This rural settlement must have been quite large by the mid-Republican period: the substantial structures and materials that have surfaced on the surrounding farmland suggest the existence of a vicus.
Along side the residential quarters (the area which has been excavated) and the slaves' quarters there must have been outbuildings with storage and production facilities. The site's economy seems to have been based on its agricultural resources, including the processing of what it produced. There also seems to have been some semi-industrial activity on the site.
Several rooms paved in opus signinum decorated with geometric patterns date to the end of the 2nd century-beginning of the 1st century B.C. During the early Imperial period the complex was enlarged by the addition of new rooms with opus reticulatum walls and a bath suite, one room having terracotta suspensurae.
Excavations undertaken inside the Romanesque abbey of S. Maria di Casalpiano, the related structures and the area outside these buildings revealed 70 burials. The use of this area as a cemetery dates to the early medieval period (6th-7th century A.D.) and coincides with the abandonment and collapse of the villa rustica after the 5th century A.D. The tombs are closely aligned on an east-west axis, and are covered and lined with slabs and small blocks of stone. The majority did not contain grave goods.
In the medieval period the Benedictine complex functioned as a focal point for the organization of the surrounding agricultural territory. The monastic settlement must have composed of a series of buildings and annexes, which have already been partly excavated. According to archival material, two churches existed on this site, around the year 1000, which were donated to the Abbot of Montecassino. (Cristiana Terzani)