Area archeologica di Helvia Ricina

The archaeological area of Helvia Ricina lies at Villa Potenza, on the left bank of the Potenza River. The Roman theatre is its most prominent surviving structure, anchoring the remains of a city that developed at the junction of routes between the Adriatic coast and the interior.

Why it matters

Ricina became a Roman municipium around the middle of the first century BCE. The theatre, built in brickwork around the middle of the first century CE, is among the site's most substantial remains. The archaeological area also helps explain the Roman settlement that preceded medieval Macerata.

What to notice

The theatre's brick structure spans about seventy-two metres, and its cavea could accommodate roughly two thousand spectators. The scaenae frons had columns and niches that may have framed statues. Funerary monuments, marble fragments and Roman inscriptions are displayed among the remains. An inscription names Septimius Severus as conditor and records the city's elevation to colony in 205 CE, when it took the name Helvia Ricina Pertinax.

Context and history

Ricina stood on the left bank of the Potenza where roads connected the Adriatic coast with the Apennines. Surveys and aerial photography have traced a rectangular walled city with internal streets, a forum, baths, cult buildings, an amphitheatre and necropolises. The settlement declined in late antiquity, and its ruins were later used as a source of building material. Archaeological surveys and excavations continue to add to the understanding of the ancient city's plan.