Imperial Florentia

Florentia is reached by the new route of the Via Cassia

/ 123 d.C.

The inclusion of Florentia in the new route of the Via Cassia, opened in the first quarter of the second century BC, clearly reflects the role acquired by the colony in this period and the autonomy it achieved in relation to nearby Faesulae (Fiesole). But it also marks a significant moment for the further economic and urban development of the city, which was favoured by becoming a stop on the road route from Rome to the Alps. Between the end of the first and the beginning of the second century AD, Florentia underwent an important phase of expansion, probably in response to a period of prosperity in trade and manufacturing, testified to by the numerous fullonicae – workshops for washing and fulling textiles – remains of which have been found in various parts of the city, and by the workers’ quarter found near one of them, in the area of Piazza della Signoria..

The city expanded in this period in many areas outside the walls, even leading to their demolition in some places. Growth was especially notable north of the wall circle and in the belt between the walls and the Arno, which was navigable upstream of the city at the time, where it has been assumed that a port area already existed. But extramural settlements must have sprung up along all the main roads too, as indicated by the constructions found near S. Pancrazio, along the continuation of the decumanus.

Building activity, however, did not only involve the areas outside the walls, but also the refurbishment and modernisation of the already built-up areas, which were enriched with new monumental complexes built with the use of high-value materials – a sign of massive economic and political investment on the part of the Empire. Even though the layout of the city remained that inherited from the first urban phase of the colony, with the forum located at the crossroads of the two main roads – the cardo and the decumanus – and the building fabric marked by the regular grid of quadrangular blocks, in the first half of the second century AD, Florentia was the scene of major urban restructuring. Surrounded by porticoes, the forum was enlarged towards the east, paved in marble and raised by several steps, accentuating its monumental character. On the west side, the Capitoline temple was also enlarged, erected on a large podium, the remains of which survived until the second half of the nineteenth century. Behind the Capitoline temple, a large bath building also stood at the time of Hadrian. In the Florentia of the time there were at least four other bath complexes, fed by the aqueduct that brought water to the city from the Val di Marina. Of particular note are the thermal baths discovered in the area of today’s Piazza della Signoria, which replaced the previous domus quarter. The facility had marked monumental characteristics and was connected to a large fullonica, or fullery, and other minor buildings through a porticoedpodium, which created a large public space. The complex represents one of the greatest urban renovation achievements of the Hadrianic period and underscores the level of prosperity reached by Florentia in this period.

The city was also provided with new performance venues. In addition to the restructured and enlarged first-century BC theatre, the remains of which are still visible in the foundation system of Palazzo Vecchio, an amphitheatre was added outside the walls, traces of which are preserved in the elliptical shape of the blocks between Via Torta and Piazza dei Peruzzi, and perhaps a circus or stadium, which may have left its mark in the curvature of the building at Croce al Trebbio, near Piazza S. Maria Novella.

The road network outside the walls was also consolidated. Necropolis areas were laid out along the main roads, but the first nuclei of extramural settlements also sprang up, which would shape the development of the late-antique and medieval city.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • G. Orefice, Rilievi e memorie dell’antico centro di Firenze (1885-1895), Firenze, Alinea, 1986.

  • Atlante archeologico di Firenze. Indagine storico-archeologica dalla preistoria all’alto medioevo, a cura di Mario Pagni, Firenze, Polistampa, 2010.

  • Archeologia a Firenze: città e territorio, atti del workshop (Firenze, 12-13 aprile 2013), a cura di V. D’Aquino, G. Guarducci, S. Nencetti, S. Valentini, Oxford, Archaeopress, 2015.


  • ‘Archeologia invisibile’ a Firenze. Storia degli scavi e delle scoperte tra San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella e Fortezza da Basso, a cura di M. Salvini e S. Faralli, Firenze, Edizioni dell’Assemblea, 2020.