La villa rustica di C. Olius Ampliatus

This study examines the excavation of a villa rustica located in the south-east suburbs of Naples. This villa has been attributed to C. Olius Ampliatus because during the excavation a signaculum with his name was discovered. The excavated building was built in the late second century BC and enlarged in the time of Augustus and destroyed during the famous eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. This intact Roman villa of the Imperial period contained machinery for the production of wine and olive oil, and the pars urbana of the house was decorated with mosaics in opus signinum. In the basement below the torcularium was found the body of the vilicus who sought refuge there during the catastrophe.