Grociana piccola: a rare example of Republican military fortifications in Italy

Federico Bernardini,Giacomo Vinci,Carmine Lubritto,Jana Horvat,Tina Berden,Lucia Liccioli,Lucija Lavrenčič

doi:10.1017/s1047759421000453

Abstract

AbstractRecent investigations at Grociana piccola, a site in northeastern Italy consisting of two sub-rectangular fortifications, offer the rare opportunity to investigate Early Roman military architecture outside the Iberian peninsula. Excavations have revealed an inner rubble masonry rampart dated to the 2nd c. BCE by associated pottery, mainly amphora remains. This date suggests that the fortification was in use during the first Roman conquest and/or later campaigns of the 2nd c. BCE, providing one of the earliest and smallest examples of a military fort. The fort's ramparts were built using the same building technique as much larger 2nd-c. BCE military camps. Another trench uncovered the northeastern corner of the outer rampart and a probable tower or artillery platform which can be connected to a temporary camp built during the mid-1st c. BCE.

Highlights

Recent interdisciplinary investigations close to Trieste have identified a group of Roman Republican military fortifications and their surrounding archaeological landscape.1 The fortification system, aligned facing northern Istria, consists of a large main camp located on the San Rocco hill, flanked by two smaller structures, 4 km to the northeast at Grociana piccola and 1.4 km to the southwest at Montedoro
Stray finds from San Rocco and Grociana piccola have allowed a preliminary chronology to be proposed
Similar towers or artillery platforms located to the rear of the ramparts are already known from the camps of Renieblas and the Numantia fortification system, though these are not found at the corners of those sites with sub-rectangular plans, such as

Summary

Introduction

Recent interdisciplinary investigations close to Trieste (northeastern Italy) have identified a group of Roman Republican military fortifications and their surrounding archaeological landscape. The fortification system, aligned facing northern Istria, consists of a large main camp (more than 13 ha) located on the San Rocco hill, flanked by two smaller structures, 4 km to the northeast at Grociana piccola (ca. 2 ha) and 1.4 km to the southwest at Montedoro (ca. 0.4 ha; Fig. 1). Next to the inner revetment wall SU4, the occupation layer SU8 deepened toward the southern margin of the trench, where it filled natural depressions in the bedrock It contained 1,398 amphorae remains, fragments of other ceramic vessels, including thin-walled pottery, and a caliga hobnail from the top of the layer (Fig. 6: 1–2, 4–5, 7–8, 10–17; Fig. 7a: 1–2, 4–9; Fig. 7b: 4). The collapse of the rampart SU2, which fell to the south of the inner revetment wall SU4, contained 418 amphora fragments and three caliga hobnails (Fig. 6: 3, 9; Fig. 7b: 1–3), suggesting that it was partially mixed up with the top of the underlying occupation layer. BCE (Fig. 1); with the Greco-Italic amphorae from Sermin dated between the end of the 3rd c. The Grociana piccola rims attributed to late Greco-Italic shapes (Fig. 6: 1, 2a, 3) are more comparable with the. Horvat and Bavdek 2009, 68–72

Findings

Discussion

Conclusions