In Cape Town? Come to an information session at UCT on Friday April 17, at 13h00 in Beattie 213

Endowed with one of the most rewarding panoramic views of the Tiber Valley, the site of ancient Capena lies just outside the mediaeval and modern town bearing the same name. Before it was abandoned in Late Antiquity, Capena had a long history of occupation, with the earliest beginnings reaching back to the 8th century BC. According to the account given in Livy’s Book V, Capena and its territory became part of Roman territory following the conquest of Veii in 396 BC; archaeologically, the area is best known for the richly furnished tombs of the Archaic and Hellenistic periods, which were carved into the soft tuff-stone of the plateaux surrounding the site of the town. The Capena Antiqua project is the first of its kind to approach the history of the town through systematic excavation. 

The current focus of the Capena Antiqua Project is the area of the so-called Castellaccio, a mediaeval ruin which has locally become synonymous with the site as a whole. During previous seasons, our team established the settlement history of the town in the later phases of its history, beginning with the construction of a monumental, terraced structure which was later reutilised as part of a large private residence featuring a bath-house, before the entire area was abandoned and systematically despoiled of valuable building materials that were re-used, inter alia, in the construction of the mediaeval town of Capena.

For more information on the 2015 season, click here.

For general inquiries, contact us:  digcapena@gmail.com

To apply for the 2015 season, please fill out and email us the 2015 Application Form.