Imperial construction activity in Ostia after the Severans

1. The aim of the research project is a study of the imperial building programmes in the post-Severan era, specifically in the period of the Illyrian emperors, with a focus on the peri-urban district of Ostia along the coast. The main context of the investigation is the complex east of the Baths of the Porta Marina, which has already been object of a series of non-invasive exploration campaigns conducted in 2018 and 2019 by a multidisciplinary team under the supervision of the applicant. Furthermore, the project emphasizes imperial construction activities in Ostia as a paradigm for urbanization in the ports and for the supply system of Rome. 2. The research project aims to verify the identification of the site with the Aurelian Forum and the subsequent praetorium publicum, as mentioned in the Historia Augusta. Another hypothesis to verify is the assimilation of the praetorium with the seat of the annona prefecture. These field operations are the first phase of the archaeological and geoarchaeological exploration of the site. Their main purpose is to improve our knowledge about: - the arrangement of the internal spaces, - the architectural and time relationships with the structures previously spotted by M. Heinzelmann, - the understanding of the time sequence concerning the structures detected at a planimetric level. 3. These general goals will be achieved via four steps: - Archaeological survey of the complex East of the Baths of the Porta Marina; - Study of the literary and epigraphic material related to the imperial building programs from the Late Antiquity; - Thematic insights on the Baths of the Porta Marina: unpublished epigraphy, sculptural programs and history of antiquarian research, water supply system; - Topographical and palaeoenvironmental context of the coastal district of Ostia. At the same time, the research in cooperation with the FOSPHORA project (based at Aix-University, École Française de Rome et Sapienza University of Rome) will focus on the study of epigraphic sources from Ostia and Portus that date back to the period between the end of the Severan era and the advent of Constantine. 4. A multi-level approach is selected in order to integrate the investigation firstly within the framework of Ostia`s urban planning and then in a broader perspective on the Latium coast (Via Severiana, from Ostia to Terracina), Portus and the city of Rome. All the collected material will be implemented into a GIS system. The methodology will be multidisciplinary, with the participation of international partners from historical-humanistic sectors (Archaeology, Art History, Antique Topography, Epigraphy and Roman History) and scientific-environmental disciplines as Geology and Archaeometry, and will be conducted at the Institute of Classics (Department of Archaeology, Graz University). This study is part of new investigations on the lesser-known areas of the city at the mouth of the Tiber. 5. A. Landskron, A. Ten, M.L. Caldelli, S. Bouffier, M. Uehara, F. Salomon

The aim of the research project is a study of the imperial building programs in the post-Severan era, specifically in the period of the Illyrian emperors, with a focus on the peri-urban district of Ostia along the coast. The main context of the investigation is the complex east of the Baths of the Porta Marina (IV, XVII, 4), which has already been object of a series of non-invasive exploration campaigns conducted in 2018 and 2019 by a multidisciplinary team under the supervision of the applicant. Furthermore, the project emphasizes imperial construction activities in Ostia as a paradigm for urbanization in the ports and for the supply system of Rome. The field operations are the first phase of the archaeological and geoarchaeological exploration of the site. Their main purpose is to improve our knowledge about: - the arrangement of the internal spaces, - the architectural and time relationships with the structures previously spotted by M. Heinzelmann, - the understanding of the time sequence concerning the structures detected at a planimetric level. These goals have been achieved via four steps: - Archaeological survey of the complex East of the Baths of the Porta Marina; - Study of the literary and epigraphic material related to the imperial building programs from the Late Antiquity; - Thematic insights on the Baths of the Porta Marina: unpublished epigraphy, sculptural programs and history of antiquarian research, water supply system; - Study of the topographical and palaeoenvironmental context of the coastal district of Ostia. At the same time, the research in cooperation with the FOSPHORA project (Aix-University, École Française de Rome and Sapienza University of Rome) focused on the study of epigraphic sources from Ostia and Portus that date back to the period between the end of the Severan era and the advent of Constantine. A multi-level approach was selected in order to integrate the investigation firstly within the framework of Ostia's urban planning and then in a broader perspective on the Latium coast (Via Severiana, from Ostia to Terracina), Portus and the city of Rome. All the collected material were implemented into a GIS system. The methodology was multidisciplinary, with the participation of international partners from historical-humanistic sectors (Archaeology, Art History, Antique Topography, Epigraphy and Roman History) and scientific-environmental disciplines as Geology and Archaeometry, and have been conducted at the Department for Archaeology (Graz University). The research project (aims to verify the identification) strengthens the identification of the Complex IV,XVII, 4 with the Aurelian Forum and the subsequent praetorium publicum, as mentioned in the Literary sources (Historia Augusta).