La Sabina in età tardoantica e le nuove ricerche alla villa di Cottanello (Rieti)

The knowledge of the Sabina territory in Late Antiquity is based on some epigraphic and literary sources and on a growing number of archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, research specifically devoted to this period are not numerous. The archaeological investigations carried out at the Cottanello villa, since 2010 by the Sapienza University of Rome and, since 2013, by the CNR Institute for Studies on Ancient Mediterranean (ISMA), have provided new interesting data on the late antique period, so far the least known of the different building phases of the villa. These data offer new elements also to a more general interpretation of the evidence of the territory, in particular, of course, as regards the other rural settlements, but also for their relationship with the urban centres. Within the wider territory of the ancient Sabina, I have considered the part that substantially corresponds to the modern province of Rieti, while those areas that currently belong to Umbria and Abruzzo, and the territory from Montorio Romano and Montelibretti to Rome are excluded. Due to the presence of the two large basins of Tiber and Velino rivers and to a different orographic characterization, this segment of the region may be divided in two basic areas: the Sabina Tiberina, hilly, gravitating toward the Tiber and mainly devoted to agricultural production, and the inner area, mountainous, with an economy mainly based on pastoral activity. From an archaeological point of view, the knowledge of this territory is based primarily on a series of topographic surveys, carried out in different areas. The excavations, concerning towns and rural sites, are more rare and occasional.