L¿EDILIZIA ABITATIVA DI MILANO IN ETÀ ROMANA

The thesis research moves from the interest for the reconstruction of the historical image of Mediolanum through the analysis of the residential structures and the meaning of precise building and ornamental choices testified in them, beginning from the I century B.C. up to the IV century A.D. The thesis is divided in two parts. In the first section, constituted by the introduction and by three chapters, they are faced the history of the studies on the residential house building in Cisalpina, the topography of Mediolanum, the principal theme on the housing districts and a brief paragraph on the techniques. In the second part the catalog of the floors and of the domus are displayed. The topographical analysis of the city shows what premised essential to be able to fully understand the dynamics of the transformations of the insulae and of the domus in them existing; the examination of the archaeological rests is integrated with how much brought from the ancient sources and with the data emerged from the excavations and from the most recent studies on single monuments or on themes of more general character. A knowledge decidedly deepened of the archaeological reality in Milan and a critical use of the bibliographical sources and, above all, archive files of housing buildings are placed at the base of the search. The cards of the catalog of the domus, in fact, are based both on the bibliography and on the reports of excavations; the bibliography in few cases is related to the scientific publication of the archaeological excavations, while for the greatest part of the recoveries it is limited to few hints or news on them. This is due partly to the fact that, for many contexts, the consistence of the finds concerns the floor coverings and/or single building structures. The documentation of file examined is not homogeneous: for the most recent excavations it is filed at the excavation archive of the Italian Antiquity Authority (Soprintendenza) and it can furnish the reports of excavation, the graphic and photographic material, rarely the preliminary presentation of the material finds. For the investigations conducted before the years '80 of the last century, the documents are preserved instead at the topographical section of the Soprintendenza, together with papers of office and cadastral; in the most fortunate cases the diaries of excavation have been found correlated by sketches of the plants and the recoveries, together with photos of these last in black and white; more easily, however, it deals with short notes of the assistants of excavation and reliefs of the architects of the Municipality, normally without explanations and/or characterizations. It needs to underline as, especially for the contexts without any publication, has been faced the studying from zero of the entire dig documentation, departing from the reading of the reports, therefore of the cards of stratigraphic units, comparing then the information contained with photos and reliefs. The cards are been filled up with detail of elements, keeping in mind of everything how much has been possible to find and to verify, crossing the data emerged from the different domus so that to be able to furnish a comparison of the interpretative analysis from time to time suggested. In the chapter on the housing districts they are examined in their whole the housing contexts introduced in the catalog, distinguishing them among urban and suburban, according to a diachronic sequence, so that to put in relief similarities and differences in the organization of the spaces and in the type of decoration. Although it has not been archaeologically investigated till now a whole entire roman house, the final documentation represents ahead a meaningful footstep in the understanding of the house building in roman Milan. Among the environments more frequently observed, besides the courts endowed with elements of water supply, they are cubicula and triclinia. These last ones are examined apart, among the propria loca: cubicula and dining rooms result often combined, according to various solutions, not adhering to a common standard, inside the house arrangement; their decoration stands out for refinement and luxury, from the moment that since the I century B.C. there are floors layout in opus sectile, besides in cement and mosaic. It highlights the rarity of the figurative scenes:, only two examples in fact have been found dated to the I century B.C.-I century A.D. and three between III and IV century A.D. (one of which from the imperial palace), to forehead of twenty-six floors in opus sectile. Building and decorative fervor characterizes the houses of the inhabitants of Mediolanum since the beginnings of its Romanization, without Celtic traditions are abandoned entirely, for example in the employment of walls in perishable material, well attested for the whole I century A.D. and richly according to the fashion of the centre italic paintings. Constructive initiative and aesthetic seeking are comparable to that of other important Roman centers, as for instance. in Cisalpina, that of Aquileia.