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Contributo alla ricostruzione del paesaggio funerario di Aquileia. Le esplorazioni di inizio Novecento a Sant’Egidio
A contribution to reconstruction of the funerary landscape of Aquileia. The archaeological excavations of the beginning of the twentieth century in Sant’Egidio
Maggi, Paola
Oriolo, Flaviana
2021
Abstract
Reconstructing the funerary landscape of Aquileia means dealing with the numerous unpublished sources preserved in the archives of the National Archaeological Museum. The results of the long series of excavations carried out in the suburban area by Enrico Maionica, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, are contained in a rich archival documentation. It consists of notebooks, lists of finds, letters and detailed drawings made by Giacomo Pozzar. The paper focuses on the case of the necropolis of Sant’Egidio: an example of how archival research can still lead to a significant increase in knowledge. The area was located in the north-eastern suburbium of the city, where the important road connecting Aquileia with Emona passed. The sector here considered is the northernmost one (about 2 km from the urban space), for which the best known funerary monument is that of Q. Etuvius Capreolus. This work recomposes in detail the topographical sequence of funerary enclosures on both sides of the ancient road, with the aim of restoring the connection between the burial spaces and their owners. Overall, the inscriptions mention about thirty individuals, who are in half of the cases liberti and in two cases public slaves. The dimensions of the burial enclosures (front side) can be obtained not only from the epigraphs, but also thanks to the metric indications written on the plans. The measurements reveal a certain variability, according with the rest of the documentation in Aquileia. The most frequent value is 16 feet (measure attested for over 7 sepulchral areas), but that of 21 feet also occurs in several cases. The analyzed documents testify the presence of particularly large burial enclosures, such as that of Octavia Ephicaris, extended on the road front 60 feet to a depth of 30 feet, and the funerary space of a collegium, probably dedicated to Mars, measuring 45x90 feet.
Restituire il paesaggio funerario aquileiese significa confrontarsi con le numerose fonti inedite conservate presso gli archivi del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia. Gli esiti della lunga serie di esplorazioni eseguite nel suburbio da Enrico Maionica, a cavallo tra Ottocento e Novecento, sono contenuti in una ricca documentazione costituita da taccuini di appunti, elenchi di reperti, lettere e dettagliati disegni eseguiti da Giacomo Pozzar. Il contributo riconsidera il caso della necropoli di Sant’Egidio, che è rappresentativa di come la ricerca archivistica possa ancora portare a un significativo ampliamento delle conoscenze. L’area rientra nel settore suburbano nord-orientale della città, interessato dal passaggio della direttrice viaria di collegamento con Emona. Il settore analizzato è quello più settentrionale (circa a 2 chilometri dal centro urbano), di cui il monumento meglio noto è quello di Q. Etuvius Capreolus. Il lavoro ricompone nel dettaglio, su entrambi i lati della strada antica, la sequenza topografica dei recinti funerari restituendo la connessione tra gli spazi sepolcrali e i loro titolari. Complessivamente le iscrizioni menzionano una trentina di individui, che si rivelano nella metà dei casi di condizione libertina e in due casi schiavi pubblici. Le dimensioni dei recinti si possono ricavare anche grazie alle indicazioni metriche riportate sulle piante (lato frontale). Le misure rivelano una certa variabilità, in linea con il resto della documentazione aquileiese. Il modulo più frequente è di 16 piedi (misura attestata per oltre 7 lotti), ma ricorre anche in più casi quella di 21 piedi. Sono documentati lotti particolarmente grandi, come quello di Octavia Ephicaris, esteso sul fronte strada ben 60 piedi per una profondità di 30 piedi, e l’area funeraria di un collegio, probabilmente dedicato a Marte, delle dimensioni di 45x90 piedi.
Reconstructing the funerary landscape of Aquileia means dealing with the numerous unpublished sources preserved in the archives of the National Archaeological Museum. The results of the long series of excavations carried out in the suburban area by Enrico Maionica, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, are contained in a rich archival documentation. It consists of notebooks, lists of finds, letters and detailed drawings made by Giacomo Pozzar. The paper focuses on the case of the necropolis of Sant’Egidio: an example of how archival research can still lead to a significant increase in knowledge. The area was located in the north-eastern suburbium of the city, where the important road connecting Aquileia with Emona passed. The sector here considered is the northernmost one (about 2 km from the urban space), for which the best known funerary monument is that of Q. Etuvius Capreolus. This work recomposes in detail the topographical sequence of funerary enclosures on both sides of the ancient road, with the aim of restoring the connection between the burial spaces and their owners. Overall, the inscriptions mention about thirty individuals, who are in half of the cases liberti and in two cases public slaves. The dimensions of the burial enclosures (front side) can be obtained not only from the epigraphs, but also thanks to the metric indications written on the plans. The measurements reveal a certain variability, according with the rest of the documentation in Aquileia. The most frequent value is 16 feet (measure attested for over 7 sepulchral areas), but that of 21 feet also occurs in several cases. The analyzed documents testify the presence of particularly large burial enclosures, such as that of Octavia Ephicaris, extended on the road front 60 feet to a depth of 30 feet, and the funerary space of a collegium, probably dedicated to Mars, measuring 45x90 feet.
Journal
Source
Paola Maggi, Flaviana Oriolo, ''Contributo alla ricostruzione del paesaggio funerario di Aquileia. Le esplorazioni di inizio Novecento a Sant’Egidio'', in: ''Aquileia Nostra'', 92 (2021), pp. 25-46
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it
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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