Amna Butt

For over a decade, a sleepy field in Central Italy held a secret. What appeared as ordinary farmland, ripe for crops, concealed the remnants of a bustling Roman town long thought relegated to the dustbins of history. This is the story of Interamna Lirenas, a thriving community that defied expectations and rewrites our understanding of the late Roman Empire.

In 2010, the University of Cambridge’s Interamna Lirenas Project embarked on a mission to explore the relationship between towns and rural areas in ancient Italy. This seemingly unassuming patch of land, devoid of surface ruins, presented a unique challenge. Yet, beneath the unassuming facade lay a hidden metropolis waiting to be rediscovered.

“We started with a site so unpromising that no one had ever tried to excavate it,” remarked Alessandro Launaro, the project’s lead archaeologist. This initial skepticism soon gave way to awe as the secrets of Interamna Lirenas began to unravel.

Founded in 312 BC as a Roman colony, Interamna Lirenas played a pivotal role in the empire’s expansion. Nestled at the crossroads of crucial trade routes, its strategic location fueled its prosperity. Yet, prior assumptions painted a different picture. Scholars, misled by the absence of imported luxury goods, had dismissed the town as insignificant and on the decline by the second century.

This is where Launaro’s team made a crucial shift. Rather than focusing on the elite’s imported treasures, they turned to the pottery used by ordinary citizens. This seemingly mundane choice yielded astonishing results. The local ceramics revealed a thriving community extending well into the 3rd century, boasting upwards of 2,000 inhabitants and even welcoming Julius Caesar himself in 46 BC.

Interamna Lirenas was more than just a dot on a map. The excavations unearthed a warehouse hinting at its potential role as a port town, and the presence of a temple, three bathhouses, and a 1,500-seat theater spoke volumes about its prosperity and ambition. The theater, in particular, stood as a testament to the town’s desire to flaunt its cultural clout and economic strength.

While the 6th-century Lombard invasion eventually led to the town’s abandonment, its legacy persisted. Its inhabitants salvaged materials for new settlements, while others covered the remaining ruins with soil, transforming the once vibrant streets into fertile fields.

Ironically, the very machinery used for modern agriculture, while damaging some buried structures, inadvertently revealed the buried secrets of Interamna Lirenas. This once anonymous field, through the painstaking work of archaeologists, has re-emerged as a vibrant chapter in Roman history, forcing us to rethink the narrative of a waning empire and proving that even in the shadows, remarkable stories can wait to be unearthed.

The story of Interamna Lirenas is more than just an archaeological feat. It is a testament to the resilience of human societies and the stories that lie hidden beneath the surface, waiting to be rediscovered with unwavering curiosity and a keen eye for the unassuming. It is a reminder that even in the most unlikely places, history can pulse with unexpected vitality, rewriting our understanding of the past and enriching our present.

Please, subscribe to the YouTube channel of republicpolicy.com