The present study analyses the importance of the Băile Herculane spa resort, based on epigraphic discoveries and cartographic sources. Social mobility, along with the presence of urban elites from various towns, passing through, can shed some light on the renown enjoyed by the Băile Herculane hot springs during the Roman and Late Roman periods. The authors also attempt to research the local religious life, as well as the layout of the settlement’s sacred enclosures, an endeavour never before attempted. The results of such an analysis, in comparison with other spa resorts in Dacia, enables the possibility to understand how the town and its public edifices, dominant during the Roman period, developed, as well as the urban layout of Băile Herculane.
topography
Reconstructions of Three Bridges in the 4th Century Rome. Historical Perspective
This study aims to present an historical perspective on utilitarian architecture in late antique Rome and focuses in particular on the reconstructions of three bridges in the 4th century Rome, namely the pons Aurelius/Valentinianus, pons Cestius/Gratianus, and pons Probi/Theodosius pons. I examine the narrative and epigraphic sources to assess the social aspects and communicative potential of bridges. The study considers the literary allusions to the three ancient bridges in order to achieve an historical evaluation of the bridges as social objects and as a suitable medium for messages of power in the period of Late antiquity.