Topography of Ancient Rome (Archaeology)

2009 - Tra città e campagna: problemi correlati alla teoria e alla pratica delle indagini archeologiche territoriali nel suburbio di Roma.

by Patrizia Gioia

2009 - Tra città e campagna: problemi correlati alla teoria e alla pratica delle indagini archeologiche territoriali nel suburbio di Roma. In  Jolivet V., Pavolini C., Tomei M. A., Verger S., Volpe R. (a cura di) Suburbium II. Il Suburbio di Roma dalla fine dell’età monarchica alla nascita del sistema delle ville (V - II sec a.C.): 100-115.

Il territorio di Roma è stato da sempre oggetto di un particolare interesse verso il passato, dovuto alla presenza dei... more Il territorio di Roma è stato da sempre oggetto di un particolare interesse verso il passato, dovuto alla presenza dei resti, piuttosto evidenti, di una città tanto importante per la storia dell’antichità.
Anche la sua storia recente ha però avuto un ruolo fondamentale sia sulle scoperte archeologiche, che sull’intensità delle ricerche svolte. Infatti a partire dalla sua proclamazione di Capitale d’Italia, l’espansione urbana del piccolo nucleo ottocentesco è stata incessante, ed ha costituito nel contempo la causa di enormi distruzioni, ma anche, in molti casi, di grandi scoperte. Questo territorio si è configurato quindi come costantemente compreso tra città e campagna, anche se nel corso dei decenni ciò che era collocato originariamente in campi arati, ha fatto via via parte di un tessuto urbano sempre più fitto e più esteso. Queste specificità hanno anche portato ad affrontare la ricerca archeologica territoriale con metodologie peculiari, avendo a che fare appunto spesso con zone non del tutto urbanizzate: non campi arati, liberi e ben visibili, ma aree, se pur prive di edificazioni, aggredite e modificate dalla presenza antropica, sempre incombente.

Rome territory has always been a subject of particular interest for its past, characterized by the presence of remains, fairly visible, related to a city so important for the ancient history.
Even though its recent history has played a key role both for the archaeological discoveries, that for the intensity of researches carried out. In fact, since its proclamation as Capital of Italy, the urban expansion of the small nucleus of nineteenth-century has been unceasing, and has been, at the same time, the cause of massive destructions, but also, in many cases, of significant discoveries. Therefore the city has always had territories between town and country, although, over the decades, what was originally placed in plowed fields, has gradually become part of an increasingly dense and more extended urban framework.
Having to deal often with not fully urbanized areas, archaeological territorial research has had to adapt its methodologies to this so special context: not plowed fields, free and highly visible, but areas, even if not built, attacked and altered by human presence.

Il Sistema Informativo Territoriale per la gestione del patrimonio storico-archeologico del quartiere Ostiense-Marconi. Uno strumento di ricerca e programmazione urbana

by Marina Marcelli

Co-authored with Renato Matteucci, Renato Sebastiani, published in R. Volpe (a cura di), Suburbium II. Il suburbio di Roma dalla fine dell’età monarchica alla nascita del sistema delle ville (V-II secolo a.C.), Collection de l'École française de Rome 419, Rome 2009, pp. 105-122

Adventures in Architectural Symbolism: The Use and Misuse of Rebuilding Programs in Ancient Rome

by Brian Sahotsky

The Propaganda of the Emperor Maxentius: An Expansion of Roman Architectural Topography

by Brian Sahotsky

The figure of Maxentius emerged through interesting circumstances during the Late Tetrarchy, and his status as... more The figure of Maxentius emerged through interesting circumstances during the Late Tetrarchy, and his status as ‘usurper’ of the title of emperor was criticized and despised by the other leaders, namely the Augustus Galerius. Rome’s Praetorian Guard brought Maxentius into power from imposed retirement primarily to become the conservator urbis suae, which was further emphasized by his coinage and architecture. But Maxentius remained a usurper, as his position was not officially recognized, and he instead sought to legitimize his reign through political propaganda, and through an elaborate building program he instituted in Rome. This program was situated mainly at the eastern end of the Forum Romanum, and was marked most prominently with the Basilica of Maxentius. The massive Basilica was combined with the newly constructed Temple of Romulus and the refurbished Temple of Venus and Roma to create a ‘Forum of Maxentius’ in the pattern of prior emperors Augustus, Vespasian, and Trajan.

The Basilica solidified the presence of Maxentius in this section of the Forum, a fact reiterated by the existence of a Republican-era tie to the Velian Hill that it punctuates. I contend that the Basilica’s placement and spatial referencing attempt to change the political and architectural topography of the most visible area of Rome, and that its distinctive construction and material technique was used to enhance and reinforce the status of its creator, thereby legitimizing Maxentius’ status as Rome’s true Emperor. This thesis combines the elements outlined above to create a picture of Maxentius’ hopes for a new and more powerful Rome. I investigate the ability of Maxentius’ program to influence the power of his illegitimate reign in Rome, and how he used allusions to previous Roman monuments to increase their validity, including the basilica building type, and its new attachment of bathhouse concrete vaulting technologies.

Basilica di S. Paolo, basilica nova, basilica Piniani

by Paolo Liverani

in: Boreas 26, 2003, pp. 73-81

The Basilica of St. Paul is different from the Basilica Nova quoted by Symmachus and probably to identify with the... more The Basilica of St. Paul is different from the Basilica Nova quoted by Symmachus and probably to identify with the basilica Piniani. Some possible deduction about the administrative competence on the public buildings of Rome in the second half of the IV cent. AD

Su alcune tombe tardo-antiche di Roma: Nota preliminare

by Marina Marcelli

published in 'Archeologia Medievale', XVI, 1989, pp. 525-540

Via Appia. I lotto: da piazza Numa Pompilio a via Cecilia Metella

by Marina Marcelli

published in Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale, CI (2000), pp. 334-341

Victors and Pilgrims in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

by Paolo Liverani

in: Fragmenta 1, 2007, pp. 82-102

The ceremonial processions of the Roman emperors to St. Peter's in Late Antique Rome The ceremonial processions of the Roman emperors to St. Peter's in Late Antique Rome

Dal trionfo pagano all'adventus cristiano: percorsi della Roma imperiale

by Paolo Liverani

in: Anales de Arqueología Cordobesa 18, 2007, pp. 385-400

Roma medievale e l’acqua

by Massimiliano Munzi

Co-authored with M. Marcelli, published in S. Le Pera, R. Turchetti (eds.), I giganti dell’acqua. Acquedotti romani del Lazio nelle fotografie di Thomas Ashby (1892-1925), Roma, 2007, pp. 35-48.

Aqua Claudia: Da Roma Vecchia al Tavolato, Tor Fiscale, Presso porta Furba, Fra Horti Variani e Porta Maggiore, Porta Maggiore; Aqua Antoniniana

by Marina Marcelli

published in S. Le Pera Buranelli, R. Turchetti (a cura di), I giganti dell’acqua, acquedotti romani del Lazio nelle fotografie di Thomas Ashby (1892-1925), Roma 2007, pp. 136-142, 153-156, 211-214.

Porta S. Sebastiano e c.d. Arco di Druso; C.d. Sepolcro di Geta; Valle della Caffarella, Tempio del dio Redicolo; Tomba di fronte a S. Sebastiano; Sepolcro a tempietto; V miglio, Colombario; Sepolcri; Tombe c.d. degli Orazi e Curiazi; C.d. Ustrinum; VI miglio, Casal Rotondo, sepolcro; VII miglio, Tor di Selce; Tomba a edicola; Resti del c.d. Tempio di Ercole; IX miglio, Tomba di Q. Veranius e Torraccio; X miglio, La via Appia all’altezza di Fiorano; Via Appia Nuova, Tomba al V miglio

by Marina Marcelli

published in in S. Le Pera Buranelli, R. Turchetti (a cura di), Sulla via Appia da Roma a Brindisi, Le fotografie di Thomas Ashby 1891-1925, Roma 2003, pp. 41-44, 53-56, 77-82, 93.

Memorie dell’antico nel paesaggio pre-industriale della via Ostiense: rinvenimenti archeologici e demolizioni fra otto e novecento

by Marina Marcelli

in Bollettino dell’Unione Storia ed Arte, 6, 2011

Recenti indagini sul tratto urbano della via Appia

by Marina Marcelli

published in D. Manacorda, R. Santangeli Valenzani, Il primo miglio della via Appia a Roma, Atti della Giornata di Studi (Roma 16 giugno 2009), Roma 2011, pp. 153-166

Presenze archeologiche nell'isolato di Palazzo Volpi

by Marina Marcelli

published in C. Strinati (a cura di), "Palazzo Volpi alle Quattro Fontane",  Roma 1991,  pp. 31-36

Tor Bella Monaca. Indagini archeologiche

by Marina Marcelli

in  Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale, CIII (2002), pp. 241-245.

Il Monte di Sant’Angelo nel paesaggio della Salaria fidenate, in: La Salaria in età tardo antica e altomedievale (Ichnia, seconda serie, 3), Macerata - Roma 2007, pp. 143-156

by Francesco di Gennaro

Co-authored with M. Vitti

Die domus Pinciana: eine kaiserliche Residenz in Rom

by Claire Sotinel

Co-authored with Vincent Jolivet • in Th. Fuhrer ed., Rom und Mailand in der Spätantike. Repräsentationen städtischer Räume in Literatur, Architektur und Kunst, 2012, p. 137-160

Regional trajectories in the growth of Roman maritime infrastructure

by Katia Schorle

Regional trajectories in the growth of Roman maritime infrastructure by Damian Robinson, Candace Rice and Katia Schörle RAC 2012 - To be published in JRA Supplements more info soon.

The Roman period witnesses an enormous growth in both the construction de novo and the redevelopment of ports and... more The Roman period witnesses an enormous growth in both the construction de novo and the redevelopment of ports and their associated infrastructure. While much focus has been placed on large-scale ports such as Portus and Caesarea Maritima several medium and small sized urban ports and in some regions even villa ports were also built during this era of expansion in maritime construction. In addition, the capacities of existing trading centres such as Alexandria are enlarged, presumably to cope with the increased volume of maritime traffic that they served. This phenomenon is undoubtedly linked to the same great boom in the maritime economy that is also apparent in the rise in the numbers of recorded Roman shipwrecks. Yet, the apparently simple picture of an overall increase in maritime infrastructure during the Roman period is somewhat deceptive and may well overshadow important localised patterns of development. Detailed analyses of the patterns in ship wrecks have revealed that regional and local dynamics, such as the increasing export-orientated wine and olive oil production of Spain and Gaul, the decline in Italian wine exports to these regions and the adoption of different forms of container technology in the western Mediterranean, are clearly observable when the data are analysed at smaller scales. Recent research is beginning to reveal similar trends in the eastern Mediterranean. Consequently, it is the aim of this paper to take three case study regions – Italy’s Tyrrhenian coastline, southern Turkey and southern France - and systematically analyse all of the ports within them to look at the spatial and temporal development of infrastructure. This will enable a more subtle and nuanced approach to the understanding of the development of ports during the Roman period that is tied into both regional and empire-wide narratives of the maritime economy.

Villa dei Quintili

by Massimiliano Munzi

Co-authored with L. Asor Rosa, published in S. Le Pera, R. Turchetti (eds), Sulla via Appia da Roma a Brindisi. Le fotografie di Thomas Ashby 1891-1925 (Monografie della Carta dell’Agro Romano, 1), Roma 2003, pp. 56-76.