DOCSLIB.ORG

Il Caso Dell'ager Ticinensis E Della Mediolanum Ticinum

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Il Caso Dell'ager Ticinensis E Della Mediolanum Ticinum Maurizio Boriani, Annamaria Boniardi, Susanna Bortolotto, Piero Favino 65 IL PAESAGGIO ANTROPICO COME PALINSESTO: IL CASO DELL’AGER TICINENSIS E DELLA MEDIOLANUM TICINUM. Maurizio Boriani, Annamaria Boniardi, Susanna Bortolotto, Piero Favino 1. La metodologia della ricerca sità applicando i principi del metodo archeologico della scavo stratigrafico, pur trattandosi in questo L’archeologia del paesaggio caso di uno scavo ipotetico e non distruttivo. Gli strati così definiti però non sono mai indi- Il modificarsi del concetto di monumento, di pendenti gli uni dagli altri, ma spesso quelli più documento e di paesaggio ha avuto importanti rica- antichi penetrano nei più recenti cosicché il pae- dute anche all’interno della disciplina del restauro saggio attuale contiene in sé frammenti di assetti che ha spostato il suo obiettivo dalla ricostruzione territoriali a volte anche molto antichi. di una originaria, quanto arbitraria, forma dell’edi- La considerazione di questi assetti diventa allo- ficio o del territorio alla conservazione di ciò che ci ra di fondamentale importanza in campo proget- perviene con tutta la sua complessità e tutte le sue tuale dal momento che il nuovo andrà sempre ad stratificazioni storiche non più considerate come insistere anche su questi frammenti del passato. semplici interferenze col progetto iniziale, ma L’archeologia del paesaggio non si ferma, però, diventate esse stesse documenti della storia. allo studio delle singole stratificazioni pone Questa importanza del dato materiale avvicina l’accento anche sui rapporti intercorrenti fra i vari il lavoro dell’architetto restauratore ad alcune strati così da affiancare l’ottica sincronica a quella discipline da più tempo orientate a indagini di diacronica, l’evento alla sua durata con l’obiettivo questo tipo quali l’antropologia, la geografia stori- di capire i meccanismi di trasformazione del terri- ca, l’archeologia. Soprattutto con quest’ultima torio nel tempo storico. Da qui discende che carat- sembrano essersi create contaminazioni interes- teristica fondamentale di questo metodo diventa santi ricche di ricadute pratiche per la conoscenza la ricerca sul campo secondo una logica induttiva: della complessità dell’oggetto su cui deve interve- procedendo cioè dal particolare (la raccolta del nire il progetto di conservazione. dati) al generale (conoscenza ottenuta con la com- Nel campo specifico dello studio del territorio si parazione dei dati). La ricerca sul campo è, però, è sviluppata la cosiddetta “…archeologia del pae- preceduta da un accurato lavoro preparatorio di saggio inteso come metodo di analisi delle struttu- ricerca in archivi e biblioteche per la raccolta e re territoriali basato su uno studio attento degli l’interpretazione dei numerosi indizi che ci pro- oggetti che costituiscono un dato paesaggio e delle vengono da fonti scritte, toponomastiche, carto- relazioni intercorrenti fra essi”1. grafiche, iconografiche e fotografiche (in particola- L’espressione archeologia del paesaggio ha la re foto aeree e satellitari). sua motivazione d’essere nel metodo di lavoro che In questo modo l’archeologia del paesaggio si la contraddistingue, che si fonda sull’analisi e configura come ricerca a fonti integrate combinan- sull’interpretazione dei resti materiali lasciati do insieme quelle documentarie ed oggettuali. dall’uomo sul territorio e che si caratterizza come I risultati ottenuti da questo lavoro saranno poi studio di reperti intesi come fonti storiche. necessariamente da interpretare, considerando Sono considerati reperti tutti gli oggetti pre- l’evidenza tanto delle presenze quanto delle assen- senti sul territorio che ne costituiscono la struttu- ze riscontrate, per passare dalle forma alle funzio- ra e che sono ricchi di informazioni storiche, sia ni e da queste al sistema sociale che le ha accolte o considerati in se stessi sia nelle relazioni intercor- generate. “Con l’archeologia del paesaggio è [dun- renti fra gli uni e gli altri. que] possibile porre in luce uno spaccato del pae- Il paesaggio attuale diventa così interpretabile saggio considerando tutte le possibili relazioni fra come stratificazione di paesaggi del passato e gli oggetti che lo occupano simultaneamente nello quindi conoscibile più a fondo nella sua comples- spazio geografico e nel tempo storico”2 a r r i v a n d o 1. SERENO in BORIANI, SCAZZOSI 1987, p. 52. 2. SERENO in BORIANI, SCAZZOSI 1987, p.57. 66 LO SPESSORE STORICO IN URBANISTICA ad una sorta di “archeologia totale [...] in quanto portate all’attenzione degli studiosi di storia anti- priva di limitazioni cronologiche di un tempo [...] e ca già negli anni Quaranta dal prof. Plinio Fracca- priva di limitazioni qualitative perché indaga sia ro; tali studi si sono intensificati negli anni Set- sul paesaggio agrario che sui centri urbani, sui tanta. Tuttavia si vuole sottolineare come, ad oggi, singoli edifici, sui giardini, sulle strade, ed è libera vi sia una grave lacuna: la mancanza di una carta di utilizzare strumenti provenienti da molteplici archeologica per la Provincia di Pavia, strumento ambiti disciplinari”3. conoscitivo indispensabile per una tutela e pianifi- Il metodo così definito sembra delinearsi come cazione consapevole del territorio. possibilità di ricomposizione della frattura fra Ad oggi fortunatamente, grazie anche l’esigenza della conservazione e quelle della tra- all’assenza di grandi trasformazioni territoriali, sformazione, ponendo le basi per una conoscenza non si registrano ancora gravi distruzioni dei resti profonda dei paesaggi storici in modo da poterne materiali della matrice romana riconoscibile, con- comprendere le linee di evoluzione e quindi pro- servatasi in virtù del fatto che le aziende agricole gettarne lo sviluppo futuro nella speranza che la locali partecipano alla continua manutenzione pianificazione territoriale si faccia sempre più delle infrastrutture agrarie esistenti. attenta al rischio archeologico così da poter salva- L’impostazione metodologica per l’approccio e guardare anche quei resti, non facilmente ricono- lo sviluppo della ricerca si può sinteticamente rias- scibili benché spesso imponenti, distribuiti sul ter- sumere in tre sezioni: una sezione storica, una ritorio rurale: “la conservazione (infatti) [...] non tematica e una relativa alle indagini analitiche di esclude il dovere della qualità architettonica, della approfondimento attraverso l’elaborazione di sperimentazione tecnologica, della valorizzazione “schede” campione. paesaggistica”4. Esito di tutti questi studi analitici è riconosce- re le emergenze della stratificazione del territorio L’area di indagine, il metodo e di conoscerne le loro caratteristiche, al fine di tutelarle, conservarle, valorizzarle e soprattutto Il nuovo concetto di paesaggio, e il metodo dell’ spiegare e documentare quali uomini, quali coltu- archeologia del paesaggio fin qui indagati rappre- re e quali diverse qualità della vita stiano dietro a sentano la base concettuale e metodologica di que- queste testimonianze materiali nei rispettivi con- sto studio. La seguente ricerca è stata affidata testi sociali. dall’ IReR (Istituto regionale di ricerca della Lom- bardia) al Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Progettazione dell’Architettura, sotto la responsa- 2. Gli studi storici sulla Mediolanum - bilità degli scriventi nel 19995. Ticinum e la centuriazione dell’agro ticinese. Il lavoro si è configurato come analisi e cono- scenza propedeutica ad una futura proposta di Gli studi di Plinio Fraccaro. La scoperta della cen - tutela e valorizzazione dei resti centuriali della turiazione ticinese e della Mediolanum - Ticinum6. matrice romana, nonché dei tracciati stradali e delle permanenze delle canalizzazioni storiche: È nei primi anni Quaranta del nostro secolo che l’area di indagine scelta comprende l’ ager ticinen - Plinio Fraccaro affronta lo studio delle strade sis nella parte nord della Provincia di Pavia aven- romane convergenti su Pavia, riscoperta come te come confine naturale ad ovest il Ticino. importante nodo viario dell’Impero, e rileva così L’ambito così identificato è stato indagato par- anche l’esistenza di un tracciato che da Milano si tendo dalla raccolta dei dati bibliografici confron- dirigeva, appunto, su Pavia. tati poi, in un secondo tempo, con le “ricognizioni Si trattava del tronco iniziale di percorsi più lun- cartografiche” alle varie soglie storiche. ghi che, attraverso Pavia, arrivavano a Bordeaux, In particolare i confronti sono avvenuti con le passando per Torino e Susa; mentre dirigendosi su mappe dei catasti (Catasto Teresiano, Catasto Vercelli e poi Aosta raggiungevano Lione o Vienna, Lombardo Veneto, Catasto Cessato ed attuale) e attraverso il Piccolo S. Bernardo, oppure la Germa- con gli I.G.M. storici. nia attraverso il Gran S.Bernardo. Questa situazio- Le tracce di centuriazione sono state scoperte e ne è confermata anche da una notizia di Ammiano 3. BORTOLOTTO in BORIANI (a cura di) 1997, p. 62. Scienze e Lettere, della Societé des antiquaires de France, della 4. BORIANI 1997, p. 8. Società Scentiarum Bohemica. Membro di varie accademie (fra 5. cui Accademia dei Lincei, Accademia delle scienze di Berlino, Il titolo della ricerca è “Tessiture storiche del territorio (via- Accademia Virgiliana). bilità, canali, centuriazioni). Varie sue dissertazioni si trovano sulle riviste di antichità clas- 6. Plinio Fraccaro, nasce a Bassano del Grappa l’8 gennaio sica; principali pubblicazioni: Studi varroniani, Padova, 1907; I 1883. Laureato in lettere, ordinario di storia antica alla facoltà
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Roman Cities
    MIT Press Open Architecture and Urban Studies • Orthogonal Town Planning in Antiquity Chapter 6: Roman Cities Ferdinando Castagnoli Published on: Apr 22, 2021 License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) MIT Press Open Architecture and Urban Studies • Orthogonal Town Planning in Antiquity Chapter 6: Roman Cities Hippodamean Type The Romans used more than one type of city plan, and it is thus not possible to contrast a Greek plan with a Roman one. We will consider first the type characterized by a rectangular grid derived directly from the Hippodamean city, Norba is the most ancient example of this type. Norba At the turn of the century Norba was thoroughly studied by L. Savignoni and R. Mengarelli.1 Their excavations along the perimeter walls and among the temples established these as dating from the fourth century B.C. The plan of the city which arose from this work clearly shows the location of the acropolis and the walls but disregards the rest. The perfect orthogonality of the system can be seen from the aerial photograph (Fig. 37). Norba was built up of terraces buttressed by a system of walls that were almost always parallel and perpendicular to each other. The city is an interesting example of an urbanism that exploits the difficulties of the terrain to obtain striking results. From the lower portions of the city one viewed the rising terraces, culminating with the Great Acropolis at the central peak. This was a vast terrace perfectly incorporated in the general scheme. On the axis of this terrace, in the center of the city, is a larger, more recent building with a cistern.
    [Show full text]
  • Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy Charles Matson Odahl Boise State University
    Boise State University ScholarWorks History Faculty Publications and Presentations Department of History 1-1-2007 Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy Charles Matson Odahl Boise State University Publication Information Odahl, Charles Matson. (2007). "Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy". Connections: European Studies Annual Review, 3, 89-113. This document was originally published in Connections: European Studies Annual Review by Rocky Mountain European Scholars Consortium. Copyright restrictions may apply. Coda: Recovering Constantine's European Legacy 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy Charles Matson Odahl, Boise State University1 rom his Christian conversion under the influence of cept of imperial theocracy was conveyed in contemporary art Frevelatory experiences outside Rome in A.D. 312 until (Illustration I). his burial as the thirteenth Apostle at Constantinople in Although Constantine had been raised as a tolerant 337, Constantine the Great, pagan polytheist and had the first Christian emperor propagated several Olympian of the Roman world, initiated divinities, particularly Jupiter, the role of and set the model Hercules, Mars, and Sol, as for Christian imperial theoc­ di vine patrons during the early racy. Through his relationship years of his reign as emperor
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Companion to Age of Constantine.Pdf
    The Cambridge Companion to THE AGE OF CONSTANTINE S The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine offers students a com- prehensive one-volume introduction to this pivotal emperor and his times. Richly illustrated and designed as a readable survey accessible to all audiences, it also achieves a level of scholarly sophistication and a freshness of interpretation that will be welcomed by the experts. The volume is divided into five sections that examine political history, reli- gion, social and economic history, art, and foreign relations during the reign of Constantine, a ruler who gains in importance because he steered the Roman Empire on a course parallel with his own personal develop- ment. Each chapter examines the intimate interplay between emperor and empire and between a powerful personality and his world. Collec- tively, the chapters show how both were mutually affected in ways that shaped the world of late antiquity and even affect our own world today. Noel Lenski is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. A specialist in the history of late antiquity, he is the author of numerous articles on military, political, cultural, and social history and the monograph Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century ad. Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2007 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2007 The Cambridge Companion to THE AGE OF CONSTANTINE S Edited by Noel Lenski University of Colorado Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2007 cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao˜ Paulo Cambridge University Press 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521818384 c Cambridge University Press 2006 This publication is in copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • The Roman Towns and the Geometry - Examples of Varatio Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
    The Roman Towns and the geometry - Examples of Varatio Amelia Carolina Sparavigna To cite this version: Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Roman Towns and the geometry - Examples of Varatio. 2019. hal-02267863 HAL Id: hal-02267863 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02267863 Preprint submitted on 19 Aug 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Zenodo. 18 August 2019 – DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3370498 The Roman Towns and the geometry - Examples of Varatio Amelia Carolina Sparavigna1 1 Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy Abstract This work is proposing some examples of a possible use of the geometry based on rectangular triangles, the varato, in the planning of Roman towns. It is known that the planning of them is based on the centuriaton, a grid of parallel and perpendicular streets, where the two main axes are the Decumanus and the Cardo. The rato of the cathet of the rectangular triangles gives the angle the Decumanus is forming with the east-west directon. Keywords: Centuriaton, Orientaton of Roman colonies, Varare, Varato Torino, 18 August 2019, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3370498 The planning of the Roman colonies was realized by the ancient land surveyors by means of a method which is known as limitatio or ceoturiatio.
    [Show full text]
  • Rome and the Cottians in the Western Alps Carolynn Roncaglia Santa Clara University, [email protected]
    Santa Clara University Scholar Commons Classics College of Arts & Sciences Fall 2013 Client prefects?: Rome and the Cottians in the Western Alps Carolynn Roncaglia Santa Clara University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/classics Part of the Classics Commons Recommended Citation Carolynn Roncaglia. 2013. “Client prefects?: Rome and the Cottians in the Western Alps”. Phoenix 67 (3/4). Classical Association of Canada: 353–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7834/phoenix.67.3-4.0353. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts & Sciences at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Classics by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLIENT PREFECTS?: ROME AND THE COTTIANS IN THE WESTERN ALPS Carolynn Roncaglia introduction When Augustus and the Romans conquered the central and western Alps at the end of the first century b.c.e., most of the newly subjugated regions were brought under direct Roman control. The central portion of the western Alps, however, was left in the hands of a native dynasty, the Cottians, where it remained until the reign of Nero over a half-century later. The Cottians thus serve as one of many examples of a form of indirect Roman rule, its “two-level monarchy,” wherein the rulers of smaller kingdoms governed as friends and allies of the Roman state in an asymmetrical power relationship with Rome.1 This article explores how a native dynasty like the Cottians presented and legitimized their relationship with Rome to a domestic audience.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix Epsilon
    Appendix Epsilon: The Pavia Intellectual Line Connecting brothers of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at Cornell University, tracing their fraternal Big Brother/Little Brother line to tri-Founder John Andrew Rea (1869) John Andrew Rea, tri-founder of Phi Kappa Psi at Cornell . . was advised by Andrew Dickson White, . Olybrius was nephew to Flavius President of Cornell . Maximus . who was lectured by, and referred Jack . Flavius Maximus was grandson to Sextus Rea to, Washington Irving . Probus . and then through the Halle line, Appendix . Sextus Probus was son-in-law and first Delta, to the University of Pavia . cousin to Quintus Olybrius . . Pavia was elevated by the Carolingian . Quintus Olybrius was the son of to Clodius Emperor Lothair . Celsinus Adelphus spouse to Faltonia Betitia Proba . whose grandfather deposed the last . all of the above were Neo-Platonists in the Lombardic king Desiderius . tradition of Plotinus . who ruled in succession to the founder of . Plotimus was a student of Ammonius, he of his dynasty, Alboin . Numenius, he of Pythagoras, he of Pherecydes . Alboin forcefully married Rosamund, . Pythagoras also studied under princess of the Gepids . Anaximenes, he under Anaximander, he under Thales . Rosamund was daugther to Cunimund, last . king of the Gepids. Thales studied in the school of Egyption priest Petiese, who was invested by king Psamtik . the story of Cunimund’s court was . who served under Assyria king preserved by Cassiodorus . Esarhaddon, successor to Sennencherib . . Cassiodorus succeeded Boethius as first . successor to the two Sargons . Minister to the Ostrogoths . Boethius was grandson of Emperor Olybrius . Below we present short biographies of the Pavia intellectual line of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at Cornell University.
    [Show full text]
  • The True Face of Constantine the Great Author(S): David H. Wright Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, Studies on Art And
    The True Face of Constantine the Great Author(s): David H. Wright Source: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, Studies on Art and Archeology in Honor of Ernst Kitzinger on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (1987), pp. 493-507 Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291584 Accessed: 14/11/2008 11:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=doaks. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
    [Show full text]
  • Emperor Constantine I the Great Between Byzantion and Constantinople
    Papers of BAS Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 7, 2020, No. 2 Emperor Constantine I the Great between Byzantion and Constantinople Vanya Lozanova-Stancheva Abstract. The paper examines the religious, ideological, and political manifesta- tions of Emperor Constantine I the Great during the consecration ceremonies of the city named after him, which have been the subject of heated discussions and contradictory interpretations. The focus is on the policy of tolerating and encouraging local cults in Byzantion, which Constantine clearly preferred and pursued. Historical sources can be grouped into at least two groups organized around the events related to the consecration of Constantinople in May 330 AD, in which two re- markable ritual and cult centres stand out: 1) The Constantine Forum: the consecration of the solar statue of Emperor Con- stantine at the newly constructed Constantine Forum on the famous porphyry column the day before or on the first day of the 40-day celebrations, accompanied by numerous additional ceremonies and rituals; 2) The Hippodrome: The ceremony of the Hippodrome on the first day of the 40- day celebrations in which the gilded xoanon of Constantine, holding a small sculpture of Tyche on the city in his right hand, was carried in the “Helios Chariot”. In the worship of the Emperor Constantine I the Great during the consecration ceremonies of the Constantinople two important religious ideas were intertwined as cen- tral: - Reviving and incorporating the ancient mythological tradition of the founding Byzantion in the new context and traditions of Constantinople; - The specific role of Zeuxippus, the central solar deity of the Thracian population in the city identified with Helios / Zeus Helios / Zeus Hippios, in this religious-political context.
    [Show full text]
  • L'acqua a Mediolanum. Controllo E Gestione Delle Risorse Idriche in Età Romana
    UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO Facoltà di Studi Umanistici Dipartimento di Beni Culturali e Ambientali Dottorato di Ricerca in Scienze del Patrimonio letterario, artistico e ambientale XXIX Ciclo L'ACQUA A MEDIOLANUM. CONTROLLO E GESTIONE DELLE RISORSE IDRICHE IN ETÀ ROMANA S.S.D. L-ANT/07 Tesi di Dottorato di: Ilaria FRONTORI Matr. R10600 Tutor: Chiar.mo Prof. Fabrizio SLAVAZZI Coordinatore: Chiar.mo Prof. Alberto Valerio CADIOLI Anno Accademico 2015 – 2016 Indice - Introduzione p. 1 1. Contesto idrogeologico e ambientale: acque in superficie e nel sottosuolo 1.1 La situazione attuale p. 4 1.2 Il panorama antico p. 9 2. Studi pregressi e nuove prospettive di indagine p. 11 3. I fossati di Mediolanum: 3.1 Il Seveso, il Nirone e l’alimentazione del fossato p. 17 3.2 Il fossato di età tardorepubblicana - Via del Lauro p. 27 - Piazza Fontana p. 30 - Via Larga e aree adiacenti p. 38 - Via Disciplini e via del Don p. 47 - Via Cardinal Caprara p. 50 - Via Cusani, via Ponte Vetero p. 53 - Via Brisa, via Vigna, via Morigi p. 56 - Largo Carrobbio p. 63 3.3 Il fossato di età massimianea p. 66 - Via Croce Rossa p. 68 - Via Montenapoleone p. 74 - Via Borgogna p. 80 - Via Verziere p. 84 - Corso Magenta, via Ansperto p. 86 3.4 La Vepra, la Vettabbia e il deflusso del fossato p. 90 3.5 La Vepra p. 91 - Via S. Vincenzo, via S. Calocero p. 93 - Piazza Resistenza Partigiana p. 97 - Piazza Vetra, ex via dei Vetraschi p. 100 3.6 La Vettabbia p.
    [Show full text]
  • Salvatore Ferdinando Antonio Caputo & Carmelo Currò Troiano
    Salvatore Ferdinando Antonio Caputo & Carmelo Currò Troiano NOBLE ITALIAN FAMILY OF LONGOBARD ORIGIN Page 0 of 22 THE PLATONI A NOBLE ITALIAN FAMILY OF LONGOBARD ORIGIN INTRODUCTION After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Italian peninsula and its surrounding islands became pawns for the European powers that emerged in the wake of Rome’s demise. It was not until the late 19th century that the separate states of Italy finally brought an end to the long process of unification under Victor Emanuel II, the new king of Italy elected by the first Italian parliament in 1961. Even then, the nation of Italy as it is known today did not come into existence in its entirety until after World War I. In the early Middle Ages Italy was divided and distributed by the transient dominance of medieval European conquerors like the Byzantine and Norman Empires. As different rulers vied for Italian preeminence, the Papal State began to develop a sphere of influence that rivaled the claims of the Holy Roman Emperor in Italy. At the same time, northern cities reluctant to cede to Imperial rule formed communes that eventually developed into independently governed city-states. While southern Italy and the nearby islands of Sardinia and Sicily passed between the hands of Spanish, French, and Austrian rulers from the late Middle Ages into the 18th century, the autonomous regimes of northern and central Italy grew and flourished to become formidable powers in and of themselves. By the 1700s, Venice alone had extended its territorial tendrils well beyond the Italian peninsula to stake claims on Istria, Dalmatia and several other significant islands and ports of the Mediterranean.
    [Show full text]
  • Life of Constantine
    d:/3cameron/pre.3d ± 6/7/99 ± 14:51 ± disk/mp CLARENDON ANCIENT HISTORY SERIES General Editors Brian Bosworth Miriam Grin David Whitehead Susan Treggiari d:/3cameron/pre.3d ± 6/7/99 ± 14:51 ± disk/mp The aim of the CLARENDON ANCIENT HISTORY SERIES is to provide authoritative translations, introductions, and commentaries to a wide range of Greek and Latin texts studied by ancient historians. The books will be of interest to scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates. d:/3cameron/pre.3d ± 6/7/99 ± 14:51 ± disk/mp e u s e b i u s Life of Constantine Introduction, translation, and commentary by Averil Cameron and Stuart G. Hall C L A R E N D O N P R E S S ´ O X F O R D 1 9 9 9 d:/3cameron/pre.3d ± 6/7/99 ± 14:51 ± disk/mp 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford and furthers the University's aim of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris SaÄ o Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York # Averil Cameron and Stuart Hall 1999 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 1999 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Constantine the Great: the Coins Speak
    MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY CONSTANTINE THE GREAT: THE COINS SPEAK A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY VICTOR CLARK MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE DECEMBER 2009 [email protected] 2 CONTENTS Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................ 3 2. CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM ON COINS OF CONSTANTINE.................................................................. 10 3. COINS AND THE CITY OF CONSTANTINE — CONSTANTINOPLE........................................................ 30 4. THE PRINCE, THE HELMET, THE GERMANS AND THE COINS................................................................. 58 5. CONCLUSION................................................................... 85 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................. 92 Appendix 1. Analysis of the coins............................................................ 115 2. Reverse Coin Types for Constantine.................................... 138 3 INTRODUCTION In Italy during the fourteenth century some men began to study ancient Roman coins. This should not be a surprise though, as it was the Renaissance, and there was a great interest in the classical past. The humanist Petrarch was the most famous of these early numismatists. Petrarch said in a letter that often people would approach him with a request to identify a newly discovered ancient coin. “Often there came to me in Rome a vinedigger, holding in his hands an ancient jewel or a golden Latin coin, sometimes scratched by the hard edge of a hoe, urging me either to buy it or to identify the heroic faces inscribed on them.”1 At this time, people were mostly concerned with iconography— they mainly wanted to know which emperor was on the front of their coin. A quote from Petrarch illustrates the Renaissance interest in the portraits on the coins. In 1354, Petrarch gave some Roman coins to Emperor Charles IV. “I presented him with some gold and silver coins, which I held very dear.
    [Show full text]