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Italian archaeologists accidentally stumbled upon a Roman winery during excavations amidst the ancient ruins of Villa Quintilii near Rome on the Via Appia Antica. Originally, the researchers were looking for the starting posts of the chariot racecourse built by Emperor Commodus in the second century AD.
Dr. Emlyn Dodd, Deputy Director at the British School in Rome, is an expert on ancient wine production and has published the archaeological findings in the journal "Antiquity". In it, Dodd described the ancient complex as "an amazing mini-city complemented by a luxurious winery where the emperor could indulge his oenological inclinations."
The luxurious villa was located outside the city limits of ancient Rome and was part of a huge complex consisting of a theatre, a chariot arena, a marble bath and the winery. It covered almost 24 hectares of land and was surrounded by a landscape of orchards, agriculture and other luxurious villas. It had five wells, three of which were for cider. Marble lined the treads where slaves stamped the grapes on the smooth ground before they were mechanically pressed.
It is believed that the must was then fed into huge storage vessels set into the floor where fermentation took place. Open dining rooms arranged around a three-sided courtyard suggest that the emperor dined next to the three wells filled with must. It is thought that this facility was intended both for wine-making and for entertaining the emperor and his guests.
The original owners, the Quintilii brothers, were killed by Emperor Commodus, who ruled from AD 177 to 192. Brick stamps and construction techniques date the chariot track to the reign of Commodus, while the stamp of Gordian above a wine receptacle suggests that the latter was responsible for the later winery.
(ru / Source: Antiquity Journal)