3 - At the Foot of the Lateran Hill, from Via Sannio to Viale Ipponio: Archaeological Investigations Prior to the Construction of Metro Line C

Summary

Metro Line C runs from the Pantano terminus through the south-eastern suburbs of Rome. This chapter reflects on the archaeological investigations carried out along via La Spezia and via Sannio, published as a series of preliminary reports.The evidence suggests that the banks of the ancient river course running through this area –tentatively identified with the aqua Crabra or one of its branches – were farmed from the third century BC. The river worked as a catalyst for local exploitation and imposing embankments to control its floods were built in the third century BC. These allow us to indirectly reconstruct the original riverbed. Things started to change in the second half of the first century BC; the land use became diversified and the complexity of the landscape increased. This process continued until the construction of the Aurelian Walls, which effectively created an intra-mural and an extra-mural area. From the last quarter of the third century AD, land-use took on a more homogenous form, mainly characterised by agricultural and funerary use. The construction of the Aurelian Walls modified and, in places, substantially reduced the width of the riverbed.