Remapping Ostia : a systematic study of the urban landscape of Ostia from the 2nd to the 4th century AD

Ostia is one of very few cities where it is possible to trace the development from its foundation through to its natural abandonment in the late 6th century AD. Contrary to cities such as Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are frozen in the early imperial periods, it is here possible to create a detailed picture of the structural development during the later Roman era. However, while more than 2/3 of the city area has now been excavated and much already been published, at Ostia, as at so many other sites, the main interest has always been on the Republican and early Imperial periods. There is therefore a great amount of material evidence at Ostia that has previously been neglected, which can provide us with an invaluable insight to the urban landscape of a Roman city. By examining domestic, civic and commercial architecture as it changed the city from the 2nd to the 4th century AD, the impact on all aspects of city life can be traced, thereby providing us with a valuable instrument to test ideas about urban, social or economic development at the heart of the Roman Empire. This study presents a description and an analysis of the visible remains in two areas within regions III and V. A total of some 86 buildings was covered within the sample and individually described. The information gained from this was then used first to assign a date, if only relative, and clarify stages of development within the larger complexes of insulae and regions, and second to assign a function and organisation of the individual building in order to provide a better understanding of the urban landscape of Ostia from the 2nd to the 4th century AD.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo