In 2012 ended the fifteenth season of excavations at the site of the villa of Theodoric in Galeata. In all these years the investigations were concentrated in an area that was only partially explored in 1942. The site is multi-layered and... more
In 2012 ended the fifteenth season of excavations at the site of the villa of Theodoric in Galeata. In all these years the investigations were concentrated in an area that was only partially explored in 1942. The site is multi-layered and characterised by seventeen centuries of occupation, from the 6th century B.C. to the 11th century A.D. Important new knowledge of the pre-Roman (a settlement of the late iron age) and Roman (a large villa) phases of the site have been acquired. The most important results, however, concern the late ancient phase. The excavations, in fact, have led to a new interpretation of the complex known as the “Palace” or villa of the Goth king Theodoric. The villa’s chronology and wealth make it likely that it belonged to Theodoric. It was laid out in several sectors or pavilions, connected by long corridors and ample open spaces. Of particular interest the discovery of the villa’s bath complex, completely excavated during the most recent campaigns, and of an octagonal room, belonging to the more prestigious pavilion of the villa. The complex is one of the latest examples, at least within the Italian peninsula, of the typology of great private residences of late antiquity.
