Identification During the printing of PM 1960, the authors realized that this fragment joins with frs. 118ab and 118c (see reconstruction in PM 1960, p. 121). It is thus possible to identify the row of rooms at the bottom of this fragment as a long line of tabernae, backing onto the street and to another building to the left in fr. 118ab. The street makes a sharp turn to the right in fr. 118ab and connects with a thoroughfare that traverses the entire fragment. The thoroughfare separates a large, single-family house that occupies most of the space in fr. 118ab from the multi-roomed building in this fragment. The varying shapes and sizes of the rooms in this building, all with direct or indirect access to the L-shaped street, suggest that they served as shops, work spaces, and apartments. Although the building is only partially preserved, the lack of staircases in the visible part of the structure indicates that it was single-storeyed.

Significance As witnessed by ample evidence in towns like Ostia, multi-purpose buildings like the one depicted in this fragment were an integral part of larger Roman cityscapes. They must have been ubiquitous in Rome itself, yet today there are hardly any remains of this type of architecture in Rome. This fragment not only provides important evidence for the architecture of such buildings in Rome, together with frs. 118ab and 118c, it also presents a fascinating view of how such multi-faceted structures interlaced with other types of buildings in a non-monumental, Roman neighborhood (see frs. 118ab and 118c for more information about the architecture represented there).

Text by Tina Najbjerg.