Subproject B: The Transformation of Administrative Space between Public and Private

This subproject will produce a new inquiry into the administrative space in the city of Rome and compare it with examples from both classical world and the later historical tradition.

The aim is to combine archaeological and historical data to trace the work of administrative magistracies and their contexts. Of particular interest are functions where a fixed post was necessary for e.g. meeting citizens, handling and storing documents or money, or the running of a large staff of workers. What this subproject will produce is a new spatial understanding of the formation and changes of administrative space in Republican Rome and to compare it with the spatial dimension of the other layers of the Republicanist tradition. Using data from the very latest excavations and published data, it will produce a series of interactive models to chart the development of administrative space in the centre of Rome, linking it with its residential surroundings. The use of alternative models and hypotheses is vital because there is still controversy over the locations of some of the most important public buildings such as the Villa Publica, the tabularium or the aerarium. How was the use of archives combined with the fact that magistrates kept their records in their homes? This data from the physical remains will be cross-referenced with the known loci of epigraphical texts pertaining to magistrates, magistracies and administration.