Since the publication of my Supplement to Paestan Pottery and the short Post-script covering the finds of 1952, some 300 new red-figured vases have come to light as a result of further excavations by Dr. P. C. Sestieri at Paestum in the area around the so-called Basilica and the Temple of Poseidon and of the systematic opening up of the huge fourth century necropoleis to the south of the city at Fuscillo, Spinazzo and Tempa del Prete and to the north in the Gontrade Arcioni, Andriuolo, Laghetto and Gaudo. Some of these sites have yielded painted tombs of the highest importance for our knowledge of fourth-century painting and for the parallels they offer in both subject and style to contemporary vase decoration, and the quantity of pottery they have produced increases more than fivefold the number of vases of certain Paestan provenience and establishes beyond question the location of this fabric at Paestum. Most of the vases belong either to the workshop of Asteas and Python or to the later workshops of the Painters of Naples 1778 and 2585, but one completely new artist—the Floral Painter—has emerged, as well as a good deal more in the Apulianising style of the end of the fourth century, the existence of which was first noted as a result of the finds in 1952.

The excavations here described were undertaken by the British School at Rome on behalf of the Superintendency of Antiquities for Southern Etruria, through the courtesy of its Superintendent, Professor Renato Bartoccini, who has done so much to foster active archaeological research within an area that is undergoing drastic and archaeologically disastrous change, and with the active and cordial collaboration of his staff. The purpose of the excavations was the strictly limited one of examining, while there was yet time, one of the few remaining stretches of the defences of Veii where ploughing in recent years had revealed (and is now rapidly destroying) substantial remains of the ancient walls. In the course of the work such other features as came to light were examined and recorded so far as this limited purpose permitted; but no attempt was, or could be, made to follow up the larger implications of these discoveries, which must await another occasion and other hands.

The work was undertaken in two short campaigns, each of between two and four weeks' duration. The first of these, in November and December 1957, was hampered by the ravages of Asian influenza, the work of supervision being shared in succession by Mrs. Selina Tomlin (now Mrs. Ballance), Mr. Guy Duncan and Mr. Michael Ballance; and it is greatly to their credit that, despite these difficulties, a satisfactory and coherent result was obtained. The second campaign took place in October-November 1958, and was supervised throughout by Mrs. P. W. Murray Threipland. Both in the field and the work-room a great deal of volunteer help was received both from students of the School and from friends and visitors, outstanding among the latter being Mrs. Anne Kahane and Mrs. Betty Eastwood and, during the second campaign, Mr. Eric Gray.

It is the aim of the following pages to study the evidence for the condition and economy of Capua in the period of the Roman Republic, and to suggest some fresh conclusions on its role in the more general evolution of Roman commerce and influence. For two centuries or more after the Second Punic War, until other more favoured and more extensive regions of the empire began to compete with Italian agriculture and industry, the cities of Campania maintained a certain degree of primacy over others in the peninsula. Among these, Capua had for long held the chief political power, and even after its defeat by the Romans in 211 B.C., retained some degree of prestige throughout antiquity. Before her defection to Hannibal, Capua might be ranked with Carthage or Corinth in wealth and power; and even at the other end of antiquity, in the fourth century A.D., Capua was the third city of Italy, next only to Rome and Aquileia, a position substantially retained in the Dark Ages and in later history.

In May 1959, while digging foundations for an electric switch-room in the grounds of the Overseas School, Via Cassia no. 811, workmen came upon the remains of a Roman building. The discovery was reported to the Superintendency of Antiquities for Rome and, by arrangement with the authorities of the Superintendency, the British School undertook to supervise and to record such work of clearance and record as might prove possible within the time and with the means available. The following is a brief, factual report upon this work. In presenting it, the writer wishes to record his indebtedness to Dr. Paul Webb, Headmaster of the Overseas School; to Professor Giulio Jacopi, Superintendent of Antiquities for Rome; to Dottoressa Valnea Scrinari, Inspector of Antiquities for the district; to Mr. John Crawley who supervised most of the work of excavation in conjunction with Signor Rigitano of the Superintendency; to Mr. and Mrs Michael Ballance who helped to record and photograph the results; to Mr. Brian Hartley and Mr. R. A. G. Carson, who kindly examined and reported on the pottery and on the coin, respectively, and to all those friends and pupils of the Overseas School and visitors to the British School who volunteered their assistance during the course of work.

The first quarter of the fifteenth century, which saw, for the first time, the emergence of Florence as a seapower with its own fleets and ports, was particularly important in the history of the city. The conquest of Pisa in 1406, the purchase of Leghorn and Porto Pisano in 1421, and the launching and despatch of the first communal galleys in 1422, were all events that were acclaimed in Florence as jointly constituting the achievement of a cherished wish, and the birth of a new era of prosperity. Prior to this the Florentines had had to rely on the benevolence of the Pisans and the Sienese for their western outlets to the sea, and on foreign or on hired shipping for the carriage of their trade. Now they planned to launch a galley system comparable to that of the Venetians, to link up trading colonies throughout the Mediterranean, and to establish a reliable vehicle for exploiting the markets of Northern Europe and for bringing in the supplies of English wool so valuable to the Florentine woollen industry.

In a previous article I referred to the documents given below, to establish the abeyance of the office of master constable and master justiciar of Apulia et Terra Laboris following Henry VI's conquest of the Sicilian kingdom in 1194, and to prove that Count Berard of Lesina had been entirely successful in switching his allegiance from the royal to the imperial side. I then undertook to print the full texts, and I am most grateful to the British School at Rome for giving me the opportunity of doing it.