Pisae

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Remains of Roman thermal baths in Pisa
Roman sarcophagus in Pisa

Pisae is the ancient Latin name of Pisa in Italy , which was called Πίσαι ( Pisai ) or Πείσαι ( Peisai ) in Greek sources . The origin of the name is uncertain.

history

Pisae was an important ancient city between the Arno and the Serchio (which has now changed its course), in the north of Tuscany just a few kilometers from the sea. According to ancient written sources, the city was founded by Greeks from the Peloponnese , Ligurians or Etruscans . An Etruscan conquest of the city is mentioned in written sources and seems to be archaeologically attested. In the Ligurian Wars of 238 to 236 BC Pisae was an independent city that was friendly to the Romans. In the Second Punic War , the Romans used in 218 BC. The port. From 195 BC BC the city was a Roman base, especially in the fight against the Ligurians. In 193 BC The city was even besieged by Ligurian gangs, but was liberated by the Romans. In 180 BC Pisae ceded part of its territory to found the colony Luca and became a colony itself, 89 BC. Like all Italian cities to the municipality . Under Emperor Augustus , the city was named Colonia Obsequens Iulia Pisana . The lands of the city, which is important as a port, were an important supplier of timber for shipbuilding. Various official inscriptions are known from the imperial era . Emperor Antoninus Pius mentions a building inscription . Otherwise, Pisae is only mentioned by geographers, not by historians, during the imperial era.

buildings

Little remains of the ancient city, which once formed roughly a rectangle. The forum can be assumed to be under the Piazza dei Cavalieri . A forum is also mentioned in writing. There was also an Augusteum , a sanctuary of Augustus serving the imperial cult. There was a theater on Via S. Zeno. To the north of the ancient city wall was a bath , which has been partially excavated and the ruins of which are still partially preserved today. The remains of houses have been found in several places in the city. Various mosaics were found in the city area. To the north of the Serchio was the amphitheater, also known by inscriptions, and a temple of Vesta . A milestone dates from the reign of Emperor Valentinian II . A little outside the ancient city, over a dozen ancient boats were found that sank in the Serchio. The cult of Mercury , Bona Dea and Fortuna Primigenia is attested from inscriptions, although the inscriptions refer to private cults and not necessarily to temple buildings.

Various necropolises are known. At the Porta a Lucca there was an archaic cemetery. There were other cemeteries at Porta a Mare and at S. Giovanni al Gatano . In the Monumental Cemetery , a medieval cemetery, located about 80 part rich with reliefs decorated sarcophagi .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Justin 20: 1, 11.
  2. ↑ Virgil , Aeneas 10, 179; Polybios 2, 16.
  3. ^ Hermann Bengtson : Roman History: Republic and Imperial Era to 284 AD. 4th edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1982. ISBN 3-406-02505-6 . P. 108.
  4. ↑ CIL 11, 1425 .
  5. ↑ CIL 11, 1421
  6. ↑ O. Pompaino: Roman ruins in the basement of the Institute of Physiology of the University of Pisa. In: Archives Italiennes de Biologie. Volume 137, 1999, pp. 227-234 .
  7. ↑ Dig under Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa reveals Roman house .
  8. ↑ CIL 11, 1421
  9. ↑ CIL 11, 6665 .
  10. ↑ CIL 11, 1416 , CIL 11, 1417
  11. ↑ CIL 11, 1413
  12. ↑ CIL 11, 1415

literature