Tarso romana: lineamenti dell’articolazione urbana (con appendice metodologica)

Abstract

This contribution reviews the data currently available for reconstructing the urban layout of Tarsus in the Roman period. As in all continuously occupied cities, our knowledge is partial and discontinuous, often the result of chance discoveries and, or, of limited rescue excavations. In the absence of a reliable cartographic record and in light of the need to operate in a modern, deeply transformed urban context, we choose to use geospatial data drawn from open sources, integrated and calibrated with a project structured on the QGIS platform. Even if it is impossible to provide a complete picture of the topography of the capital of the province of Cilicia, it appears that the urban area was crossed by two main roads running in roughly straight lines and intersecting in the city center. However, the city does not seem to have had a regular, unified layout, but rather consisted of districts with different orientations. For example,
the alignment of the central baths was influenced by the course of the Kydnos River, the neighborhood north of Gözlü was apparently oriented in relation to the main roads, while the Temple of Hadrian on the periphery was autonomous. These variations reflect a city that grew and evolved over time.

KEYWORDS: Tarsus, Cilicia, urban layout, ancient topography, geomorphology, GIS