Museo Archeologico
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The museum was opened in 2004 in 17 rooms on the right of the new Centro Arti Opificio Siri (c.a.o.s.), the purpose-built museum complex in the ex-Opificio Siri (the factory of the Società Italiana Ricerche Industriali).

Pre-Roman Section
The first eight rooms are devoted to the city before Romanisation.
Neolithic Finds (17th - 10th centuries BC)

These finds in Room I come from the Acciaierie di Terni (the steelworks in the Nera valley east of Terni) and from sites near the Cascata della Marmore. The finds from the latter site (illustrated above) include:
a large bronze bow fibula found in 1914 in the so-called Galleria del Toro; and
a conical vessel filled with sand and ashes that was discovered in the 1970s in the Cor delle Fosse, with other items, including loom weights and bobbins, that were found nearby.
Acciaierie Necropolis (10th - 4th centuries BC)
The Acciaierie necropolis, which provides the earliest evidence for a permanent settlement at Terni, was discovered in 1884 during the construction of the Acciaierie di Terni (steelworks) to the east of the city. Some 200 tombs were found here: cremation was sometimes used in the earliest period (10th century BC), but most of of the tombs came from a slightly later period and were in the form of ditch burials within stone circles. Some of them clearly belonged to a rich warrior class, whose men were buried with their weapons.
This necropolis declined in importance after the 7th century BC, when the necropolis of San Pietro in Campo (see below) came into use. This “new” necropolis seems to have been undermined by floods in the 5th century BC, when the Acciaierie necropolis came back into use.

The exhibits in Room II belong to the first phase of the excavations, which was carried in the late 19th century during the industrial development of the site. This phase was poorly documented, so the exhibits are arranged by type (as illustrated above).
Room III is devoted to the later, systematic phase of the excavations which was carried out in 1909-11, and the finds are exhibited in their original archeological contexts.
Grave Goods from Tomb 7 (10th century BC)
These grave goods from a male tomb include the cinerary urn and personal items, including a fibula and a razor.
Other finds from the necropolis are exhibited in the Museo Archeologico, Perugia and the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia.
San Pietro in Campo Necropolis (8th - 6th centuries BC)
Rooms 4-6 are devoted to this necropolis, which was discovered in 1907 when the area was known as the Contrado di San Pietro in Campo, to the east of the Viale della Stazione, began to be developed (see Walk II).
Some 50 tombs (ca. 720 - 580 BC) were excavated in 1910-12 in the block between Via Tre Monumenti and Via Floriano, under the direction of the Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome.
The demolition of the Poligrafico Alterocca, on the next block to the north, in 1996 provided an opportunity for further excavation of the necropolis. Two campaigns, in 1998 and 2000, revealed the existence of a further 46 tombs that had been in use in the decades around 600 BC.
The establishment of this necropolis seems to have been related to the formation of a new settlement to the south (see below). It seems to have been undermined by floods in the 5th century BC, when the Acciaierie necropolis came back into use.
The exhibits from this necropolis include:
this reconstruction of a male tomb is designated 96/17; and
grave goods from Tomb 36, which include a buckle fastening made of bronze thread that was originally attached to a belt using copper thread (at the front of the glass case).
Other finds from the necropolis are exhibited in the Museo Archeologico, Perugia.
Finds from pre-Roman Settlements (8th - 7th centuries BC)
Room 7 contains a number of ceramic fragments (8th and 7th centuries BC) from an urban settlement that was found in 1988 in Via dell’ Ospedale (see Walk II) and across Corso Vecchio on the site to the ex-Palazzo di Sanità. In pre-Roman times, this site was above a lake at the confluence of the Nera and its tributaries. The settlement was associated with the necropolis of San Pietro in Campo (see above).
The room also contains finds from another early urban settlement that was first excavated in 1999 at Maratta Bassa, some 5 km west of Terni. The settlement covered an area of at least 3 hectares and seems to have been in use from the 8th until the 6th centuries BC. The object illustrated here is a cast bronze handle from an amphora, decorated with two heads of griffins.
Monte Torre Maggiore (6th century BC - 3rd century AD)
Room 8 contains finds from the cult site at the summit of Monte Torre Maggiore. Votive offerings found there document the use of this as a cult site from the 6th century BC, when it probably served as a focal point for the worship of Umbrian people from across the area. Two temples were built here after the Roman conquest, one (Temple A) in ca. 250 BC and another (Temple B) ca. 2o0 BC. Coins found on the site include some from the reign of the Emperor Philip the Arabian (244-9 AD), which suggests that the site remained in us until the late 3rd century AD.
Votive offerings (6th - 4th centuries BC)
These mostly bronze objects provide evidence for a cult site here from an early date. Many of the objects are in the form of warriors, but there are also female figures and representations of animals. Other votive objects from the site are exhibited in the Museo Archeologico, Perugia.
Fragments from Temple A (4th or 3rd century BC)
These include fragments architraves that are decorated with small heads of lions and fragments of terracotta antefixes.
Grafitti (early 2nd century BC)
This inscription, which is scratched onto a piece of pottery from Temple A, reads:
...] . pupun[
This is presumably part of the name of the person to whom the pottery object belonged. The inscription is also included in the page on Umbrian Inscriptions after 295BC. (So too is a fragmentary inscription (early 3rd century BC) on a monumental travertine block that was found in front of the entrance to Temple A, which is now in the deposit of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Umbria, Perugia.. This second inscription probably gives the name of a magistrate and the name of his office).
Bust of a woman (ca. 200 BC)
This travertine over-sized head of a woman wearing a diadem was discovered in 2001 in Temple A. It was probably part of a statue of a goddess. The back of the head is unfinished and has a hole that was used to fix it to a wall.
Stele (5th century BC)
This relief was discovered in 1901 at Porta Garibaldi (previously Porta del Sesto). It was originally in the form of a parallelepiped in local stone. The relief on the main face depicts lines of men in three registers who seem to be taking part in a procession. The main person in the scene is probably the seated figure to the right in the middle register. The two men behind him are armed.
Roman Section
The last nine rooms are devoted to the Roman city.
Roman Inscriptions
Room 9 is devoted to inscriptions that document the civic life of Interamna Nahars.
Inscription (early 1st century BC)
This fragmentary inscription (CIL XI 4208) was found at Colle dell' Oro, not far from the eastern branch of Via Flaminia:
...// Maxumus/ ...// ndam / ....
The museum catalogue (edited by Coarelli and Sisani, referenced below, at entry 102, p. 127) dates this to the early 1st century BC, and suggests that it recorded “Maxumus” as the sponsor of the paving of a road or piazza. Given the find spot, this might have related to the paving of this branch of the Via Flaminia.
Inscribed Base of a Statue (1st century BC)
This inscription (CIL IX 4213) commemorates Aulus Pompeius, son of Aulus, who is described as a patron of the municipium of Interamnat[ium] Nahartis. He was described as a member of the Clustumina (to which Interamna belonged) and as a quaestor, who had saved the municipium from the greatest dangers and difficulties. The donor of the statue was Lucius Licinius, son of Titus.
Francesco Angeloni (referenced below, at pp. 25-6) recorded the inscription in 1646, when it was embedded in the wall of the Piazza del Comune. Angelloni suggested that:
the Aulus Pompeius commemorated in this inscription was the father of Quintus Pompeius Bithynicus, whom Cicero recorded (in ‘Brutus” paragraph 240) as an intimate acquaintance and fellow student “about two years older than myself”: Cicero was born in 106 BC; and
the danger that he had averted averted was associated with legal action brought by Rieti against Terni in 54 BC in relation to the control of the Velino river. Cicero, in his ‘Letter to Atticus’ (4:15:5) mentioned that he represented Rieti in this matter when it came before the Senate in Rome, and Angeloni suggested that Aulus Pompeius represented Terni.
However, there are three possible problems with this scenario:
there is no evidence that Aulus Pompeius represented Terni in this case;
if he did so, and if he was the father of Cicero’s friend, he must have done so at a very late stage in his career (his son was then about 52);and
there is no evidence that the case actually went in Terni’s favour (as mentioned in my page on the Cascata delle Marmore).
Angeloni’s scenario was probably based on his assumption that the case brought by Rieti was the only serious danger that Terni faced during the 1st century BC. However, as Simone Sisani (in Coarelli and Sisani, referenced below, at pp. 114-5, entry 80) pointed out:
“In the 1st century BC, there were four [other] occasions on which the entire municipium of Interamna might have faced dangers:
the Social War (ca. 90 BC);
the war between Sulla and the followers of Marius (83-80 BC);
the Catiline conspiracy (63 BC); and
the Perusine War (ca. 40 BC);
albeit that the literary sources do not mention the municipium in any of their accounts of these conflicts” (my translation).
Thus, the identification of the precise danger from which Aulus Pompeius had delivered Interamna requires a more precise dating of the inscription.
Unfortunately, its dating is problematic, as is evidenced by the fact that Attilio Degrassi, who originally dated it to Sullan period (in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, CIL I) amended this to the early Imperial period (in Supplement 3):
Simoni Sisani (as above) returned to the Sullan dating, citing (inter alia) the characteristics of the decorative frieze above the inscription.
Maria Carla Spadoni and Lucio Benedetti (referenced below, at p. 249 and note 141) rejected this analysis, citing an unpublished view of Mario Torelli that:
“ .... the decorative elements cannot be dated to a time before the middle of the 1st century BC” (my translation).
They suggested that this Aulus Pompeius was the nephew of Quintus Pompeius Bithynicus (the friend of Cicero mentioned above).
Ernst Badian (referenced below, at p. 242) had been of the same opinion on the dating of the inscription; in his review of a book in which Attilio Degrassi (above) had confirmed the later date, Badian asserted that:
“... The floral decoration (as Professor Donald Strong has kindly confirmed for me) should indeed be dated from the very end of the Republic or the early Empire and can on no account be as early as [the Sullan period]”.
Thus, it seems to me that the most likely scenario is that Aulus Pompeius, son of Aulus (and nephew of Cicero’s friend, Quintus Pompeius Bithynicus), saved Interamna from confiscations of the kind that were soon to precipitate the Perusine War (40 BC).
Aulus Pompeius could probably trace his lineage back to Quintus Pompeius, son of Aulus, the Consul of 141 BC, of whom Cicero said:
“... did not Quintus Pompeius, a man born in a low and obscure rank of life, gain the very highest honours by encountering the enmity of many, and great personal danger, and by undertaking great labour?” (Orations from the Second Action Against Verres, Book 5, paragraph 70).
It is possible that this branch of the family had originated in Interamna, and that the Sextus Pompeius for whom Ponte and Porta del Sesto were named, had also belonged to it.
Inscribed Base of a Statue (second half of the 1st century BC)
This inscription (CIL IX 4210) commemorates Lucius Licinius Lucullus, son of Lucius, a quattuorvir iure dicundo, one of the magistrates of the municipium who was responsible for justice. The main interest here is whether or not this was the celebrated soldier who was Consul in 74 BC. Opinions on this vary:
It is possible that the famous Lucius Licinius Lucullus held this magistracy early in his career.
However, the form of the inscription points to a date after his retirement in 59 BC. It is possible that he had a son of the same name, although his only recorded son was called Marcus.
It is perhaps more likely that a provincial branch of the Licinius clan adopted the cognomen of its more distinguished, albeit distant, relations.
Inscription (1st century BC)
This inscription (CIL IX 4183a) was found in 1888 near Santa Maria del Cassero. It commemorates a certain Aufidius, who had held the posts of quattuorvir iure dicundo in the municipium and the military posts of Cohort Prefect and Military Tribune.
Inscription (2nd half of 1st century BC)
This funerary inscription (CIL IX 4763a) which was found at Stroncone, commemorates Caius Rubrius Lepidius, son of Lucius, who had belonged to the Clustumina tribe.
Inscription (32 AD)

This inscription (CIL XI, 4170) was found in the 16th century near the old campanile of the Duomo (near the present site of Palazzo Vescovile). It was moved to the portico of the Duomo when the old campanile collapsed in 1703, and moved again to the archeological collection in Palazzo Carrara in 1781.
The inscription records that Faustus Titius Liberalis had financed an unknown monument at his own expense. This is traditionally said to have been the nearby Roman amphitheatre, but that is probably not the case. Faustus is described as a Seviro Augustale, a member of an association of freedmen devoted to the imperial cult.
The date of the inscription was precisely defined by the consulship of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus (i.e. 32 AD). The name of Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus was later removed from the inscription, after he led a revolt against the Emperor Claudius in 42 AD.
The text celebrates the genius of the municipium of Interamna in the 704th years from its foundation: this is a reference to the tradition that the city was founded in 672 BC.
It also celebrates the providence of the Emperor Tiberius, who had eliminated a most dangerous enemy of the people of Rome: this is a reference to the deposition of Sejanus in 31 AD.
Inscription (1st century AD)

This inscription (CIL XI, 4206) was found in the vicinity of the Roman theatre. It records that:
Caius Dexius Luci, a curule aedile, built the arcade around the seating area of the theatre; and
Titius Albius Cai and his son, Caius Albius Titi, both of whom were quattuorviri, paid for its decoration.
The inscription was found in six fragments, but one was subsequently lost, leaving a gap in the middle of the reconstituted panel.
Inscribed base of a statue (ca. 160 D)
This inscription (CIL XI 7820) was discovered in Corso Vecchio in 1890. It seems to have come from a statue in honour of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Inscribed base of a statue (before 344 AD)
This inscription (CIL XI 4181), which was discovered outside Porta Sant’ Angelo (see the detour to Santa Maria del Monumento), commemorates Iulius Eubulidas. The inscription reads:
Iulio Eubulidae
c(larissimo) v(iro)
corr(ectori) Tusciae [et Umbria]
Xviro, praefecto
aerariis Saturni
ob inlustria ipsius/ merita et amorem iux/ta cives
ordo inte/ramnatium patrono
The lower part of the inscription records that the councillors of Interamna had erected this statue (now lost) to its patron for his distinguished services and love for the city. The upper part outlines his career: Corrector of the province of Tuscia [and Umbria]; member of a college of 10 priests; prefect of the treasury of Saturn . The date of the dedication is uncertain, but it must pre-date 344 AD, when Eubulidas was appointed vicar of Africa (an important appointment that would have been recorded in inscriptions of this kind.
The inscription is also described in the page Inscriptions from Umbria in the Roman Empire.
Recent Finds in Terni
Rooms 11 and 12 contain finds from recent excavations carried out in the historic centre of Terni.
Finds from Piazza San Giovanni Decollato (ca. 200 BC)
These finds relate to what was probably a Roman basilica that was originally near the forum. They came to light in 2000, during work on the construction of a new underground car park behind the ex-Palazzo della Poste, on the site of the demolished church of San Giovanni Decollato (see Walk I).
Finds from ex Palazzo di Sanità (1st -3rd centuries AD)
Excavations in the courtyard of the ex-Palazzo di Sanità in 2000 brought to light the remains of a large Roman domus. One of the rooms had a black and white mosaic floor (1st century AD). There was evidence of rebuilding of part of the complex in the 3rd century AD. A number of finds from these excavations are exhibited.
Bust of a man (late 1st century BC)
This marble bust was found was found during work on Palazzo Mazzancolli [when ??]. It probably represents Cato the Elder, who seems to have been a patron of Terni. This is one of five surviving copies of a prototype from the 2nd century BC.
Finds from Piazza Buozzi

Three tombs were excavated in 1998 on a site in Piazza Buozzi that was probably beside Via Flaminia. The grave goods included:
delicate gold and bronze decorations (ca. 200 AD) from a hairnet in a female tomb; and
a much older silver coin (ca. 90 BC) in another of these tombs.
Cult Sites
Room 13 is devoted to cult sites in the region.
Altar of Neptune (1st century BC)
This altar was discovered in middle of the 16th century near the Cava Curiana of the Cascata della Marmore. The inscription records that a ferryman named Lucius Valerius Menander dedicated it to Neptune.
The two main faces depict:
a standing figure of the naked Neptune between two dolphins ; and
the donor in the act of making a sacrifice to him at an altar similar to this one (illustrated here).
The relief on the side , which is also illustrated here, shows the ferryman and a passenger, perhaps crossing the Velino.
Relief of Mithras (ca. 200 AD)
This relief was found in 1880 near Piedimonte, some 6 km north of Terni. It depicts Mithras killing a bull in a grotto. The twin torchbearers, Cautes and Cautopates, who represent (respectively) the rising and setting sun, stand to the sides. The torch held by Cautes is uplifted torch while that held by Cautopates is down-turned.
Finds from Carsulae
The following finds came from Carsulae:
Marble Figures (1st century AD)
The museum exhibits two figures from a series in a public building that probably represented members of the Imperial family:
a large fragment of a man in a toga; and
a torso of a nude male.
Sarcophagi (3rd century AD)
[The following sarcophagi from Carsulae are in V. Pirro below, but not exhibited:
This marble sarcophagus was found in 1912 at Poggio Azzuano, near Carsulae. The long side is striated and contains:
an image of the deceased above a pastoral scene at the centre;
an orante woman on the left; and
a standing figure of a man on the right.
This travertine sarcophagus was documented in the 18th century. The long side has a central inscription that refers to the deceased as a quattuorvir quinquennalis who died at the age of 57, with reliefs of horse-drawn chariots to the sides of it.]
Late Funerary Monuments
Rooms 15-17 are devoted to funerary monuments, most of which date to the late Roman Empire.
Lion (1st century BC)
This statue of a lion, which is of unknown provenance, probably came from a funerary monument. The lion holds the head of a goat under its left paw.
Roman sarcophagus (3rd century AD)

This marble sarcophagus is decorated with a frieze of putti playing musical instruments. [Provenance ??]
Paleo-Christian sarcophagus (4th century AD)

This sarcophagus, which was discovered on the site of the ancient cemetery at San Valentino, has reliefs of scenes from the Old and New Testaments:
the raising of Lazarus;
a miracle of Jesus;
the multiplication of the loaves and fishes;
Adam and Eve; and
the sacrifice of Isaac.
According to Mario Pagano (referenced below):
“[This] lovely sarcophagus from the first half of the 4th century ..., [which was] divided into two compartments, evidently for relics, ... must have housed the bones of [St Valentine] and served as the altar of [a putative basilica built on the site of his grave]. ... all the heads [of the figures in its reliefs] were deliberately and carefully chiseled, [presumably] at the time of the iconoclastic decrees (ca. 727-40) of the Emperor Leo III ...” (my translation).
Inscriptions from San Valentino (4th - 5th centuries AD)
A number of early Christian funerary inscriptions were found in the 17th century on site of the ancient cemetery at San Valentino. Gianfranco Binazzi (referenced below) documented a number of these: those that could be dated ranged from 366 AD (his entry 17, p. 35, now lost) to 526 (his entry 28, pp 46-7, also lost). The following are catalogued in Coarelli and Sisani (referenced below) [are they exhibited ??]:
The inscription (CIL XI 4329), which commemorates Nervinia Euresia, was commissioned by her husband Crispinus and their daughter, Umbricia Abundantia. It was dated “post consulatum Arcadi et Bautoni”: i.e. in the year after 385 AD, the year of the consulship of Flavius Arcadius (who became emperor in 395) and Flavius Bauto: it seems to be the oldest dated inscription from the cemetery that survives. [Entry 152, p. 150]
Two inscriptions from the cemetery commemorate bishops:
The earlier of these (CIL XI 4340) reads:
....v(ir) V(enerabilis) Homobonus epsic(opus) qui s[edit]
[annos ...], mensis VII, dies XXVIII i[n pace]
It commemorates Bishop Homobonus and date to ca. 400. [Entry 147, p. 147]
The second of these inscriptions (CIL XI 4337) dedicated to the sacred memory of “Bonus”, who died at the age of 55 and who might well have been another bishop. It is dated to the consulship of “Senatore”: this was probably Cassiodorus (Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator), who was sole consul in 514 AD. [Entry 148, p. 148]
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