Is it true that we know little about Bovillae? In many respects, yes. Reconstructing the topography of its urban centre and surrounding territory remains particularly difficult, and the available evidence is often patchy and uneven. Yet valuable clues to the city’s significance, especially during the imperial period, do survive. The presence of both a circus and a theatre, for instance, places Bovillae in a position of prominence and underscores its close ties with Rome, reflecting both wealth and status. As the subtitle suggests, the volume under review demonstrates how the integration of different kinds of evidence can function like putting together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, substantially enhancing our understanding of this complex ancient site.
Following the pivotal studies of G. Tambroni, G. Tomassetti, A. Doboşi and G.M. De Rossi, which form the basis for many of the contributions in the present volume, general interest in Bovillae faded while scholarship became increasingly specialised, resulting in a fragmented historiography and uneven knowledge of the site. The time was therefore ripe for a reassessment of the status quo, for updating the extant body of evidence and for bringing together the existing studies on Bovillae. In this context Hatlie’s edited volume makes a significant contribution. Its chief merit lies in the fact that it gathers disparate threads and offers a coherent and up-to-date account of current research, bringing together scholars who, through diverse approaches, have substantially advanced the study of the site. The editor’s ambitious aim to reassemble ‘as many of the dispersed and fragmented pieces of evidence about ancient Bovillae’ (p. xviii) as possible has largely been achieved, and the result is a volume that rewards close and sustained reading.
In the introduction F. de Angelis provides the conceptual framework for the volume, situating Bovillae within its historical context. He traces the key themes that run throughout the book, such as the city’s proximity to Rome, its privileged relationship with emperors and the imperial cult, the changing role of its hinterland in relation to the capital and neighbouring communities, and the city’s alternating phases of prominence and neglect.
The volume is organised into five sections, followed by the editor’s epilogue. The criteria behind this organisation are both chronological and thematic. Part 1, ‘Rome and Bovillae: a Centuries-Long Dialogue between City and Suburb’, consists solely of D. Potter’s contribution, which surveys the history of excavations and scholarship on the site and examines the construction of Bovillae’s mythological past in relation to the Alban kings and the gens Iulia. An ideological lens is also applied to the city’s history, urban development and built environment, including the circus, private residences and imperial estates.
Part 2, ‘Rome, Bovillae, and the Alban Hills during the Roman Monarchy and Republic’, includes two chapters devoted to the city’s pre-imperial history. E.C. Robinson examines the Via Appia Antica and the role of the road and its monuments in shaping a landscape of power, though the focus remains largely on well-known sites along the route, leaving the specific implications for Bovillae somewhat underdeveloped; the absence of some recent bibliography (e.g. updated studies on the Scipio tomb by R. Volpe) is noticeable. By contrast, M.C. Biella leaves Rome aside and instead reconstructs Bovillae’s relations with neighbouring Latin communities, offering a cautious and methodologically sound synthesis of the fragmentary evidence for the city’s early history.
Part 3, ‘Late Republican and Early Imperial Bovillae: History and Archaeology’, opens with D.H. Berry’s clear reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding Clodius’ assassination, famously described as Bovillae’s defining historical moment. P. Liverani’s contribution provides a detailed reassessment of finds and structures grounded in archival and bibliographical research, making a substantial contribution, particularly through the analysis of L. Poletti’s 1825 notebook and a reconsideration of L. Canina’s plan. Beyond its value as a synthesis, the chapter stands out methodologically, demonstrating how renewed engagement with early documentation can advance the understanding of ancient Bovillae.
Taken together, these historical sections might have benefited from a different internal arrangement: Biella’s chapter could have served more effectively as an opening, followed by the pieces by Robinson and Berry, while Liverani’s contribution would sit more naturally within the following section.
Section 4, ‘Important Archaeological Finds at Bovillae’, aims at identifying archaeological contexts and contextualising sculptures and inscriptions from the city and its hinterland. M.G. Picozzi studies the Colonna family’s collection of antiquities and its archive in conjunction with Poletti’s excavation records and drawings to identify objects likely originating from Bovillae. The chapter highlights the importance of reconstructing the original contexts of portable antiquities, which, when cautiously recontextualised, can significantly enhance our understanding of the city. Examples range from prominent works such as the statue of Caligula to lesser-known sculptural and architectural fragments now dispersed across private collections and museums. Drawing on topographical analysis, stratigraphic excavation, architectural study and material culture, the chapter by M. Angle, P. Cerino and A. Pancotti examines Bovillae’s urban organisation and infrastructure, particularly its road network, and reassesses the public character of the city and its hinterland from the Republican to the imperial periods. Closely related is the following contribution by E. Calandra, Angle and Cerino on the recent discovery of a portrait of emperor Titus. The discussion of architectural remains and building phases allows the authors to propose a high-status residential or public setting for the original display of the portrait. Calandra’s art-historical analysis of the well-preserved and finely carved ‘Bovillian Titus’ situates the piece within broader patterns of Flavian imperial imagery.
Part 4 includes M.G. Granino Cecere’s study of epigraphic evidence. The inscriptions document Bovillae’s close ties to the gens Iulia and subsequent emperors, through material such as the altar to Vediovis Pater, fragments relating to the ludi Augustales and the fasti attesting to the foundation of the sodales Augustales (later Claudiales). What is particularly significant is the discussion of inscriptions attesting to the existence of vici, plausibly linked to Augustan administrative reforms, and of boundary stones marking the limits between Bovillae and Aricia. Given the difficulties of reconstructing territorial jurisdictions in Latium Vetus, this material plays a crucial role in delineating Bovillae’s territory and in understanding suburban administration more broadly.
The volume’s diachronic perspective is among its principal strengths. Part 5, ‘Bovillae’s Transformation, Decline, and Disappearance’, offers important insights into the development of the city and its territory after the third century ce. Building on their 2018 monograph on Bovillae and its territory from late antiquity to the Middle Ages, L. Spera and V. Fiocchi Nicolai demonstrate the value of integrating diverse sources for less well-documented periods. Spera’s substantial chapter provides a data-rich analysis of territorial development along the stretch of the Via Appia between the ninth and the thirteenth miles. As the urban centre declined, patterns of control shifted to the countryside, a process traced through the road network, water infrastructure and residential complexes, including an extensive catalogue of villas. The resulting picture is one of considerable complexity, marked by continuity, reuse, transformation and abandonment, and influenced by the growing hegemony of Albano over neighbouring centres. Using a comparable approach, Fiocchi Nicolai examines archaeological and documentary evidence for Christian communities in the area, integrating antiquarian and archival sources with architectural remains, Christian iconography and funerary inscriptions to reconstruct the early Christian landscape of Bovillae.
Part 5 includes U.R. Hansson’s chapter, which outlines the factors that contributed to the fragmentation of knowledge about Bovillae, tracing the history of collecting, excavation, restoration practices and the antiquarian market. Moving from early treasure-hunting to more systematic, proto-archaeological approaches, the discussion engages figures such as F. Bianchini and F. Ficoroni and considers the impact of the French occupation and the Napoleonic period. Hansson’s study might have functioned more effectively as a prologue, pairing well with Potter’s introduction in providing essential context for the other contributions.
As with most multi-authored volumes, the analytical approaches vary: some chapters provide broad overviews, while others pursue more narrowly defined questions. The integration of historical, literary, epigraphic, archaeological, antiquarian and archival sources ensures that the volume will appeal to a wide scholarly audience and can be read either sequentially or consulted selectively.
Some chapters are English translations of previously published studies, while others present new work. The bibliography is comprehensive, and the editing is carefully executed. Apart from the issues of internal organisation already noted, my main reservation concerns the illustrations. Despite the emphasis on topography, the single map placed at the beginning of the book is difficult to read, underused and often poorly integrated with the chapters. Moreover, images discussed across multiple contributions sometimes require readers to move back and forth; a more systematic organisation of the illustrations, possibly in a dedicated plates section, might have resolved this issue.
Collectively, the essays underscore the twofold impact of Bovillae’s relationship with Rome. The city’s urban development, monumental landscape and prosperity benefited from the ideological, political and religious investment of the gens Iulia and subsequent emperors, who transformed Bovillae into a key locus of dynastic memory and imperial ritual. Yet this same process has contributed to Bovillae’s absorption into the Roman suburban sphere, blurring its territorial boundaries and complicating attempts to assess its autonomy within the suburban landscape.
From a methodological perspective, the volume encourages renewed consideration of how suburban cities functioned within Rome’s hinterland, not merely as dependent satellites, but also as dynamic spaces where local identity and imperial power interacted. While some chapters engage more directly with Bovillae’s territory, a more sustained discussion of the organisation and perception of its hinterland would have enriched the debate further. Nevertheless, the volume clearly indicates promising directions for future research on suburban landscapes.
The editor’s epilogue, ‘Bovillae Today’, reflects on the modern reception and neglect of the site. Hatlie examines how the memory of the lost city has been preserved, reshaped or forgotten by local communities, institutions and visitors, tracing its decline from a nineteenth-century destination for artists and travellers to a site scarcely acknowledged in modern guidebooks, with no road signs to indicate how to reach it. Particularly compelling are the surveys conducted among residents of neighbouring towns, which reveal fluctuating awareness of the ancient city and a shared sense of frustration at its marginalisation. The concluding ‘What if …?’ questions emotionally capture this sense of loss. Although the book closes on a sober note, it ultimately expresses hope that renewed scholarly and public interest may restore Bovillae to a more central place in research and heritage discourse. Hatlie expresses the hope that the volume will be appreciated as ‘the first small step toward some degree of recognition, recovery, and restoration’ (p. xviii). It has certainly achieved this goal. This collection of high-quality contributions successfully assembles new data, revisits old evidence and provides a productive framework for future investigations.
