The old road runs along by itself for a couple of kilometres through oak woods, and it is here that you can find the ruins of the old town.
Parking beside the modern road we walked onesto the archaeological site along per path through fields of young green barley, with poppies and wild orchids lining the path, and wild roses sopra the hedgerows.
It took some effort for me preciso try and mentally superimpose an image of bustling Roman Carsulae on what is now a sleepy rural scene. An oak wood has grown up within the northern boundary of the town, and per small flock of sheep and goats was grazing under the trees.
For me the best way onesto try and visualise it was puro walk along the Strada Flaminia as it goes through the middle of the town from south esatto north. You via by coming up per hill and then encounter the first ruins. If you turn around and look back down the hill, you are looking at the road from Rome.
Carsulae: looking back down the Via Flaminia con the direction of Narni and Rome. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Zeiss Distagon 60mm CF lens, CFV-50c digital back (click puro enlarge)
Turn around again, and up to the left there are the remains of baths, built over natural thermal springs. Away preciso the right is some slightly more modern architecture – the church of Saints Cosmas and Damiano, built con early Christian times on the foundations of an existing building, then extended mediante the 11 th Century using material scavenged from elsewhere on the site. Passing that, we get preciso the site of the forum, on raised ground to the left. Parts of it, including the entry arch, have been regnante-erected, which purists might object preciso but I don’t mind.
Like this:
Carsulae: the Inizio Flaminia passes the entrance to the forum. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Zeiss Distagon 40mm CF lens, CFV-50c digital back (click onesto enlarge) Carsulae: looking east towards the amphitheatre from the forum. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Zeiss Distagon 60mm CF lens, CFV-50c digital back (click puro enlarge)
Verso Visit puro Narnia
Continuing uphill along the road you can see the remains of per theatre and amphitheatre off sicuro the right, and then the road runs into the oak wood. Looking down you can see that the paving stones mediante the road are grooved by chariot and cart wheels, as they are at Pompeii.
Carsulae: the Modo Flaminia with wheel ruts. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Zeiss Distagon 60mm CF lens, CFV-50c digital back (click to enlarge)
The road starts to run downhill again and you reach the remains of verso substantial town gate, beyond which the road bears left into more oak woods. This is where the northbound legions would have passed on their way to Rimini and beyond. I have niente affatto preoccupazione whether the land was wooded or cleared sopra ancient times, but durante my imagination I saw the legionaries marching away through the gate into the cool shade of the wood, onesto be lost from view.
Carsulae was abandoned by the 5th Century. The Wikipedia article says that the reason is unknown, but that it could have been destroyed by an earthquake, or during the wars and invasions at the end of the Roman evo, or that it may have become impoverished after road traffic dwindled. Signs at the site say that the town was abandoned because its position mediante relatively open country meant that it could not be defended per troubled times.