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This museum has been refurbished and extended following the earthquake of 1997. It is arranged in a number of distinct spaces:
San Nicolò di Piazza
The first room (illustrated above) is in the ancient vaulted crypt of San Nicolò di Piazza, which is divided it into six bays by two columns.
Passage to the Archeological Area

The passage on the right, contains a collection of Roman inscriptions. Beyond the point at which it widens, the pavement of the forum is visible, with a drainage channel running along the side of it.
Archeological Area

The passage leads to the Archeological Area, which was the excavated in Piazza del Comune in 1836 to reveal the original pavement in front of the so-called Temple of Minerva. Important archaeological remains survive there in situ.
South Part of the Complex
The Archeological Area used to mark the end of the museum. However, following the restoration work after the 1997 earthquake, much of the south part of the the excavated area (behind and to the left of the glass cases in this photograph) has been brought within its confines and is being adapted to provide further exhibition space. This
Crypt of San Nicolò
Cippus (2nd century BC) [2]
This is a cast of an inscription that was found in 1742 at Ospedalicchio, near Bastia (12 km west of Assisi). The inscription, which is in the Umbrian language and uses the Latin alphabet, records the demarcation of a piece of land, and is dated with reference to the serving magistrates of Assisi:
AGER EMPS ET
TERMNAS OHT[RETIE]
C V VISTINE NER T BABR[IE]
MARONATEI
VOIS NER PROPARTIE
T V VOISNIER
SACRE STAHU
The inscription refers to a field (ager) that has been bought and delimited (emps et termnas) during the period of office of:
the two men who held the post of uhter in the year in question:
C(aius) Vestinius, son of V(ibius) and
Ner(o) Babrius, son of T(itus); and
the two men who held the post of marone:
Vois(ienus) Propartius, son of Ner(o); and
T(itus) Voisienus, son of V(ibius).
The final words “sacre stahu” probably The final words “sacre stahu” probably imply that the field had religious significance: it is suggestive that the flour used in the annual ritual described in Table Vb of the Iguvine Tables came from the Ager Tltius and the Ager Casilus of Picus Martius.
The original cippus is in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Perugia. The inscription is also described in the page on Umbrian Inscriptions after 295BC.
Inscription from S Maria Maggiore (ca. 100 BC) [125]
This is a cast of a Latin inscription (CIL XI 5473) on the outer surface of the architrave of a narrow opening in the Roman wall that now serves to terrace the garden of Santa Maria Maggiore. It reads:
"Iter precar(ium)"
This seems to indicate that passage was granted by prayer or on request.
The inscription is also described on the page Latin Inscriptions after 295 BC.
Cinerary urn (2nd century BC) [162]
This urn, which was found at Viole outside Assisi, was probably made in Perugia. The fine relief depicts the deceased reclining on a couch while a child, probably his son, pulls his grieving wife away.
Cinerary urns with reliefs of Medusa (1st century BC) [166-7]
The museum contains two stone urns with reliefs of Medusa:
one that was found in the garden of the ex-nunnery of Sant’ Apollinare [166]: and
another of unknown provenance [167].
Inscriptions of the Egnatius Family
Relief (2nd half of the 1st century BC) [168]
This is the cast of a relief relief that is embedded in the façade of the Palazzo dei Canonici della Cattedrale. The relief formed part of a travertine urn that was found in a necropolis that was excavated behind San Rufino. It depicts a young man (presumably the deceased) and his horse. The inscription (CIL XI 5472) commemorates him as Ner(o) Egnati(us), son of T(itus). This is one of three surviving inscriptions that relate to the gens Egnatia.
Cinerary urn (late 2nd century BC) [163]
The Latin inscription (CIL XI 5470) across the top of this cinerary urn reveals that it held the ashes of C(aius) Egnati(us), son of Sal(vius), who is shown reclining on a couch with his wife to the left. The urn, which was found in Piazza del Vescovado (see Walk II), was probably made in Perugia.
Cinerary Urn (1st century AD) [169]
This urn was found in the Piazza del Vescovado (see Walk II). The Latin inscription (CIL XI 5471) identifies the deceased as C(aius) Egnatius, son of C(aius): he is depicted in a toga, suggesting that he was a Roman citizen. This is one of three surviving inscriptions that relate to the Egnatius family.
Cinerary urn and lid (early 1st century BC) [145, 164]
 
This travertine urn, which was discovered at an unrecorded location in the 16th century, was probably made in Perugia. The rather corpulent deceased is shown reclining on a couch. The lid (exhibited nearby) depicts a gorgon’s head with a phallus above.
Sarcophagus (2nd or 3rd century AD) [196]

This marble striated sarcophagus was recomposed in the early 20th century from the fragments that had been distributed across the city. There is a fine relief of Dionysius and fellow revellers in a tabernacle on one of the long sides. The remains of reliefs of elephants can be seen on the end faces. Part of the sarcophagus was re-used for a burial in the 15th century.
Funerary Stele (1st century BC) [140]
Unfortunately, the lower part of this stele, including the inscription, has been lost. The deceased, who is depicted under an arch, seems to have been a prosperous freedman, perhaps an animal breeder.
Funerary Stele (1st century AD) [52]
The inscription (CIL XI 8024) identifies the deceased as Lucius Aelius Luci Pyrrhus, a freedman of the gens Aelia. He is described as “lanius” (a butcher). Although the stele is worn, it is still possible to make out his head at the top, with knives to either side and the head of a cow and other tools of his trade below the inscription.
Funerary Stele (1st century AD) [63]
The museum exhibits a cast of part of an inscribed funerary stele (photographed here) that is embedded in the façade of the Palazzo dei Canonici della Cattedrale. The inscription (CIL XI 5452) commemorates Atieda Galene, the wife of Atiedius Chrestus, both of whom were freed slaves of the gens Atieda. Two doves peck at a bunch of grapes in the relief in the triangular space above the inscription.
Seviri and Seviri Augustales
Sextus Vistinius Chilo (1st half of 1st century AD) [44]

This funerary inscription ( CIL XI 5426) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates [Sextus] Vistinius Chilo, son of Sextus, who was probably a sevir Augustales (although the second line of the inscription is mostly lost). Vistinius Chilo, who belonged to an ancient aristocratic family of Asisium, is one of only three freeborn men who belonged to the magistracies of the seviri and seviri Augustales of Asisium.
Quintus Vibius Modestus (1st half of 1st century AD) [43]
This inscription (CIL XI 5425) from an unknown location in Assisi records that Cnaeus Rufius Insequens erected this funerary stele to commemorate Quintus Vibius Modestus, who was a sevir Augustale: Enrico Zuddas (referenced below, at p. 295) identified him as a freedman of the gens Vibia. The attributes shown in relief at the top of the stele were apparently pertinent to his office.
Titus Baebius Apollonius (1st half of the 1st century AD) [35]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5397) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates the freedman and sevir Titus Baebius Apollonius, together with Baebia Prima, who was probably his wife.
Titus Volcasius Cinnamus (1st half of the 1st century AD) [45]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5427) from an unknown location in Assisi contains a dedication from their children to the freedman and sevir Augustale Titus Volcasius Cinnamus and his wife, Vettia Saturnina.
Lucius Titius ... (1st half of the 1st century AD) [47]
This fragmentary funerary inscription (EDR 028696) from the Eremo delle Carceri commemorates Lucius Titius ..., sevir Augustales.
Publius Decimius Eros Merula (1) (1st century AD) [37]
This inscription (CIL XI 5399), which was found during the excavations for the foundations of the church of Sant'Antonio di Padova in Assisi, reads:
P(ublius) Decimius P(ubli) l(ibertus) Eros/ Merula VIvir
viam a cisterna/ ad domum L(uci) Muti/ stravit ea pecunia/ ...
It thus records that the freedman and sevir Publius Decimius Eros Merula (see below) financed the paving of a road from a cistern to the house of Lucius Mutius.
Publius Decimius Eros Merula (2) (1st century AD) [38]
This inscription (CIL XI 5400) reads:
P(ublius) Decimius P(ublii) l(ibertus) Eros/ Merula
medicus/ clinicus, chirurgus/ ocularius, VIvir
hic pro libertate: dedit HS [50,000]
hic pro seviratu in rem p(ublicam):/ dedit HS [2,000]
hic in statuas ponendas in/ aedem Herculis: dedit HS [30,000]
hic in vias sternendas/ in publicum: dedit HS [37,000]
hic pridie quam mortuus est/ reliquit patrimony: HS [500,000]. . .
This records that the freedman Publius Decimius Eros Merula, who was by profession a clinical physician and ophthalmic surgeon, and who became one of the seviri of Asisium after his manumission, paid
50,000 sesterces for his freedom;
2,000 sesterces to the municipal treasury on his election to the sevirate;
30,000 sesterces towards the statues placed in the Temple of Hercules; and
37,000 sesterces to the municipal treasury for the paving of the highways (presumably including the project commemorated in the inscription above).
In addition, on the day before he died, he bequeathed an estate of 500,000 sesterces the the municipium.
Cnaeus Caesius Iucundus (1st century AD) [36]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5398) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates the freedman and sevir Cnaeus Caesius Iucundus. He had probably been freed by Cnaeus Caesius Tiro one of the two brothers who. as quattuorviri, built the so-called Temple of Minerva.
Anonymous (1st century AD) [46]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5431) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates a now-anonymous man with the praenomen Sextus, who was probably a sevir Augustale.
Caius Publicus Asisinatium Verecundus (1st century AD) [41]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5411) from an unknown location in Assisi contains a dedication from Caius Publicus Allius Pr[...] to his father, Caius Publicus Asisinatium Verecundus, a freedman of the municipium and sevir Augustale.
Caius Propertius Repentinus (2nd half of the 1st century AD) [40]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5410) from an unknown location in Assisi contains a dedication from the freedman Caius Propertius Merula to another freedman, Caius Propertius Repentinus, a sevir Augustale. (This inscription is also listed below under inscriptions relating to the gens Propertia).
Quintus Tìresius Primigenus (2nd century AD) [3]
An inscription (CIL XI 5371) from the convent of Sant’ Antonio da Padova records the dedication, by the freedman and sevir Augustale Quintus Tìresius Primigenus, of an altar to the deity Bonus Eventus , in a place given by the local senate, in order to promote the good fortune of the citizens and other residents of Asisium.
Caius Aburius Capella (2nd century AD) [34]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5394, 2nd century AD) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates the freedman and sevir Caius Aburius Capella, together with Seiena Nymphe, who was probably his wife.
Quintus Veianus Himerus (2nd century AD) [42]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5420) from an unknown location in Assisi, commemorates the freedman Q(uintus) Veianus Himerus, a seviri Augustale. The relief depicts his portrait bust under a garland with a scroll to the left, a book to the right and a hunting scene below.
Passage to the Archeological Area
This passage is used for the exhibition of a large number of Roman inscription from Assisi.
Cippus (2nd century BC) [1]
This cippus, which may have been found outside Porta Moiano, bears a short “speaking” inscription in the Umbrian language, using the Latin alphabet:
“toce stahu”,
which probably means "I stand in a public place".
The inscription is also described in the page on Umbrian Inscriptions after 295BC.
Inscription from San Rufino (late 2nd century BC) [26]

This is a cast of an inscription (CIL XI 5390) over an arch that leads to a Roman cistern that now forms the foundation for the campanile of San Rufino. It is one of the earliest Latin inscriptions to survive in an Umbrian city. Only the left part of it is now visible in situ.
The main part of the inscription reads:
murum ab fornice ad circum et fornicem cisternamq(ue)
d(e) s(entaus) s(ententia) faciundum coiravere
This records the building, by order of the municipal senate, of cistern itself and a terrace wall that apparently extended from the arch (fornix) of the cistern to another arch near the circus (which was in modern Piazza Matteotti). Part of this terrace wall can be seen in the crypt of the earlier church of San Rufino.
The inscription also names six marones (magistrates) as a dating device: they presumably held office in pairs in the three years over which the work was carried out:
two members of the gens Mimisia, discussed below:
Post(umus) Mimisius, son of C(aius);
T(itus) Mimisius, son of Sert(orius);
Ner(o) Capidas Rufus, son of C(aius);
Ner(o) Babrius, son of T(itus);
C(aius) Capidas, son of T(itus), grandson of C(aius); and
V(ibius) Volsienus, son of T(itus).
Nero Babrius, son of Titus had the more senior post of uhter in the Umbrian inscription on the cippus from Bastia (see Exhibit 2 above), which is therefore probably of a slightly later date. This demonstrates that both Latin and Umbrian were used in public inscriptions in the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC.
The inscription is also described on the page Latin Inscriptions after 295 BC.
Inscription Recording Quinqueviri (ca. 30 - 1 BC) [25]
This inscription (CIL XI 5392), which was found in Piazza del Comune and which is dated in the EAGLE database to to last three decades of the 1st century BC, records the restoration of a wall by:
the quattuorviri iure dicundo:
Cnaeus Fuficius Laevinus, son of Cnaeus; and
Titus Allius, son of Caius; and
the quinqueviri:
[Caius] Allius, son of Caius;
Caius Scaefius Umbo, son of Lucius;
Caius Volcasius Pertica, son of Caius;
Quintus Attius Capito, son of Quintus; and
Lucius Volcasius Scaeva, son of Caius.
Another inscription (CIL XI 5391), which is identical except that the names of the quattuorviri are reversed, was found outside Bettona and is now embedded in the entrance wall of the Palazzo del Podestà there. Although it is possible that one or both of these refer to a restoration of the walls of Bettona, it is much more likely (given the form of the magistracy) that they both came from Assisi.
These inscriptions are also discussed in the page on the Archeological Area.
Household of Poppea Sabina (30-50 AD) [11]
This inscription (CIL XI 5418) from an unknown location in Assisi records that Tertius, a slave belonging to Poppea Sabina, had rebuilt an altar on public land that he had also originally constructed. He had carried out this work on behalf of Priscus, a ‘dispensator’ (slave in charge of a property). In this case, the property in question was presumably an estate near Asisium belonging to Poppea Sabina: she was the widow of Titus Olius, a senator who had died with Sejanus after the failure of the plot against the Emperor Tiberius in 31 AD. (Their daughter, also Poppea Sabina, became the wife of the Emperor Nero).
Inscriptions of the Propertius Family
Propertia [144]
The inscription (EDR 028728) on this cinerary urn from Piazza Matteottii commemorates Propertia, a freedwoman of Caius Propertius. The EAGLE database (see the EDR link) dates it to the period ca. 130 - 70 BC.
Cnaeus Propertius Scaevae [28]
The inscription (AE 1978, 0294) on this funerary stele from Piazza San Pietro records that Avillia Aura erected it to commemorate to her husband, Cnaeus Propertius Scaevae, son of Titus, who had been a decurion. (Scaeva means left-handed.) The EAGLE database (see the AE link) dates it to the Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD).
Propertia T(ertia?) [96]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5515) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates Propertia T(ertia?), a freedwoman of Lucius Propertius. The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates it to the Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD).
Nonia Privata [84]
Caius Propertius dedicated this funerary inscription (CIL XI 5501) to Nonia Privata, who was probably his wife. It is from an unknown location in Assisi. The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates it to the 1st half of the 1st century AD.
Titus Propertius Gratus [94]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5520), which probably came from a location near the Chiesetta di San Feliciano (see below), commemorates Titus Propertius Gratus, son of Titus. The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates it to the 1st century AD.
Caius Propertius Crescens and (probably) Caius Propertius Liber [92]

This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5518), which was found near Porta Nuova, commemorates someone whose name has been lost. The surviving lines read:
C(aius) PROPERTIUS
CRESCENS ET LIBER
BENE MERENTI
Although the meaning of ‘ET LIBER’ is unclear, the museum suggests that the first two of these surviving lines record two men from the gens Propertia who dedicated the inscription: Caius Propertius Crescens and Caius Propertius Liber. The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates the inscription to the 1st century AD.
Caius Propertius Epaenus and Caetronia Aura [93]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5519) from Sant’ Angelo in Panzo commemorates a married couple, each of whom had been freed by an important family of Assisi:
Caius Propertius Epaenus, a freedman of Caius Propertius; and
Caetronia Aura, who had been freed by the gens Caetronia.
The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates it to the 1st century AD.
Propertia Tertia [95]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5522) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates Propertia Tertia, a freedwoman of Sextus Propertius. The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates it to the 1st century AD.
Caius Propertius Merula and Caius Propertius Repentinus [40]
A funerary inscription (CIL XI 5410) from an unknown location in Assisi contains a dedication from the freedman Caius Propertius Merula to another freedman, Caius Propertius Repentinus, a sevir Augustale. . The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates it to the 1st century AD. (This inscription is also listed above under inscriptions relating to seviri and seviri Augustales).
Gaius Passennus Sergius Paullus Propertius Blaesus [87]
 
CIL XI 5405 Mausoleum (1st century AD)
next to the Chiesetta di San Feliciano
This inscription (CIL XI 5405) on the front of a funerary altar was found in 1897 near the Chiesetta di San Feliciano (see Walk II). It commemorates Gaius Passennus Sergius Paullus Propertius Blaesus, who probably belonged by adoption to the gens Passenna. Francs Cairns (referenced below, at pp. 52-3) suggested that he had been buried in the mausoleum (1st century AD) to the right of the Chiesetta di San Feliciano (illustrated above). The EAGLE database (see the CIL link) dates the inscription to the first two decades of the 2nd century AD.
Blaesus was probably the owner of the so-called House of Propertius. He was described in a letter of Pliny the Younger:
“Passienus Paulus, a Roman knight of good family and a man of peculiar learning and culture besides, composes elegies, a talent that runs in the family, for [the famous elegist] Propertius is reckoned by him amongst his ancestors, as well as being his countryman” (Letter 64, to Romanus).
None of his poetry survives.
Inscriptions of the Petronius Family
Publius Petronius, son of Caius [31]
 
CIL XI 5407 Mausoleum ( early 1st century AD)
near Piazza Matteotti
This inscription (CIL XI 5407) was found at a location in Assisi that was recorded in the original CIL as the ‘asilo infantile’ (an orphanage, probably the one in Piazza Matteotti, that late became the Convitto Nazionale di Assisi). It reads:
P(ublius) Petronio
C(ai) f(ilio) ex s(enatus) c(onsulto)
(l)ocum dat(u)m
This records that the municipal senate gave a site to Publius Petronius, son of Caius, presumably for funerary purposes. The EAGLE database (see the CIL link above) dates the inscription to the 2nd half of the 1st century BC.
It is sometimes suggested that this inscription related to the mausoleum (early 1st century AD) near Piazza Matteotti, although it seems to me that its dating precludes that. However, it is possible that the senate gave a site here to Publius Petronius for funerary purposes, and that CIL XI 5407 was his funerary monument. On this hypothesis, the mausoleum could have been built subsequently on this site, for use by other members of the family. (For possibly supporting evidence, see Petronius Umber below). As Enrico Sciamanna (referenced below, at p. 142) reflected, if the person buried in the mausoleum did not belong to the gens Petronia, he:
“... must have belonged to an important family, on a par with or superior to that of the Petronii” (my translation).
... Petronius, son of Caius [27]

This fragmentary inscription (CIL XI 5408) from an unknown location in Assisi, which was once reused in a house near Santa Chiara, commemorates (...) Petronius, son of Caius, as an aedile and then quattuorvir iure dicundo. The EAGLE database (see this CIL link) dates it to the Augustan period (27BC - 14 AD).
Inscriptions Relating to the Amphitheatre [50 and 51]
 
CIL XI 5406 [50] CIL XI 5432 [51]
The museum contains two inscriptions that originally contained essentially the same information regarding the nearby amphitheatre, both of which were found in Piazza Matteotti:
A fragmentary inscription (CIL XI 5406) reads:
Petro .../ in fid.../ Decia.../ amphi.../ quod ex .../ perfic ...
A second fragmentary inscription (CIL XI 5432) reads:
[- - -]s municipi(- - -?)/ [- - - f]ratr(is) nomin(e)/ [- - - amphitea]tri ornam(ent-)
The EAGLE database (see the CIL links above) dates them to the 1st half of the 1st century AD. It reconstructs the first inscription as:
Petro[nia C(ai) f(ilia) Galeonis 〈:uxor〉]
in fid[eicommisso solvendo?]
Decian[i fratris nomine, ((sestertium)) - - - dedit in opus?]
amph[itheatri cum ornamentis?]
quod ex [testamento ex ((sestertium)) - - - fieri iussit?]
perfic[iendum curavit - - -].
Its reconstruction of the second suggests that this contained broadly the same information. In short, the original inscriptions probably recorded that Petronia, wife of Galeo, completed the construction and/or decoration of the amphitheatre as the executor of her brother, Caius Petronius Decianus. Gian Luca Gregori (referenced below, at p. 972) suggested that:
Petronia’s husband, Galeo, came from the family of the Tettieni, the only family in Assisi known to have used the praenomen Galeo.
Galeo Tettienus Pardalas and his wife, who were recorded in an inscription (CIL XI 5372, 14-68 AD) that survives in the Archeological Areaas the donors of statues of Castor and Pollux in the tetrastyle there, were freed slaves of Galeo Tettienus, the husband of Petronia
Petronius Umber [32]
This fragmentary inscription (CIL XI 5409), which is from an unknown location in Assisi, reads only ‘SEPV’. However, an 18th century record of what was probably the original inscription gives:
Petronio Umbro in loco publico sepulto ex decreto decurionum
Thus, Petronius Umber received received permission for burial on public land some 3 centuries after a similar honour had been paid to Publius Petronius (above). It is possible that this land was around the site of the mausoleum near Piazza Matteotti.
Inscriptions of the Mimisius Family
Two Marones from the gens Mimisia (late 2nd century BC) [26]

This cast of this important inscription (CIL XI 5390) from San Rufino was described above. It is one of the earliest in Latin to survive in an Umbrian city. It contains the names of (inter alia) two marones who belonged to the gens Mimisia:
Post(umus) Mimisius, son of C(aius);
T(itus) Mimisius, son of Sert(orius);
Mimisia Dionysia (late 1st century BC) [53]
The inscription (CIL XI 5437) on this funerary urn from Piazza Matteotti commemorates the freedwoman Mimisia Dionysia and records her trade: she had been a sarcinatrix (mender and perhaps producer of garments).
Mimisia Hilar(a) (late 1st century BC) [81]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5493), which was reused in a wall in Piazza Santa Chiara, commemorates the freedwoman Mimisia Hilar(a), a freedwoman of Lucius Mimisius.
Caius Mimisius Maternus (1st century AD) [80]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5490) from Bastia Umbra records the nineteen year old Caius Mimisius Maternus, the illegitimate son of Mimisia Primigenia, a freedwoman of the gens Mimisia. It also records Caius Scaefius Sopro, a freedman of the gens Scaefia, who was probably his father.
Mimisia Restituta (2nd half of the 1st century AD) [82]
The inscription (CIL XI 5495) on this funerary altar from Capodacqua commemorates Mimisia Restituta, a freedwoman of the gens Mimisia. The altar was erected by her patrons, Primigenius and Servandus Mimisius, both of whom were probably freedman from the same family, one of whom was also her husband.
Caius Mimisius Primus (1st century AD) [79]
This funerary inscription (CIL XI 5491) from an unknown location in Assisi commemorates Caius Mimisius Primus, son of Caius, of the Sergia tribe (the tribe of Assisi).
Mimisia Tertulla (2nd century AD) [83]
The inscription (EDR 0728723) on this funerary stele from an unknown location in Assisi, commemorates the freedwoman Mimisia Tertulla. The stele was erected by her brother, Caius Mimisius Rufus, son of Caius. Mimisia was a freedwoman of the gens Mimisia, and it seems that her brother had been born after the manumission of their father by the same family.
Fragments from Marble Statues
Athena Nike (5th century BC) [184]
This fragment of Greek marble was probably found in the excavation of 1839-41. It formed the middle part of a smaller-than-life-sized figure of a woman in a tunic, whose legs were arranged like those of the famous statue of Athena Nike (Athena as the goddess of victory). The Greek figure (now in the Acropolis Museum, Athens) was made after the Athenians’ victory in the Persian War (ca. 448 BC). According to Pausanius, who described copies of the original in other locations, the Athenian figure had been depicted without the customary wings so that she could not fly away from Athens; the figure is therefore known as the “Wingless Victory”. The Assisi version of this figure, whom the Romans worshipped as Minerva, was probably made in Athens soon after the original, and reused in Assisi some 5 centuries later. It could, however, be a Roman copy made specifically for the so-called Temple of Minerva. The back of the statue is unfinished, and it was probably fixed to a wall (perhaps to the timpanum).
Seated goddess (late 2nd or early 1st century BC) [183]
Two marble fragments (one of which is illustrated here) seem to come from a statue of a seated goddess. They were found during the excavation of the northeast part of Piazza del Comune 1969. Like the statue above, this one probably came from the so-called Temple of Minerva.
Rooms on the South Part of the Forum

One of the proposed new in the south part of the complex is now in use (2017). This photograph was taken during an earlier visit (June 2009), but the glass case and its contents (described below) were no longer exhibited. I expect that they will return to public access at some point.
Objects in the Glass Case (above)
As noted above, these objects were no longer on exhibition at the time of my visit of 2017.
Votive offerings (6th - 5th centuries BC)
A glass case in the first of the new rooms here contains a collection of votive bronzes that have been found casually in and around Assisi.
Marte del Subasio (5th centuries BC)
This bronze votive figure from what must have been a cult site on Colle San Rufino (Monte Subasio) depicts an armed man (or deity) with a vessel for holding water that was probably used ritually at his feet. This figure is significantly larger than most of the votive bronzes that have been found in the area.
Artefacts from the House of Propertius (1st century AD) [195]
These artefacts were found in 1864 during excavations on the site of the so-called House of Propertius. They include part of a marble relief of a naked satyr and fragments of frescoes of flowers and marine animals.
Fresco from Palazzo Giampè (1st century AD)
This small painted tablet with a scene of a married couple has been detached from the north wall of the cubiculum (bedroom) of a Roman domus that was only recently discovered under Palazzo Giampè.
The fresco is in the so-called 3rd Pompeian style (i.e., in the style of the wall paintings of Pompeii in the period 20 BC-62 AD). Unfortunately, it was damaged during the restoration work, before it presence under the plaster had been detected.
Together with other frescoes still in situ, this represents a rare example of the work of Roman artists in Umbria.
Fresco of Perseus (late 1st or early 2nd century AD) [372]
This fine fresco was found in 1863 during the excavation of a Roman domus at the corner of Via Rocchi and Via dei Macelli. It probably represents Perseus, [who was born after Zeus appeared to the princess Danae and then seduced her].
Egyptian Objects
These objects belonged to Archbishop Guido Corbelli of Cortona, who collected them after he was appointed as the Apostolic Delegate to Egypt in 1888. He was a Franciscan and had a particular affection to Assisi, having begun his career as a friar in the Sacro Convento. He gave this part of his collection to Alfonso Brizi in 1894 for the new Museo Civico. (Archbishop Corbelli retired to the Sacro Convento in 1901 and spent the last two years of his life there.) The collection includes a papyrus from a Book of the Dead from the 21st dynasty (1070-945 BC)., illustrated here.
Seated “Minerva” (late 2nd or early 1st century BC) [182]
This large fragment from a marble statue of a seated goddess was in the inner courtyard of Palazzo Bonacquisti until the late 20th century, when it was placed in the Museo Civico. In 1572, Giulio Cesare Galeotti (a local historian) recorded that “messer Galeazzo Filippucci” (probably Galeazzo Filippo Pomponio Bonacquisti) found part of a Roman statue and placed it in his house. It had presumably been found in the mid 16th century during the construction of the palace, which is on the opposite side of Piazza del Comune from the so-called Temple of Minerva
The iconography of the statue is similar to that used for the Roman goddesses Magna Mater and Fortuna, although the sculptor also seems to have been familiar with Greek prototypes. However, the absence of the upper part of the figure makes it impossible to be sure that it does, indeed, represent Minerva.
Statues from the Excavations in Piazza del Comune in 1836
Male nude (late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD) [186]
This white marble statue is badly damaged and missing the head and parts of the arms. The figure probably held a sword in its left hand, and might have been used to represent Castor or Pollux in the tetrastyle in the forum.
Man in a Toga (late 1st century AD) [189]
This statue is also badly damaged, missing the head and the lower parts of the arms. The fact that the figure wears a toga suggests that it depicts a Roman citizen, perhaps one of the magistrates of the municipium.
Deposit (?)
Berkeley Villa Inscription (3rd century BC)
The museum owns a plaster cast of part of an architrave from a gate in the ancient city walls was discovered in 1938 near the ex-Oratorio di San Lorenzo, although it does not seem to be exhibited: the original is apparently still preserved in the garden of what became the Berkeley Villa. The architrave contains a fragmentary Umbrian inscription that uses an Etruscan alphabet. It has been transcribed:
estac vera papa...
mestiça vipies e...
The first line seems to confirm that the stone was part of a gate, while the second seems to mean “under the meddix Vibius E…”. The word “meddix” described a magistrate in the Oscan-speaking communities to the south of modern Umbria. The inscription is also described in the page on Umbrian Inscriptions after 295BC.
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