Scolacium is a large Roman site on the east coast of Calabria. Not far north the picturesque fortress of Le Castella stands on a tiny island connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway.
Scolacium is a rather extensive Roman site dating from around 2nd century BC standing on the site of a much older Greek settlement. The ruins include a massive forum, large theatre and huge amphitheatre.
There are some nice things in the on-site museum, lots of statues found in the forum, one though to be Nero but the head looks a bit small!
There is also a large inscription from the Decumanus Maximus with steps down to the forum, obviously from a wealthy man who had paid for the steps to be built. The inscription reads "L(ucius) Decimius Secundio Gradus via s(ua) p(ecunia) f(ecit)" - "Lucius Decimius Secundio made these (the steps) at his own expense"
The theatre was set into the hillside which is typical of Greek theatres rather than Roman. It could seat 3,500 spectators. There are some statues and columns from the theatre in the museum.
Prior to the Augustan era gladiatorial games were held in the forum but then amphitheatres were built as the games became more elaborate and audiences larger. The amphitheatre at Scolacium was constructed in the first half of the second century AD, it could seat between 9,500 and 12,000 spectators.
On the top of the hill where the theatre is located, rectangular water tanks were built for gathering and storing rain water; these date from around 143 AD. In the 3rd and 4th century a large residential complex occupied the site. During the 5th century it underwent restoration but was destroyed, perhaps by a fire, in the 6th century. A large Byzantine era necropolis was established on the ruins.
The museum holds some grave goods from the Byzantine necropolis including colourful glass, Greek and Roman artefacts.
There is also an interesting olive oil museum in a separate building which was once used to process olives.
The olives were milled into a paste which was then put into woven rope "sacks" and pressed to release the oil. This was then pumped to a centrifugal separator to remove any remaining solids before the resulting oil was delivered into large cisterns for storage.
Calabria is one of the largest olive oil producers in Italy. The Scolacium site is surrounded by olive groves.
Since at least the 4th century BC a military installation has existed on this small island - Hannibal is said to have sheltered here when he was retreating from the Roman army.
The island is 120m off the coast, connected by a narrow causeway.
The fortress that we can see today dates mostly from the 13th century and later. In the 17th/18th century some residential rooms were incorporated in the sloping bastion walls and, over time, a small village grew up outside the fortress.
