UBC Excavations of the Roman Villa at Gerace, Sicily: Results of the 2016 Season

Abstract

A third season of excavation at the Roman rural estate of Gerace (Enna province, Sicily) took place in 2016. In the small late Roman villa of c. ad 370/375, the entire surviving length of the south corridor was uncovered for the first time; it is floored in polychrome geometric mosaic. Of particular interest is a mosaic “welcome mat” at the entrance, where a foot measuring-rod is depicted. The overall dimensions of the adjacent basilican storehouse, destroyed in the mid-fourth century before the construction of the late Roman villa, were established, and the use of the Greek Samian foot-unit in its design confirmed. Preliminary investigation of a kiln yielded bricks stamped with the name of Philippianus; others nearby record a separate name, Cn […] Cylin[drus]. In the northern part of the site, part of a well-preserved bath-house was excavated, including portions of two heated rooms and two adjacent hot-water pools. Its walls stand up to 2.30 m high; there were geometric mosaics on the floors and marble veneer on the walls. The date is uncertain (late fourth century?). On decommissioning, the baths were stripped of reusable material, including tubuli and the large bricks spanning the gaps between hypocaust pilae; to extract the latter the mosaic floors were smashed. Over 200 terracotta vaulting tubes used in roofing came from one of the pools. The end of the baths occurred sometime in the second half of the fifth century ad. Of the sixth- and seventh-century rural settlement which succeeded the élite structures, a portion of building with a paved yard and external staircase to an upper floor was also excavated.