Remains of ancient Venusia ongoing at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venosa, Italy

Remains of ancient Venusia ongoing at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venosa, Italy. 

The museum, housed in Aragonese castle built in 1470 is dedicated to the Latin colony of Venusia, founded in 291 BCE following the defeat of the Samnites in the Third Samnite War. The oldest artifact on display is a femur fragment of homo erectus dated to about 300,000 years ago, among the oldest found in Europe. The Roman period is documented with coins, elements of architectural decoration, and ceramics. The epigraphic section contains a collection of funerary and public inscriptions, the latter documenting important works created by magistrates of Venusia. Of particular note is the collection of memorial stones inscribed in the Oscan language from an open space of the 1st century BCE where auspices were drawn through the flight of birds. Figured epigraphs testify to the establishment of an important Jewish community which, between the 4th and 9th centuries CE, buried its dead in local catacombs adjacent to Christian ones.  Ancient Venusia was the birthplace of the Roman poet Horace.



Image:  Roman mosaic pavement in the Archaeological Park of Venosa, Italy. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Generale Lee.

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