The Evolution of the Porticus Octaviae

Abstract

The discovery of the true location of the Circus Flaminius in Rome invites reconsideration of the history of the Porticus Octaviae. It must have begun as a single wing along the circus, the Porticus Octavia, and been developed as a peristyle twenty-five years later by the addition of the Porticus Metelli. The two parts must still have been distinct in the time of Augustus, for he restored the Porticus Octavia. This will explain why the tradition that he paid for the Porticus Octaviae grew up. Gatti's identification of the Porticus Aemilia must be abandoned, as it will fit neither topographically nor architecturally with what we now know about early porticus in Rome. Down to the middle of the second century B.C. these were either singlewing stoas or streets covered with roofs supported on columns. The Porticus Aemilia must have been a light structure near Piazza Bocca della Verità that disappeared by the early Empire.