JAT Il (1992)

ENGLISH SUMMARIES

ALEKSANDRA WASOWICZ, A School of TownPlanning in Archaic Sicily and Magna Graecia.

The author posits the hypothesis that a distinct approach to town-planning in Sicily and Magna Graecia («The Italian School») can already be discemed there in the Archaic periodo This «School» had its own specific charaeteristics, which differentiated it from other areas of the Ancient World of the time.

The following points, among others, in support of this argument are discussed:

- the successive stages in Italian town planning between the 8th. and 6th. centuries B.e.

- the definitive formation of a specific model in the 6th. century: a rectangular pIan (per strigas), with 35m. wide house blocks.

- The limitation of this modd, during the period under consideration, to Italy.

ARMANDO CHERICI, Ancient Settlement in the Area round A"etium. Archaeological Map, F°. 114 II.

The article presents archaeological evidence from the area surrounding the town of Arezzo (Arretium), which is adequatdy covered by F°. 114. II of the Carta Topografica d'Italia published by the Istituto Geografico Militare (1: 25,000: Arezzo. Castiglion Fiorentino, Civitella in Val di Chiana, Castiglion Fibocchi). AIready published evidence and that collected in archives and on site is supplied. Additional information comes from oral testmony. Without attempting the (impossible) aim of total coverage, the author has limited hirnself to collecting various types of documentation, much of which risks being irretrievably lost, in a Iandscape devastated by the chaotic post-War expansion both of Arezzo and smaller urban areas. A brief introduction contains a number of observations and interpretative keys to an arca situated at the meeting point of four valleys (Casentino, Val d'Arno, Val di Chiana and Val Tiberina), which has known different settlement patterns, either centred on available land resources and trading opportunities or influenced by the tendency of the Val di Chiana to turn into marshland.

ANNAPAOLA MOSCA, Via Quinctia. The Roman road between Faesulae and Pisae: 1. From Florence to Empoli.

From prehistoric times there is evidence for a communications route existing between the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea along the Arno valley. Communications were facilitated in the Roman Republican period by the building of a road connecting FaesuIae with Pisae. The road is traditionally named Via Quinctia, since a milestone is preserved bearing the name of the consul T. Quinctius Flamininus, and a similar one is recorded as haviflg been seen near Empoli in the Middle Ages. There is no evidence to show whether the Quinctius who built the road was the Consul of 150 of the one of 123 B.e. After its foundation the colony of Florentia became the focal point of the road, since it was situated at the meeting point of other important roads. This is the situation shown in the following itineraries: Tabula Peutingeriana, the Cosmographia of the Ravenna geographer and Guido.

The road ran along the valley bottom, which has since undergone drastic geomorphoIogical and hydrographical changes. Several river beds, marshlands and fossilized river loops have been discovered. Preference for a route at the convergence of plain and hills predominates. This afforded maximum stability and is the reason why much of the route has survived to the presento The state of the land has not favoured the visible survival of ancient material evidence, but written documentation and che positions of Mediaeval rural parish churches, abbeys and hospitals are evidence of continuing use. These survivals shows how che practical usefulness of a route has ensured its survival over a long span of time.

Short sections have disappeared, owing to changes in the course of the Amo and che spread of areas of marshland. However, even in these cases, fossilized parts of the route followed by the Roman road are traceable and can contribute to its reconstruction. Detalled description of the section Fiesole-Florence-Empoli based on land surveys, air photography and a number of other various elements is provided.

MARCIO AGOSTINO AMUCANO, The Roman theatre of Urbisaglia (Urbs Salvia): its position in the town plan and modular proportions. The author's esearch into the criteria followed in che planning of a Roman theatre begun in the first number of «JAT» makes significant progress with the analysis of the cheatre of Urbs Salvia (regio V- Picenum).

Following a brief intrcduction about the present state of research, che methodology required for obtaining convincing results in the caIculation of modular measurements is outlined. The quaIity of graphic documentation, on site investigation, and, if necessary, a survey of the whole group of monuments are, togecher with the criticaI anaIysis of the ruin, the indispensable premisses for subtly detailed research which aims to reconstruct the initiaI planning phase of the theatre.

A few brief remarks on the colony of Urbs Salvia, founded ex novo most probably in the later years of the reign of Augustus, encourage che assumption that we are dealing wich a regular town pIan, wbere the largest buildings (incIuding the theatre) fit in with the generaI orientation and are arranged on a series of terraces.

The reconstruction of che planning phase of the cheatre is aided by the use of annotated illustrations. We begin wich the designated insula, whose long side of 350 feet is the basic modular unit (m.u.) for the proportions of the orchestra (1/4 m.u.), cavea (3/4 m.u.), regia niche (1/6 m.u.). Submodular fractions of the m.u. are the basis for further functional subdivisions of che building (such as, for example, the parascaenia, maeniana, tribunalia, scaenae frons). In conclusion, the important results obtained by this study are underlined. Exact proportionaI relationships (which can be checked on site) between insula and there can now be estabIished. These are a point of arrivaI as well as departure of our research on the planning criteria of Roman theatres in the West. They also supply interesting elements for new hypothcses on the modular planning pattems of a new colony in Pieenum.

MASSIMILIANO VALENTI, The Roman Aqueduct of Cassino (Casinum).

A survey campaign has indieated several stretches of the aqucduct supplying the Roman city of Casinum. Study of the channel sections and the topographical positions of che stretches discovered has facilitated the reconstruction of the planimetric deve!opmcnt of che course which has been studied so far (c. 21,200 m.), the caIculation of che difference in leve! between the source and the city (176 m.), and che consequent daily water flow rate (22,881 cubie m. per 24 hours). The main characteristie of the acqueduct is its sinuous course, constantly following the Iines of the hili sides. The upper part is bullt of cilt stone but the lower part is on occasion carved out of the rock. The inside is covered wich a layer of terracotta rubble, in parts hidden by thick crystalline lime deposits. Over deep valleys the channeI was supported by massime bridge struetures, one of whieh is stili partially conserved at Vallone del Dente.

Rescarch in archives has unearthed a document reproducing a drawing of a lost inscription giving the originai lengch of the course (XV millia passuum = 22,170 m.), which is very close to that discovered so far. A fresh analysis of the evidence provided by inscriptions traditionally connected to the aqueduct of Cassino has unfortunate!y not supplied the name of the buiIder. On the basis of che evideoce at our disposaI, the aqueduct appears to have been built sometime in the first two centuries of the Empire.

MARGHERITA BERGAMINI, A New Cistern in Todi.

When land subsided on the top of the hill in Todi, a large Romao water cistem was accidencly discovered beIow ground some years ago. AIthough its constrùction technique indicated that it dated from the late Republican period, its ellipsoidal shape is unique. A manuscript by G.B. Passeri in the Oliveriana Library in Pesaro describes it in detail and supplies a pIan, thus allowing the now ooly partly visible tunnels to be located. It has also been possible to discover, that the cistem served the wealthy residential western area of the Roman town.

ANGELA GALLOITINI, On the Topography 01 the Pblegraean Fields: aproposailor the reconstruction 01 the «School of Vergil».

The artide proposes a possible reconstruction of the so called «School of Vergil», a delapidated 1st. century A.D. nympbaeum at Capo Posillipo (Naples).

The author, besides the traditional methods (geomorphological analysis, ancient sources, pIace names), uses a special kind of evidence: printed maps and views from the 17th. - 20th. centuries. Tbis material, which dates from periods when the monument was in a better state of conservation, proved to be very useful. The detailed examination of the prints, accompanied by typological comparison witb similar monu- o ments, has enabled the author to propose a probable reconstruction of the original appearance of the monument in question.

STELLA PATITUCCI, Biondo Flavio and the Establisbment of the Topograpby of Rome and Ancient Italy

On the occasion of the 600th. anniversary of his birth, the life, education and works of Biondo Flavio (l392.1463), the Renaissance scholar from Forlì, are described. Particular attention is dedicated to Roma Instaurata (l446) and Italia Illustrata (l451), which from the methodological standpoint mark the birth of the study of ancient topography. An appendix reproduces the preface and introduction to the first book of Italia Illustrata, since they allow the reader to judge the generai criteria followed, and present an original approach to historical and geographical problems developed by the author in the body of the work.

RAVMOND CHEVALLIER, A Note on the Arcbaeological Maps of Gaul.

Up to now 16 fascicles of the Archaeological Map of Roman Gaul (Forma Orbis Romam) have been published. The 1:200,000 scale maps are based on present day departments. 22 fascides of the new Archaeological Map of Gaul (C.A.G.), also on a departmental basis, covering the period from the Iron age to the Early Middle Ages have already appeared. Gaul is covered by the older sheets of Lugdunum, Mogontiacum and Mediolanum (1966) and the more recent ones of Lutetia (1975, edited by the autbor of tbis note) and Condate (1983) in the Tabula Imperii Romani (1:1,000,000). Some other projects are also mentioned.