Archaeological Museum of Bologna

Museo Civico Archeologico
Via dell'Archiginnasio 2 - 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211

Direzione e Uffici
Via de' Musei 8 – 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211 - Fax 051.26.65.16
mca@comune.bologna.it

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Collections / Itineraries / Roman Bologna: the village

Introduction

The dimensions of the town, known to us, mainly refer to the age of Emperor Augustus (end of the first century BC) who restored the city, the primitive road system and monuments of the previous age, such as the basilica and the theater.
In the most central isolates - that, from the beginning, occupied the area of the current Piazza Maggiore and the middle band of the town - were located public buildings, the forum, the pedestrianized main square, the basilica (the monumental civil complex of the city) which overlooked on the forum, the macellum (shopping center), the theater and the temples.
Bologna was served by an underground aqueduct that took water from the river Setta and, after a course of 18 km, reaching up to the southern edge of the village, where there were the tanks, from which departed the lead pipes for water distribution, that fueled public fountains, rich private homes and baths. Always in the Augustus age, in the second century BC, was built a bridge over the river Rhine.
Private homes were initially modest, built in wood and plastered and painted bricks; during the Imperial Age in richest homes appeared mosaic floors and walls painted or decorated with stucco.
In the Eastern peripheral area, close to the historical center, there were the amphitheater, the public building intended for games and shows, and the Temple of Isis.
In the outskirts of the city were implanted craft activities: furnaces for the bricks and ceramics production, clothes and footwear factories, workshops for metalworking. In the campaigns developed agricultural centers (pages) and villae, farms with manor house, slave quarters and farm buildings. The necropolises (cemeteries) were located outside the perimeter of the city along the main streets, close to settlements and villas.

Exhibition rooms | Atrium - Lapidarium

Exhibition rooms | Courtyard – Lapidarium

Exhibition rooms | Room XII - Roman Bologna