The Tabula Peutingeriana—an early road map of the Roman Empire—details the settlements that stretched continuously along the coast of Campania between Miseno and Sorrento, near Pompeii.  Among these settlements is Oplontis, about three miles from Pompeii, at the site of the present day town of Torre Annunziata.

Systematic excavations at Oplontis between 1964 and 1984 unearthed several important villas, most notably “Villa B,” a house that is now known to be the Villa of Lucius Crassius Tertius. Inside the Villa, excavators found piles of jars called amphorae, which were known to hold goods such as wine, oil, and other agricultural products.  Because of the presence of the amphorae, the building was thought to be a sort of business center where these goods were manufactured, processed, and sold.

These finds, together with some public baths that were excavated there in 1834, help identify Oplontis as a middle-sized town.  Though it was peripheral to Pompeii and under its administrative control, Oplontis had sufficient infrastructure to suggest that it was a well-developed residential center.

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