As a result of haphazard excavations in the past, the remains of a few patrician homes have been uncovered at the site near Bologna, along with mosaics and some pottery shards. But a methodical, long-term research project is now getting under way for the first time ever, with funding from regional and provincial authorities, which have acquired the site.
So far digs have
uncovered small portions of the town, revealing the street layout and mosaic
paving from homes. Archaeologists have also found pottery, coins, metalwork and
decorated bone.
An Etruscan-Celtic settlement stood in the area prior to the arrival of the
Romans, who founded Bononia (Bologna) in 189 BC before spreading out to the
surrounding area.
Claterna took its name from the river that still runs in the area today, the
Quaderna, a clue that helped archaeologists identify the Roman ruins.
In fact, while Claterna's precise location was a mystery, historians had long
known of its existence from various documents and maps.
A careful study of local place names, combined with the large number of Roman
finds being unearthed by farmers, led experts to place Claterna between Bologna
and Imola.
The town's prominence in ancient times was partly due to its location, at a
crossroads between the ancient Roman highway of Via Aemilia, now the Via Emilia,
and an important route across the Apennines, which archaeologists believe was
probably the Via Flaminia Minor.
Both roads, constructed as consular routes in 187 BC, were major highways in
Roman times, ensuring Claterna a constant flow of visitors, who brought with
them trade, business and cash.
Claterna thrived and it eventually became the biggest town in the area.
During its glory years in the first centuries AD, the town boasted several
patrician complexes, complete with a variety of decorated buildings, and ample
space for food production and storage.
However, archaeologists believe that as well as these luxury houses, Claterna
was home to various medium and smaller properties, scattered among the
surrounding hills. There were also more modest dwellings, with floors of beaten
earth and facades of wood and clay, they say.
The roads leading out of the town were flanked by Claterna's necropolis,
including important funerary monuments, in addition to manufacturing complexes
and services centres.
The team has so far discovered glass and metalworking sites, as well as a
cluster of buildings that were probably used as the town's mansio, on the
eastern edge of the city past the Quaderna. Mansios were relay or post stations
along a fixed route, providing fresh riders and horses for the delivery of mail
on horseback.
In its heyday, Claterna swelled to a size of some 30 hectares, with suburbs
extending for a few more hundred meters, but it eventually fell foul of
barbarian incursions from the north.
Following a gradual decline, it was eventually abandoned for good at the start
of the 6th century.