The Crisis of the 3rd Century AD in the Territory of Iulia Concordia: the Roman Villa of Gorgaz (San Vito al Tagliamento)

In this paper we present a preliminary analysis of the population trend during the 3' century AD in the central-eastern part of the ager of the Roman colony of lulia Concordia. This Roman town was founded - probably around 42 BC - on the west bank of the Tagliamento river, on the site of a preceding protohistoric Veneti settlement. In the Roman era, the ager of lulia Concordia included all the land between the Tagliamento and Livenza rivers. The available data seems to indicate a general settlement decrease as an effect of the “crisis of the 3 century” in this area. Nevertheless, in some rural centers, such as the Roman villa of Gorgaz (San Vito al Tagliamento, Pordenone), possible indicators that it continued to flourish are recognizable even for the 3' century. It is therefore possible to reconstruct a more complex image of the 3 century landscape, even if only through a small case study.