Author: R. Montalbano

Download article as .pdf: Le strade urbane di Roma arcaica e repubblicana: considerazioni sulle tecniche costruttive

The streets are pivotal infrastructures in urban and suburban contexts and, for this reason, their study is of considerable importance in the field of historical, archaeological and topographical research. In the case of Rome, scholars paid often attention on topographical or itinerary issues, while there is a lack of interest in the technical, constructional and technological aspects. The ceaseless acquisition of archaeological data, nowadays almost always result of excavations carried out using stratigraphic methods, is now stimulating renewed reflection on the theme. The paper aims at analyzing the subject in detail through a selection of urban archaeological contexts, in an attempt to show how the choise of specific construction tecnhniques or materials – generally evaluated in an “evolutionary” point of view and considered as chronological markers – often responds to demands of a different nature, such as functional or hierarchical order.