As part of a long-term survey of southern Etruria, the site of Monte Gelato, about 30 km north of Rome, was excavated from 1986-90. An exceptionally rich stratigraphy provided excavators with a detailed occupation narrative. An Augustan villa where dormice were eaten and eels kept as pets was abandoned in the early 3rd century AD. Sporadic settlements on the `frontier zone' of Lombard incursions were succeeded by the establishment of a fortified ecclesiastical centre and papal estate in the 9th century AD. Two major issues shaped the project design: firstly the chronology of the abandonment of Roman villas and the move to fortified castelli and secondly, the cycles of isolation from and linkage to Rome which continue to affect this beautiful area of Italy.