Archaeology Reveals a Roman Settlement Built for a Forcibly Relocated Community

New archaeological research in southern Italy is shedding light on how Rome used forced population resettlement as a strategy for expanding and consolidating imperial control.

The study focuses on the Ligures Baebiani, a community descended from Ligurian groups whom Rome forcibly transferred from north-western Italy to Samnium during the second century BC. Recent geophysical investigations at Macchia di Circello in Campania have now produced the most extensive map yet of the settlement established for this displaced population.

According to ancient historical accounts, the Ligures Apuani resisted Roman expansion for many years in the Magra and Vara valleys. In 180 and 179 BC, Roman authorities forcibly relocated approximately 47,000 people from their homeland to territory in Samnium.

The resettled population was apparently divided into two communities known as the Ligures Baebiani and the Ligures Corneliani. The name Baebiani derived from the Roman consul who organised the transfer. Rome also provided financial assistance and appointed a commission to distribute land among the deportees.

The land selected for the settlers had previously been confiscated from the Samnites and incorporated into Roman public territory. The relocation therefore served several possible purposes: removing a resistant population from Liguria, freeing land for Roman colonies there, and promoting settlement and economic development in conquered Samnite territory.

The precise location of the Ligures Baebiani remained uncertain until an inscription was discovered at Macchia di Circello in 1817. The text confirmed the community’s presence in the area and linked it to a benefactor associated with a public bath.

Excavations in the 1980s uncovered part of the settlement, including a temple, two bath complexes, a street lined with shops or stalls, and pottery dating from the second century BC to the fifth century AD. Beneath the Roman temple, archaeologists identified an earlier Samnite sanctuary, suggesting that the location had held religious significance before the arrival of the Ligurian settlers.

The current UPROOTED project combines geophysical survey, excavation, material analysis, and bioarchaeology to investigate how the Roman-organised relocation was implemented. It also seeks to understand how the displaced community adapted to its new environment and negotiated its identity in relation to Roman and possibly surviving Samnite populations.

A magnetic survey covering approximately five hectares has revealed a dense network of buried structures. Archaeological survey suggests that the settlement may have reached a maximum size of around 14 hectares, although its original extent remains uncertain.

The geophysical map shows streets, foundations, drainage channels, possible industrial areas, and numerous buildings. No defensive walls have yet been detected, suggesting that the settlement may have developed as an open community rather than a fortified centre.

One main street extends north-westward from the previously excavated area for more than 90 metres. Its course closely follows a historical livestock-migration route leading toward the Roman town of Saepinum. The same road crossed the settlement’s central area, where the baths, shops, and temple were located, before continuing south-east toward Apulia.

Large rectangular buildings along the street contain internal divisions resembling higher-status Roman atrium houses. These structures suggest that at least some residents enjoyed substantial wealth or social standing.

South of the earlier excavations, researchers identified another street extending toward Beneventum for more than 140 metres. This route appears to intersect a large rectangular structure measuring approximately 80 by 60 metres.

The building may have functioned as a public complex or livestock market. Its position across the main route suggests that movement through the settlement was deliberately directed toward an administrative and economic centre.

The baths, temple, shops, possible market, and large residences indicate that the community eventually developed into a prosperous semi-urban settlement. Its position between Saepinum and Beneventum—each roughly a day’s journey away—placed it along an important route for travel, trade, and seasonal movement of animals.

The site’s location was probably chosen strategically. It allowed Rome to settle the deported Ligurians in an economically useful area while strengthening control over the interior of southern Italy.

However, several questions remain unresolved. It is not yet clear whether the local Samnite population had been expelled before the Ligurians arrived or whether the two communities lived alongside one another. Earlier interpretations suggested that the area had been abandoned, but revised pottery chronologies mean that this conclusion must now be reconsidered.

Future excavations will investigate the settlement’s chronology, houses, food practices, material culture, and daily life. Researchers will also examine whether elements of Ligurian identity survived after deportation and how they interacted with Roman and Samnite cultural influences.

Overall, the discoveries at Macchia di Circello provide a rare archaeological perspective on a historically documented case of forced relocation. They show that Roman imperial expansion involved not only military conquest, but also the organised movement of entire populations and the reshaping of landscapes, economies, and identities.