The Ager Cosanus and the Production of the Amphorae of Sestius: New Evidence and a Reassessment

Abstract

This article arises from the current programme of excavation and survey of the Ager Cosanus and, in particular, of the Late-Republican villa of Settefinestre. The villa stands on a hill in the hinterland close to Cosa beside the line of the road which ran from the statio of Succosa, on the Via Aurelia, towards Saturnia. This villa is the most substantial and best preserved of a number of farms scattered over the district, all similar in plan and architectural features. The structural remains of some of these are still clearly visible: namely, the villa of Casale della Provinca which stands immediately to the north of Poggio di Malabarba, and the villa of Sughereto di Ballantino (or Valle d'Oro) which stands a few metres from the Via Aurelia opposite Succosa. Other visible remains, although clearly recognizable as villas, are in a worse state of preservation and do not allow any reasonably accurate reconstruction of their plan to be made.