Archaeologists excavating an ancient Roman city in Italy have uncovered a roughly 2,000-year-old stone monument depicting three sacrificial animals, offering rare evidence of one of ancient Rome’s most solemn religious rituals. The carved monument was discovered at Aquinum, an ancient Roman colony in central Italy. It shows an ox, ram, and pig together, a combination associated with the suovetaurilia, a major Roman sacrifice performed during ceremonies of purification and protection.
The discovery emerged during the University of Salento’s 18th excavation campaign at the site. Giuseppe Ceraudo, professor of ancient topography at the university, directed the research.
Monument depicts three sacrificial animals
Archaeologists identified the monument as a cippus, a type of inscribed stone marker. They found it reused in the pavement of a road junction in the ancient city. An inscription on the stone records the name of its dedicator, believed to have been Caius Ammius Cammarus.
The monument also features garlands, festoons and bucrania, decorative representations of ox skulls associated with sacrifice. Its most unusual feature, however, is the group of three animals. The pig, sheep or ram, and bull were the animals sacrificed during the suovetaurilia. The name itself comes from the Latin words sus, meaning pig, ovis, meaning sheep, and taurus, meaning bull.
During the ritual, the animals could be led in procession around the people or land that Romans sought to purify or protect before being sacrificed. The sacrifice was often offered to Mars, the Roman god of war, who also had an early role as a protector of agricultural land and communities. Other archaeological discoveries, including a Roman sanctuary uncovered at the ancient city of Nida in Germany, have provided evidence of the importance of offerings and sacrifice in Roman religious life.
Romans performed the suovetaurilia during events of major religious and public importance. The ceremony could accompany the purification of communities, agricultural land or military forces. It could also play a role in defining and protecting important spaces. The imagery at Aquinum therefore offers evidence of how formal religious traditions may have shaped public life in the Roman colony.
Altar reveals links to emperor worship
The excavation also produced a new marble fragment from a votive altar. It allowed researchers to reconstruct an inscription commissioned by Manius Popidius Anteros, a wealthy freedman who served as an Augustal sevir.
The completed inscription honors the Genius of Augustus, the Lares of Augustus and the Genius of the Colony. Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, became the focus of an imperial tradition that left its mark on cities and monuments across the Roman world. The dedication at Aquinum shows how emperor worship became intertwined with local civic identity.
Work at the city’s Roman theater has also uncovered a slab marking the sacred treatment of a place struck by lightning. Researchers have restored five marble heads, including the so-called “Caesar of Aquinum” and a portrait of Drusus the Elder. The 2026 campaign also expanded into the modern municipality of Aquino, helping archaeologists study the ancient colony beyond today’s administrative boundaries.
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