Identification While arcades or covered porticos were considered a luxury, they were by no means restricted to such grandiose areas as the slopes of the Palatine, facing the Circus Maximus (see fr. 8bde). Frs. 33abc, 34a, 34b and 34c depict a large, predominantly commercial area by the Tiber which abounds with rows of tabernae and arcades in front. The bottom arcade in this fragment may belong with the rooms at the bottom, which perhaps are shops. Covered arcades or porticos in front of shops signify that there was a second storey or a mezzanine level above the shops, which would have provided the shop owners with additional living room (Reynolds 1996, p. 158). This is also suggested by the staircase situated in one of these bottom rooms. The arcade that seems to function as the front of the multistorey enclosures, however, is unusual on the Plan and how the enclosure was used is uncertain.

Significance This fragment is typical of non-identified fragments of the Plan. No monumental buildings are represented, and the fragment instead provides a view of the lesser known structures that made up the urban fabric of Rome: the residential and commercial buildings.

Text by Tina Najbjerg