Roman Campania

This paper examines the most relevant monumental contexts of Cales and Teano, towns located in the internal northern Campania, by stressing how the III century B.C. was a moment of change in urban spaces and sanctuaries planning. The main cult places wisely exploit the natural backgrounds, proposing the typical architecture of the Central Italy, consisting of several terraces. The architectural solutions recall also the near Greek cities of the Campania (Cuma, Neapolis); they form complexes with monumental accesses, ramps, covered walkways, inside which there are the temples. The construction technique, with the very early use of the caementa for the foundations, is remarkable. The decorations are inspired to the typical style of the Middle Roman Republic with references to the architecture of Magna Graecia. The architecture participates in the composition of a representative language of the State of the Sidicini allied with Rome by a foedus.

This thesis is meant to detail the impact of Roman military forces located on and around the Bay of Naples from the time of Nero to the death of Domitian, as it pertains to the archaeological record. This time period, spanning around 50 years, is rich with archaeological activity in an already archaeologically rich region of Italy.
The thesis looks at both the literary and archaeological evidence found in Campania to help construct an accurate depiction of the Roman naval and land forces present on and around the bay at this time, their significance, and their tactical, even political purpose. Special attention will be given to the naval forces stationed at Cape Misenum, as the fleet carried out the bulk of military activity on the bay, and as such the military archaeological record for this area revolves around this strategic base.

Even the name, Pausilypon, or “place that puts an end to worries”, today used to refer to the entire Neapolitan hillside, conveys an idea of the pleasantness of the sites and the purpose of the villa. The hillside of Posillipo rises to the west of the ancient city of Neapolis, separating the territory of the city from the Phlegraean Fields. From there it extends toward the sea and, along with the island of Nisida, divides the Gulf of Naples from that of Pozzuoli. The construction of the villa of Pausilypon probably dates to the second half of the 1st century BC, when it belonged to the eques Publius Vedius Pollio. At the time of the equestrian’s defeat in 15 BC, the grandiose villa was given over through inheritance to Augustus. The complex was built as a villa for otium and transformed over the course of the 1st century AD to adapt to the new needs of the Imperial court.

This preliminary study examines the structures of a Roman monument located in
the historic town of Sessa Aurunca. It is a building known since the XIX century that
some scholars have previously identified with a thermal complex and then with the
aerarium ofthe city from Roman times. The archaeological survey has shown that the
construction is effectively the hypogean part of a large public building dating from the
first half ofthe second century. A.D. and that, perhaps, it can be identified with famous
Bibliotheca Matidiana mentioned in an inscription of 193 AD. Is therefore very
probable that the underground areas explored are identifiable with the aerarium placed
in the Forum ofthe Roman towns and that this monument it was built by Matidia Minor
that had already rendered the praiseworthy among the citizens of Suessa by restoring
the roads, aqueducts and greattheater oftheAugustan age

The aim is to study ancient fountains in their architectural context, in the belief that the context will reveal their function in the dwelling.  This article first analyzes the fountain structures and examines the relationship between each structure and the architecture. Through this approach, it is possible to reach some conclusions of more general value, concerning the function of central parts of Roman houses.

Nel volume sono pubblicate le ricerche di alcuni relatori che hanno partecipato alla giornata di studi sulle evidenze archeologiche e storico-artistiche del Comune di Curti (CE) organizzata dall'Assessorato alla Pubblica Istruzione in collaborazione con il Gruppo Archeologico "Francesco Saverio Gualtieri" di Caserta. Di seguito gli argomenti degli articoli raccolti nel volume: alcune riflessioni sul limite orientale dell'antica città di Capua (Minoja), sepolture inedite della necropoli orientale di Capua (Colombo), il sepolcro monumentale ubicato presso la via Appia noto con il termine di Conocchia (Tuccinardi), l'analisi di materiali archeologici (ex voto fittili: Falcone, Migliore) ed epigrafici (Capuano, Ventriglia) provenienti dall'area sacra del Fondo Patturelli, la chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo (Pezzella).

Attraverso l’analisi di una ricca documentazione letteraria, archeologica ed epigrafica, il volume si propone di colmare una lacuna negli studi sull’Italia meridionale tardoantica, fornendo una prima ricostruzione dell’evoluzione socioeconomica ed amministrativa della Campania tra Diocleziano e Gregorio Magno. Caratterizzano il “sistema economico” campano il ruolo fondamentale della città nei meccanismi economici e nella prassi amministrativa, la vitalità della piccola e media proprietà agraria, il rilievo della Chiesa di Roma e di quelle locali, variamente articolati nei numerosi contesti subregionali e per più aspetti peculiari rispetto ad altre aree meridionali. Da segnalare le note, l’apparato iconografico, la bibliografia e gli Indici.

The villa called «Agrippa Postumus’» overlooking the Sorrento’s waterfront should be noted as an emblematic case-study, even if limited to its only statuary, to confirm the hypothetical historical rate. It must have undergone through the analysis of its marble sculptures (an athlete’s head; a fragmentary double herm of young Apollo; a trapezophoron Faun/Pan-shaped; a child Napoli’s type; a fountain depicting a satyr): according to the chronology of the finds, it can not only confirm that this villa was originally an imperial establishment, but also to ratify its supposed transition of the Fronto from Cirta’s family or a member of Roman high society during the 2nd century A.D.

The western Insula Episcopalis of Naples is an archaeological site of great value in order to reconstruct the
history of Neapolis. The first phase of construction is a large orthostatic wall with a drainage channel dating
to the 4th century BC. Later the wall suffered a collapse, but we don’t know exactly when it happened. In the first half
of the 1st century AD (probably in the first quarter of the century), when Naples became a municipium, a thermal
bath was built above the wall. At the end of the 3rd-4th century AD a wall in opus vittatum was built in the
south-east corner of the bath and the Aurelius Eutycianus’ leaden fistula was placed at the same point, recording
the transformation of the original character of the thermae. Finally, the orthostatic wall and the bath were
completely obliterated by the early Christian buildings, the Basilica of Santa Restituta and the Baptistery of
San Giovanni in Fonte.

Rome rapidly expanded in the Republican period, and conquered the entire Italian peninsula with its wide variety of city-states and tribes. The impact of Roman imperialism and expansionism on religious life in the newly incorporated areas has often been regarded as minimal, following the axiom of Roman ‘religious tolerance’. However, literary and epigraphic evidence points at the political and ideological importance of cult sites especially in conflict situations.
Moreover, during the period of conquest and political incorporation, incisive changes in religious practices as well as in the cult sites where these were performed, are documented all over the peninsula. The causality between Roman expansionism and these trends is much discussed, and the ‘religious Romanization’ of Italy is currently a key debate.

This volume explores the development of religious practices and cult places in the conquered Italic areas, and the role of Rome and its colonies in it. Rather than denying Roman impact and intentionality altogether, it assesses the potential influences of Roman expansionism on the sacred landscapes of ancient Italy in wide and variegated terms.

The studies brought together in this volume draw on different types of evidence and approaches, reflecting also the diversity of different national and disciplinary traditions and schools of thought that often have remained isolated in current debates. It presents important new evidence from the inland Italic areas, as well as synthetic discussions addressing key scholarly controversies, such as the agency of Roman magistrates and the role of Roman colonization in ritual change and votive practices. By focusing on the dynamic interaction between authorities, local communities and wider trends in Hellenistic societies, the volume opens new perspectives on religious change in Italy and its relationship to the rise of Rome.

BICS SUPPLEMENT 132 ISBN 978-1-905670-58-1 viii + 332 pp, colour and black and white images, index

http://store.london.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&deptid=158&catid=86&prodid=1219&searchresults=1

This paper concerns the stone industry as it pertains to the construction of the Flavian amphitheater in Pozzuoli. Architectural features of this Roman monument have been analyzed in order to elucidate the organization of stone procurement and carving.

Liternum, la piccola città campana nota per l'esilio di Scipione l'Africano, è sempre stata vittima di letture datate e distorte. Quest'articolo sintetizza gli sviluppi di varie ricerche condotte  da più parti, che hanno il merito di collocare nella piena luce della Storia una cittadina ingiustamente dimenticata.

The research on the decorations of the area of the sanctuary is the result of a field project on the temple of Venus at
Pompeii, supervised by Emmanuele Curti, of the “Scuola di Specializzazione in Archeologia di Matera”.
The analysis of the pictorial remains (in situ and from the excavation) has permitted partial reconstruction of two
decorative systems and to recognize at least one more. Such systems are related to the first monumental phase of the
sanctuary of Venus.
Toward the 130/120 B.C., the sacred area was redefined following the new models of ‘Hellenistic’ sanctuaries, in the
context of the renovation of the public areas of Pompeii. The complex is structured with an axial temple surrounded
by porticos and developed over two terraces. A peculiarity of the sanctuary is the presence, on the lower terrace and on
axis with the temple, of a platform (presumably with the altar), delimited on the western side by a court marked by
the presence of canals and, on the eastern side, by a space or room with a cistern. A few decades later this complex was
completely destroyed and obliterated (probably under the Sullan re-foundation).
The decorative schemes are partially restorable and there are unfortunately missing elements that can provide a full
evidence of the decorations, such as the treatment of the angles of the walls, useful to assign the decorations to one of
the ‘Laidlaw types’.
Nevertheless, the single elements of two systems are very similar to decorations found in other Italian and, above all,
Pompeian contexts. The proximity to some Pompeian walls and the ‘attitude of verticality’, typical of the Italic decorations,
allows us to date the decorations of the temple of Venus in the phase in which the so-called Pompeian First
Style has completed its evolution.
In this context we have to insert the exceptional discovery of the ceiling, which reproduces wooden ceiling; it does not
have any parallel in the Pompeian First Style decorative system.

The stone sculpture of Aeclanum, a Roman town of Oscan origin in ancient
Hirpinia, has now almost completely disappeared as a result of spoliation and depletion of its cultural heritage for centuries. Some materials (approximately 20 pieces) survive in the Museo Irpino (Avellino), in the Antiquarium ‘Filippo Buonopane’ (Grottaminarda), and in the Auditorium SS. Annunziata (Mirabella Eclano). The present paper aims at analysing all the available data in order to provide a general overview on the sculptural production of the centre between the Late Republican period and the Empire.

Architectural modifications to some alae (symmetrical spaces lateral to the atrium) provide evidence for built-in cupboards, shelving, and lofts. This paper, based on a survey of Pompeian atrium houses in Regio VI, discusses the form and use of these storage strategies and contributes to the larger discussion of late Republican/early Imperial Roman domestic space.

This article investigates the space of the alae within the atrium houses of Pompeii. After reviewing references to alae in the ancient sources and their treatments in modern scholarly literature, the alae of Pompeii’s Regio VI are presented as a case-study.  Following several seasons of architectural survey in Pompeii and drawing on newly published archaeological evidence from this region, data concerning their distribution, number, placement, and architectural features are presented to illustrate the extent of variability against the backdrop of traditional definitions. Likewise, documented modifications to their original space, such as the addition of storage installations, staircases and lofts suggest a possible shift from the original use of the alae as complements to the atrium to more independent and practical spaces associated with household activities. On the one hand, such modifications emphasize the versatility of Roman domestic space and provide glimpses into the disruption of domestic and urban life in Pompeii in the decades that preceded the 79 C.E. eruption. On the other hand, they may also serve as potential indices of broader socio-economic changes in the late Republic and early Empire.