Forget the Forum; forget the Colosseum: the monumental structure which best embodies the spirit of ancient Rome is the Tomb of the Scipios, located along the via Appia just outside the Porta Capena. Originally established sometime after the opening of the via Appia in 312 B.C., the tomb remained in use throughout the Republic and, sporadically, through the first century of the Empire. Building on the site survey published in BCAR 115 (2014): 175–191, as well as on prior scholarship, the volume under review, based on the author’s 2016 dissertation, undertakes an “historical-archaeological analysis of the imperial and late antique buildings of the Tomb of the Scipios” (back-cover blurb). In focusing not on the Republican-era tomb but on the development of the site from the 1st to the 7th c. A.D., Stefani uses “la combinazione di metodologie proprie delle discipline storiche, topografiche e archeologiche-architettoniche” in order to offer “una visione d’insieme sul progressivo cambiamento delle dinamiche di sfruttamento e occupazione di un territorio per così dire ‘ibrido’ dal periodo imperiale alla tarda antichità” (p. xvii). Through this lens of hybridity, the author breathes new life into the material evidence and offers a coherent and cogent reconstruction of the site’s later history.
Chapter 1 (“Introduzione,”) provides the essential geographical and topographical orientation, including an overview of the via Appia, longarum … regina viarum (Stat. Silv. 2.2.12; not “1.2” as given by the author), as well as an overview of the “area archeologica” of the Tomb of the Scipios, from its rediscovery/ies in 1614 and 1780 to its immortalization by Alessandro Verri in Le notti romane (1792/1804; ed. Renzo Negri, Bari: Laterza, 1967) to its modern excavation, first under Mussolini (1926–1929) and then in the years leading up to its recent reopening to the public, back in 2011. Stefani evocatively describes this stretch of the via Appia as “un palinsesto storico e archeologico unico al mondo e ancora ben riconoscibile nel paesaggio” (p. 2). Chapter 2 (“Premessa metodologia,”) likewise elaborates on the methodological underpinnings of the research and, in particular, introduces the concepts of USM (Unità Stratigrafica Muraria), USR (Unità Stratigrafica di Rivestimento), and UT (Unità Topografica), the last of which serves as the basic unit of measurement in the catalog in chapter 4. The author explains how all of this information has been used over the years in the creation of high-quality planimetric drawings which have now been uploaded to SITAR.
In chapter 3 (“Il sito,”), Stefani paints a more detailed picture of the major phases in the history of the “area archeologica”: in reviewing the archival and bibliographical research on the site, she emphasizes how much attention has been paid to the elogia Scipionum at the expense of almost everything else. To establish a methodologically sound framework for her own assessment of the site, the Tomb of the Scipios is defined as UT 1, the first of 21 UTs in total. In chapter 4 (“Il catalogo delle unità topografiche,”), which makes up the bulk of the volume, Stefani painstakingly describes each and every stage in the development of the area during her chosen time frame, from the two columbaria at UT 5 and 6 to the three pit graves at UT 17, 18, and 19. The color-coded plan on p. 33 provides a helpful overview of this development, and the entries in the catalog include essential identification information, analysis of form, and, wherever possible, analysis of function. Throughout, the author makes comparisons with similar structures at related sites. It is fascinating to use the color-coded plan and the catalog together to trace the changing history of the site, from its origins as a residential space for the dead to its later use as a residential space for the living. The remains of buildings A, B, and C (UT 10, 11, and 12) offer tantalizing evidence of their ancient wall and floor decoration, and would merit even further study. There is, in particular, a brick in building C which contains a marking which the author identifies as “un ‘kappa’ ribaltato” (p. 90): could this, in fact, be the remnants of a Chi-Rho? In chapter 5 (“Tipologia delle tecniche edilizie individuate,” pp. 115–122), Stefani identifies the four major building techniques used (opus reticulatum, opus mixtum, opus latericium, and opus vittatum) and explains how the evolution from opus reticulatum to opus vittatum in the “area archeologica” reflects the general evolution of Roman building techniques from the Empire to Late Antiquity (p. 122).
The volume closes with two conclusions, one in Italian and the other in English. Chapter 6 (“Conclusioni,”) offers a precise and detailed periodization of the site, century by century, and a valuable overview of how the site was used (see Fig. n. 6.12 on p. 137), including a typology of funerary practices which reflects the progressive change from incineration to inhumation during this period. In the final paragraph, Stefani introduces the term “borderland o borderscape” to describe the liminality of the “area archeologica” as a space between the urbs and the suburbium (p. 139), but she might have introduced the idea earlier and explored its implications for her study in greater detail. Chapter 7 (“Conclusion,”), in turn, offers not an English translation of the preceding chapter but a stand-alone summary of the volume as a whole and, as such, serves as an ideal starting place for any scholar more comfortable with English than Italian. Accordingly, the chapter includes not only discussion about the periodization of the site and its mixed use, but also some interesting remarks on the expansion of the pomerium, as well as the idea of the “borderscape” (p. 147).
The volume closes with a relatively thorough “Bibliografia”, but no indices. Some traces of the original dissertation remain, from the detailed table of contents to the exhaustive catalog in chapter 4, but none of this appreciably detracts from the presentation of the argument. On the contrary, the lavish illustrations (in both color and black and white), especially the plethora of color-coded plans, help the reader to clearly visualize the many layers of the site. The editing of the Italian is generally good: I only noted a handful of true typographical errors, e.g., Cydonia Oblunga on p. 39 vs. Cidonia Oblonga on p. 41, where either Cydonia Oblonga or Cidonia Oblunga would be correct in both places. The English in chapter 7, however, needed further editing, e.g., “urbanistically” (p. 141) and “boardscape or borderscape” (p. 147). There appear to be some errors in the units of measurement (e.g., p. 111), and there is some confusion between image and caption across Figs. n. 6.1, 6.2, and 6.6 (pp. 123, 124, and 128). More importantly, I would have liked to have read even more about how the “area archeologica” of the Tomb of the Scipios compares to other similar sites along the via Appia and the via Latina, as well as to the Mausoleum of Augustus, and about how the “area archeologica” functions as a “borderscape,” a liminal space in all senses of the term. Regardless, the book represents a valuable contribution to the growing body of research on the Tomb of the Scipios and serves as a salient reminder that the site had a long (after)life.