British School at Rome: Papers of the British School at Rome (9.1920)

The Via Claudia Valeria. 87
between Mons Imeus and Corfinium. Not only at La Statura, but at
other points in this locality, have successful excavations taken place.
In 1878 1 remains of walls, bronze coins and numerous fragments of pot-
tery were unearthed at La Statura ; an inhumation tomb was opened
eight years later.2 In 1889 a number of pozzi,3 full of debris belonging
to the Roman period and the remains of an aqueduct were discovered
upon the same site, while, quite near the entrance to Goriano SicolL
tile-covered tombs have been found. Excavations in 1898 in the contrada
S. Donato,4 through which the track passes, brought to light the mile-
stone of Magnentius to which reference has already been made, (page 78),
while in the neighbouring contrada Mozzone5 fifteen inhumation tombs and
various specimens of iron and terra-cotta funeral objects came to light.
It is thus possible to fix not only the sites of Mons Imeus and Statulae,
but also the exact course of the ancient road which joined them. A much
more difficult problem is to determine the course of the Via Claudia
Valeria between Statulae and Corfinium, the next station. According
to the Tdbula Peutingerana, which alone mentions the station of Statulae,
the distance between the two is m.p. vii. ; the Itinerarium Antoninianum
places m.p. xvi. between Cerfennia and Corfinium, and, if we assume
the distance between Cerfennia and Statulae to be m.p. ix. (v. + iv.),
that between Statulae and Corfinium is m.p. vii. also.
It would appear, at first sight, that the old road might follow approxi-
mately the course of the modern road across the ridge towards Raiano
and the site of Corfinium, but not only is the length of such a course
rather less than m.p. v., but there are, moreover, no traces whatever of
an older road either on the ascent to the summit level (860 metres) below
the southern extremity of Monte Urano or on the tortuous descent to
Raiano. And, seeing that the old road can be traced so easily from
Cerfennia to Statulae alongside the modern road, it is curious that all
signs of it should have disappeared across the ridge from Statulae to
Corfinium. Mediaeval6 ruins are visible on the Punta di Castello, half
way down the descent to Raiano, but there are no signs of anything belong-
ing to the Roman period. It is quite impossible to suppose that the Via
Claudia Valeria ever took the same course as the other modern road from
Goriano Sicoli to Raiano, which passes round three sides of Monte Urano
1 Not. Scav. 1878, p. 319. 2 Not. Scav. 1886, p. 432. 3 Not. Scav. 1890, p. 344.
4 Not. Scav. 1903, p. 515. 5 Not. Scav. 1904, p. 299. 6 Not. Scav. 1878, p. 320.