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Crustumerium, according to ancient authors, was a city overlooking the Tiber between Eretum and Fidenae; thanks to this precise evidence, to which must be added the indication of the exact distance from Rome along the Via Salaria, it was easy to identify the historical site, marked by a large area of surface archaeological material.

The city, Latin for the majority of ancient authors, seems to have been born between the 10th and 9th centuries BC and from the beginning its history is linked to the events of the birth and development of Rome; among other things, it is one of the centres that played a leading role in the famous historical-legendary episode of the Rape of the Sabine Women. It reached the height of its flowering in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.; its decline was marked at the end of the 5th century by the unstoppable expansion of Rome.

After the tollbooth of the Florence-Rome motorway, at the end of the long final straight stretch, the hills of Crustumerium accompany the route of those reaching the capital for a few kilometres. The ancient city of Crustumerium is therefore the first of the archaeological complexes that one encounters when arriving by the most important route to Europe, almost an official presentation of Rome.

And it is a worthy presentation: Crustumerium, in fact, is the only centre of the ancient Latium civilisation that has not been compromised by modern urbanisation and the entire area is extraordinarily well preserved.

At present, the area of the ancient city is known only in broad outlines, thanks to surface reconnaissance and sporadic excavations by the Archaeological Superintendence of Rome (since 1982), which have nonetheless allowed the discovery of about two hundred burials and the recovery of considerable grave goods consisting of ceramics and bronze (about 120 pieces were recovered in tomb 9 alone, excavated in 1987 in Monte Del Bufalo).

Over the past decades, clandestine excavators have succeeded in plundering thousands of tombs (many objects of considerable value have recently appeared on foreign antiques markets), causing considerable damage to the scientific heritage and partly compromising future research.

The entire area of the settlement, the surrounding necropolis and part of the territory of the ancient centre, covering about 440 hectares, is protected under Laws 1089/39 and 1497/39. A sector of 58 hectares including part of the funerary areas of Monte Del Bufalo and Cisterna Grande was purchased by the public administration in 1998.