and gradually it became clear that there was an important Roman site on the hill of Le Mascatelle. The "Friends of Oplontis" committee of volunteers was established in 1962 to promote proper excavation. It was only in 1964 that a full-scale excavation was officially approved. However, even then it was somewhat chaotic and no official records were kept until 1971 when most of the rooms had already been exposed. Valuable information and many frescoes were lost during the period from excavation to final reconstruction. Even after 1971, records were not accurate and omitted details and discoveries that rendered proper reconstruction impossible. In 1975 the only human skeleton was found at the northern edge of the site, an adult lying on its back 6 m above the floor of the villa who must have been carried by the volcanic flow probably from farther inland. Today about 60% of the villa has been exposed.


History of Villa A

The oldest part of the building dates from c. 50 BC to which its '' Second-Style'' wall paintings belong. Badly damaged in the AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, parts of the villa were rebuilt with '' Third-Style'' frescoes, also as famous as the earlier ones for their quality. Villa A was probably uninhabited and still in the process of being rebuilt at the time of the AD 79 eruption, as a number of tools were found on the site and statues and columns were stored away from their proper places. The power of the eruption made roofs and walls collapse, columns to break and be thrown sideways so that on excavation many pieces of walls were difficult to reassemble.


Villa B

A second villa, Villa B, was discovered in 1974, east of Villa A, during the construction of a school and partially excavated until 1991. In contrast to the sumptuously decorated Villa Poppaea, Villa B is smaller and is a rustic, two-storey structure with many rooms left unplastered and with tamped earth floors. The structure's plan reveals a central courtyard surrounded by a two-story peristyle of Nocera ''
tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water in ambient temperature, unheated rivers or lakes. hot spring, Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less ...
'' columns. Nevertheless, more than seventy rooms were found on both ground and second-story levels. On the ground floor all four sides of the courtyard have
barrel-vaulted A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
rooms in ''
opus incertum ''Opus incertum'' ("irregular work") was an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman construction technique, using irregularly shaped and randomly placed uncut stones or fist-sized tuff blocks inserted in a core of ''opus caementicium''. Initially it consist ...
'' and '' opus reticulatum''. Some of the rooms seem to have been used for manufacturing and others were storerooms. These circumstances along with more than 400 ''amphorae'' recovered in the excavations indicate the property was devoted to the production of wine, oil, and agricultural goods. The discovery of a series of weights seems to confirm this; a bronze seal found at the site preserved the name of Lucius Crassius Tertius, apparently its last owner. It was built at the end of the 2nd c. BC. The complex was part of a wider settlement built before the construction of neighbouring Villa A. On the south side of the courtyard eight barrel-vaulted storerooms were added after 50 BC, supporting well-decorated rooms above in the ''Fourth Style'', facing the sea and opening onto a large portico, perhaps the owner's living quarters. There is also a rare example of a second style painting from the Republican era. A sophisticated water drainage system was also added. At the north of the site the ground floor rooms were reconfigured and the street repaved. This villa was not deserted at the time of the eruption: the remains of 54 people were recovered in one of the rooms facing the sea, probably waiting to escape but perishing in the surge that hit Oplontis. They were split into two groups, one group at the front possessing fine jewellery, silverware, and coins whilst the other group at the back had none. Recent archaeology has shown that it suffered unique type of destruction because of its proximity to the sea, similar to the boathouses at Herculaneum. The volcanic eruption generated a
pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...
that sped down the mountain toward Oplontis. The impact of the flow on the sea surface led to a type of "''
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
''" which caused the violent entry and deposition of a water-heavy layer in the barrel-vaulted rooms (similar to the deposit that buried the skeletons on the shore of
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
). The people sheltering at Oplontis died beneath a mixed mass of superheated gas, ash, and water. The impact of the wave probably also caused the collapse of the barrel-vaults. The "lady of Oplontis" was discovered with a bronze jug (for water in those last hours), a purse and a small basket, containing coins and jewellery and near her stomach was a string of cheap blue pottery beads.Natasha Sheldon, Human Remains in Pompeii: The Unique Case of the Body Casts, History and Archaeology Online November 5, 2017 https://historyandarchaeologyonline.com/human-remains-in-pompeii-the-unique-case-of-the-body-casts/ A rare very ornate strongbox was found in the peristyle, perhaps fallen from the upper floor, containing over 200 coins, jewellery, and a seal ring. It was finely decorated with inlay in silver, copper, and gilded bronze typical of late Hellenistic design, and had a complex locking system that was still used in the 19th century.


See also

* Archaeological sites in Naples *
List of Roman sites The following are lists of Roman Empire, Roman sites, sorted by present-day countries. Albania * Amphitheatre of Durrës * Tirana Mosaic Algeria * Djemila, Cuicul * Timgad, Thamugadi * Tipasa Austria * Bregenz#History, Brigantium * Carnu ...


References


External links


Official website
(English-language version)
Archived
15 May 2015 at the
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
(in Italian and English)
The Oplontis Project

AD79 Year of Destruction and Re-discovery Website (sites.google.com)Pompeii: virtual tour and travel guide of Pompeii Italy - ItalyGuides.it
{{authority control 70s disestablishments in the Roman Empire 79 disestablishments 1974 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Campania Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Naples Destroyed populated places Former populated places in Italy National museums of Italy Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 1st century Roman sites of Campania Torre Annunziata Tourist attractions in Campania World Heritage Sites in Italy Poppaea Sabina Ruins in Italy Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD