Housing slaves on estates: a proposed ergastulum at the Villa of Rufio (Giano dell'Umbria)

Abstract

In the framework of archaeological surveys conducted in 2002-3 for the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Umbria around the Via Flaminia, the Società Cooperativa Kronos discovered the site known as the “Villa of Rufio” (the name comes from an inscription dedicated to Caius Iulius Rufio). After 4 excavation campaigns (2003-6) the monumental character of a large villa was established, and in 2007 a team from the University of Alicante led by the first-named author began fieldwork, focusing on the analysis of agricultural and commercial production patterns through an examination of the type of manpower in use during the Augustan era. The site lies in the village of Giano dell'Umbria (Perugia), in the foothills of Gualdo Cataneo-Montefalco of southern Umbria (fig. 1). To the north is the Roman town of Mevania (Bevagna), to the south the Martani mountains, at the foot of which lies Mansio Ad Martis (Massa Martana).