Identification: Porticus Philippi The large portico in this fragment has been identified as the porticus Philippi (PM 1960, pp. 91-92, pl. 29; AG 1980, p. 114, pl. 23). The identification is based on the inscription [PORTI]CUS OCTAVIAE ET FIL[IPPI] in fr. 31u which jointly labels two separate structures, both partially visible in this fragment, the Porticus of Philippus and the Porticus of Octavia (for a different reading of the inscription, see Richardson 1976, p. 63). The identification of the Porticus of Philippus is also based upon the assumption that L. Marcius Philippus, Augustus' stepbrother, built the portico (and named it after himself) when he reconstructed the aedis Herculis Musarum, the temple enclosed in its center (see frs. 31bb, 31hh, and the missing 31eeff and ggz; LTUR IV, p. 146). The porticus Philippi consisted of an open courtyard that was surrounded on all four sides by double porticoes. On the Marble Plan, a line separates the outer from the inner colonnade. Recent excavations have demonstrated that the outer portico was raised high (at least three meters) above the inner courtyard (LTUR IV, p. 147), and the line probably denotes the inner wall of this raised portico. The columns of the inner colonnade have been interpreted as trees because they do not line up with those of the outer colonnade (LTUR IV, p. 146). This, however, does not correspond to the observation that the Marble Plan in general only depicts man-made, architectural features. The inner row of dots probably represents a covered colonnade that was built against the tall inner wall of the outer portico. As shown by fr. 31hh, the front of the large quadriporticus was closed off by a wall; this fragment demonstrates that also the back terminated in a wall. Unlike the front wall, however, the back wall was articulated with a row of columns on plinths.

Identification: Porticus Octaviae The building in the upper corner of the fragment, to which there was access from the peristyle, is the Porticus of Octavia, or at least a subsidiary room to it (Rodríguez-Almeida 1991, p. 20). Like the Porticus of Philippus, it is identified by the inscription in fr. 31u. The building, constructed by Augustus or his sister Octavia, replaced an earlier structure, the porticus Metelli (see LTUR IV, pp. 130-132; Richardson 1992, pp. 315, 317). It was rebuilt in the Severan period and may be the structure referred to twice in the Historia Augusta as the porticus Severi (LTUR IV, p. 142). According to the Marble Plan (frs. 31u, 31z (missing), 31vaa, 31bb, 31cc, 31ii) it consisted of an open courtyard surrounded by a covered, double row of colonnades in front and double colonnades and walls along the sides, also covered. The rear of the building is missing on the Plan but it presumably consisted of a covered, double colonnade with a wall behind it. Excavations have demonstrated that the porticoes were raised 1.70 m above the central courtyard (Ciancio Rossetto 1996, p. 267). That the porticoes were raised is indicated on the plan by the two different sets of steps leading to the building in this fragment. The entrance (visible in frs. 31u and the missing 31z) was centered in the S portico. On the Plan, it is depicted as a double row of six columns on pedestals, the front row projecting slightly out from the outer colonnade. Recent excavations have shown, however, that in the Severan period, the S portico was closed off with a wall (Ciancio Rossetto 1996, pp. 270, 273). At that time, the entrance was also changed into a monumental propylaeum (still visible today) whose front and back faces projected far out from the front and the rear of the S portico. Each face consisted of two antae that flanked four columns on piers (Ciancio Rossetto 1996, pp. 267-270; LTUR IV, p. 144). This demonstrates that the Marble Plan depicted the Porticus Octaviae in its Augustan, not Severan, phase (Ciancio Rossetto 1996, pp. 267).

Identification: Porticus Octavia(?) E. Rodríguez-Almeida (1991, pp. 20-23) has tentatively identified the elaborate back portico of the porticus Philippi or the small peristyle behind the Porticus of Philippus as the porticus Octavia (to be distinguished from the porticus Octaviae; for a summary of the complex problem of the location of the Porticus Octavia, see LTUR IV: Porticus Octavia [A. Viscogliosi] pp. 139-141 and Richardson 1992, p. 317). To solve the problem of why the Porticus Octavia was referred to by ancient sources as a duplex, Rodríguez-Almeida proposed that the small peristyle in this fragment had a twin in the NW corner of Porticus Philippi (missing on the Marble Plan)(Rodríguez-Almeida 1991, pp. 22-23 and fig. 9). For L. Richardson's suggestion that the Porticus Octavia was originally a single-wing portico with a double colonnade that faced the Circus Flaminius and which was later incorporated into the Porticus Metelli to form a quadriporticus around the two temples to Iuno and Iuppiter, see Richardson 1976, pp. 60-61.

Identification: Theatrum, crypta Balbi The oblique line in the corner of the fragment was originally identified as the edge of the Circus Flaminius (PM 1960, p. 92 and reconstruction in pl. 62). In a series of brilliant articles in the 1960s and 70s, however, G. Gatti correctly relocated the Circus Flaminius to the area west of the Theater of Marcellus and between the Porticus Octaviae and Philippi and the Tiber (Gatti 1960, 1961 and 1979). Archaeological remains between the Via delle Botteghe Oscure and the Piazza Mattei, formerly assumed to be those of the Circus Flaminius, Gatti instead associated with the Theater and Cryptoporticus of Balbus. He did so by repositioning fr. 30abc to the lower right corner of slab V-11 where it matched the preexisting fragments, including fr. 35dd (see Gatti 1979, fig. 8). Gatti's thesis was confirmed when the architecture of the crypta Balbi, as depicted in fr. 30abc, matched the actual remains between Via delle Botteghe Oscure and Piazza Mattei and Via dei Delfini (see Gatti 1979, fig. 10). One of Rome's three permanent theaters, the theatrum Balbi was constructed by L. Cornelius Balbus and inaugurated in 13 BCE (LTUR V, p. 30). Although the theater itself is not depicted on the FUR, Gatti reconstructed its position just west of the crypta, between Via Caetani and Via Paganica, where remains of the cunei of the cavea had been discovered (Gatti 1979, pp. 206-218; LTUR V, figs. 17-18). Although the name of the crypta Balbi is only known from the 4th-c. Regionary Catalogues, the building can now be tentatively reconstructed as a square courtyard that was surrounded on three sides by enclosed walkways and attached to the back (E side) of the theater. The oblique line in this fragment does not seem to have been part of the theater complex proper, but it ran parallel to the S wall of the crypta (see Gatti 1979, fig. 8) and may represent the edge of a street along the S wall of the complex.

Significance These buildings lie at the S end of the Campus Martius and the N end of the Forum Boarium. Their depiction on the Marble Plan sheds light on how the city's inhabitants understood the layout of this area of the city. Together with frs. 31u, 31z (missing) and 31ii, this fragment was key to G. Gatti's relocation of the Circus Flaminius and to the realization that ancient authors referred to certain buildings in the Campus Martius as in circo because of their proximity and similar orientation to the circus. For a more detailed summary of the problem concerning the use of the ancient locators in circo and in campo, see Rodríguez-Almeida 1991-92.

Text by Tina Najbjerg