Prima di Eusebio: l’ager di Vercellae in età romana

he water complexity which characterizes the lower Vercelli plain has conditioned settlement patterns over the centuries. The purpose of this paper, beginning with a geomorphological and palaeohydrological analysis with the assistance of geological studies, aerial photography and historical maps, is to reflect on the population strategies of this region in the Imperial Roman age.With the creation of the two major roads, the Ticinum-Augusta Taurinorum and the Mediolanum-Augusta Salassorum, settlements were founded or redefined in a territory which was occupied during the second Iron Age. by the Celtic tribe of the Libuans. What emerges from the archaeological evidence, and particularly from funerary areas, on the other hand, is the impression that the settlement patterns in fact continued in the form of a series of scattered nuclei. New data has emerged from archaeological surveys conducted by the University of Pavia and allows us to identify the remains of one building made of brick fragments, predominantly roofing tiles and cover tiles, within the territory between Livorno Ferraris and Crescentino (Cascina Nuova area) and a second building (presently known only through soil-marks) located between Livorno Ferraris and Bianzé. These surveys have also led to the discovery of four other necropolis areas in the Livorno Ferraris territory, confirming the scattered nature of the settlements of this region. Lastly, traces of centuriated grids of different orientations have been recognized in the territories corresponding to the present-day municipalities of Trino, Palazzolo, Crescentino and Cigliano. On the other hand, and due to the upheavals linked to rice cultivation, the pattern of the centuriations in the territory of Livorno Ferraris must, at present, remain sub iudice.