Chapter 2 - The Roman Age and the town of Claterna

1. The origins and development of the Roman town »»
Bologna, a former Etruscan town, was founded in 189 b.C. as a Latin colony and called Bononia. The origins of Claterna are not as known as those of Bologna. Claterna was located 15 km east of Bologna and beside the Etruscan origins it is quite probable the inhabited centre developed during the 2^nd century b.C. near the river Quaderna at the south side of the Via Emilia. The development of the inhabited centre coincided with a great agricultural colonisation of the plain that brought many families and smallholders to settle in the area of Claterna.
At first Claterna was a village (perhaps a Conciliabulum) with two main functions; the first was an itinerary function due to the fact that the town stood at the crossing between the Via Aemilia and a transapennine road, probably the Via Flaminia Minor. Both roads were Consular roads and were made in the same year 187 b.C. The second but not less important function was of economic and social kind. Gradually Claterna became an exchange  and meeting centre for the population that lived in the productive and densely populated surrounding area.
The status of urban town was appointed by the administrative autonomy, when in the first century b.C. (during the Sillane period or maybe later under Caesar) Claterna became a municipality and main town of a large territory that stretched between the rivers Idice and Sillaro and bordered with Bononia on its West Side and with the Forum Cornelii (modern Imola) on its East Side.  Claterna reached its greatest splendour at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as stated by archaeological findings.

2. The shape of the town »»
During the first century the town acquired a sharp outline that can still be seen in the excavations. The urban area took a shape that reminded that of a trapezium that stretched to the east and to the west for about 600 metres. It stood across the Via Emilia (that was also Claterna’s main road decumanus maximus) and stretched in both directions north and south for about 150 metres. At its peak expansion the area was about 18 hectares wide, plus the suburban areas that probably stretched for a few hundred metres along the main roads.
The other main roads were a road that run along the river Quaderna with  different transition direction if compared to the prevailing system of the time; a large road that was orthogonal to the Via Emilia (the cardo maximus) and finally two roads parallel to the cardo maximus. The two parallel roads were respectively in the north part and in the south part of the town. The urban plant was defined by the river Quaderna on the East Side and by the small Gorgara to the west.
Other records have been reconstructed through archaeological investigations based on data collected during systematic land surveys, through the analysis of air photography and from the application of geophysics methods and finally by excavations.
The urban plant was the result of a mixture of blocks of different shapes and lengths, which denotes a spontaneous origin (the ancient Conciliabulum) that alternates with planned interventions occurred at the time when Claterna received the official appointment of local administration centre.
The roads were made with simple layers of pebble whereas in Bononia and in Forum Corneli  were found large pieces of pavement made of polygonal shaped stones.
It is also important to point out that the shape of the town was closely related to the territory. The main roads consisted in the extensions of the centurial limits, i.e. the roads that through a regularly shaped square net of about 710 meters per side connected the whole plain deeply influencing its form and general structure.

3. The outlines of the town and its outskirts »»
As every Roman town, Claterna had its core centre in the forum, that was the marketplace and the seat of the main urban functions. The forum was discovered in the 19^th century in the east part of the town. It resulted from an enlargement and prolongation of the Consular road Emilia. Nothing was found regarding other public spaces or buildings such as temples, however some ancient inscriptions were found (epigraphs) that give evidence of the existence of temples in the area.  
Many evidences of domus have been found. The domus were the houses of rich people and their rests often show the classic scheme of the atrium, typical of the Roman tradition. The rooms had beautiful floors made with mosaics or ordinary brickwork as well as tubs and large inner yards with open areas and porticoes. Recent excavations (carried out in the 80s and 90s) have also shown modest buildings as part of a various and large social concentration. These buildings show simple earthen floors and layers of perishable material such us wood or clay.
The suburb were outside the urban area. The necropolis could be found along the connecting roads. Some necropolis contained real funeral monuments as well as manufacturing and service areas. As an example in the eastern outskirts of the town, beyond the river Quaderna recent excavations have produced evidence of structures for the processing of glass and iron, beside some processing related buildings and a post station (mansio).

4. Outlines of the territory »»
As for the greatest part of Padanian Italy the Roman colons divided the territory at the moment they took possession of the land.
The net denominated Centurization consisted in a myriad of roads and canals that drained the ground and facilitated the flowing of waters. The Roman land surveyors in a short time built the net. Every mesh was 710 meters long and in turn it was divided in small regular pieces that were assigned to the families. The signs of that impressive work are still impressed in the territory of Emilia Romagna and in the greatest part of Ozzano’s territory.
The Centurization had then multiple functions: It formed an excellent communication net, it was a draining system and at the same time an irrigation system. Finally it was a reliable tool for the property and land-registry that recorded the owned land exactly as in present days.
In the centurizated plain as well as in the areas near the hills and on hills the prevailing settling system consisted in scattered buildings, farms and villas mostly regularly distributed. These structures imply the dominant economic presence of small and medium holders. Large estate were non very common and were characterised by villas with large processing areas and food stocking. Large parts of the main villas belonged to the so called pars urbana, i.e. house of rich owners and therefore richly decorated with mosaics and frescos.
The peak of land production was between the first and the second century b.C. with the flourishing of the Italian economy. Production consisted mainly in cereals and wine that were also exported in amphorae.

5. The town in the written sources »»
Claterna enjoys a relatively rich historical documentation. First and foremost it must be underlined the fact that the town takes its name from the nearby river, which indicates ancient origins. Moreover the name’s suffix (i.e. the final part of the name) ends in -na is probably of Etruscan origin. As it often happens with many other centres in central and northern Italy.
Cicero mentioned the town in reference to the “war of Modena”. In the year 43 b.C. Aulus Irtius, who settled in it reinforcing the position of Octavianus against Antonius, conquered it. Beside the historical implication, this episode denotes the presence of a defence structure around the town that was not necessarily made of thick walls but presumably by a simple rampart and earthwork.
Other written sources to be mentioned there are the inscriptions (epigraphs on stones) found on the territory and during the town excavations. There are honorary inscriptions for important people and emperors, but also dedicative inscriptions where the names of divinities are mentioned.
Toward the end of the 5^th St. Ambrogius, the Bishop of Milan, also mentioned Claterna. It was included in a list of centres of our region that were in a poor state: “semirutarum urbium cadavera” he said.

2. Map of Claterna (Ortalli 2000). The hachures show the urban area, the thick lines show the road system and the roads.

4. Aerial photo of the archaeological area of Claterna (photo Maurizio Molinari).

5. Digging of a house building in the southern sector of the Roman town. (photo Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia Romagna).

6. The material culture »»
During the Republican and the Imperial ages Roman towns were rich of manufatcs that were produced by the flourishing local artisans and by the land.
Every social class owned various kind of jars and metal objects, many were made of bronze. They also owned glass vases and bone tools. Stilos to write with, needles, little spindles and furniture parts.
These various manufacts and tools witness lively exchange activities also outside the region with the rest of the empire, with the Mediterranean and the northern countries. Particularly relevant seemed to be the importation of raw iron from the Noric area (present Austria).

7. Archaeological investigations in Claterna »»
At the end of the 19^th century the first systematic archaeological investigations were carried out. Those investigations revealed the interesting potentials of the buried town in particular for housing and streets plants. In 1933 some mosaics were brought to light and during the Fifties and the Sixties the remains of another Domus were found.
During the last decades the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia Romagna has carried out a series of systematic investigations that, through numerous excavations,  aimed to a thorough examination of the urban scheme and the evolution stages of the ancient town. The investigations were supported by a large project of survey carried out by the Gruppo Città di Claterna. The whole urban area and its outskirts were divided in 10 meters square meshes, that were used as collecting place for the archaeological findings and as a support basis for the drawing of surfacing building material. The result of these proceedings was a preliminary picture of the archaeological deposits hidden in various areas. 

7. Eastern sector of the territory of Claterna: Roman settlement of the Roman Empire Age (Negrelli 2003).

9. Antefissa from Claterna.

10. Mosaic from Claterna.