The Monuments
Recent excavations have made it possible to recover some of Carsulae’s major public edifices, in the forum and the theater-amphitheater area, all of which are along the Flaminian Way. The urban stretch of the Flaminian is paved and has sidewalks and gutters, and its entrance at the northern end of town is marked by a large arched gateway, called the Arch of San Damiano, with only one of its original three arches remaining, built in opus caementicium and faced with travertine. Just outside the arch there are two monumental tombs which have been restored, belonging to persons and families of high standing, one of which identified as the Furii.
The trapezoid-shaped forum lies west of the Flaminian Way, from which it is separated by two four-sided arches serving as entrances, and it is partially paved with slabs of pink marble. Standing at the south end are two twin temples, whose high podium serves to offset the natural slope of the ground, and at the north is a series of structures with apses, surely public buildings, possibly the seat of the municipal senate and related buildings. Fragments of honorary statues of the Julius-Claudia family, including a head/bust of Claudius, were found in this area. East of the road and opposite the forum is the basilica, a large building with a nave, side aisles and an apse, of which the plinths of the interior columns remain. Next are the ruins of rooms belonging perhaps to private buildings, followed by the small church of San Damiano, built using the walls of an ancient structure. A paved road perpendicular to the Flaminian Way and running alongside the basilica leads to the entertainment zone: here the excavations unearthed the amphitheater, built making use of a natural sinkhole, and the theater, the seats of which are supported by a series of vaulted spaces. The two buildings are part of a single plan, and lie more or less along the same axis. Near the theater is a small structure with columns that may have been a palaestra; along the outside wall of the amphitheater, on the side opposite the road, there is a large, elongated cistern, composed of several rooms. To the south the remains of the baths are still visible, the excavation of which (not yet completed) has unearthed floor mosaics.