La costa a sud di Roma tra Tardo-Antico e Alto Medioevo

In the early 3rd cent. AD, the coastline of Latium south of Rome underwent substantial developments. Several villas and the Vicus Augustanus Laurentium were amplified and their facilities increased. Honorary statues were dedicated at Lavinium and important buildings at Castrum Inui (port of Ardea) were renewed. In the same period, the Via Severiana can be traced along the coast, probably to integrate the coastal trade. In the following century, the Constantinian age was particularly significant for the region. Public baths at the Vicus Augustanus, Tor Paterno and Lavinium were renovated and modified, while the structure of the Vicus underwent a general transformation, with less rich buildings and more fragmented properties. The evidence of the Liber Pontificalis indicates that several imperial estates scattered along the coast were donated by the emperor to the churches of Rome and Ostia, to cover the cost of maintaining the new Christian basilicas. Later sources are less reliable, but nevertheless they continue to record imperial properties in the area. Eventually the Constantinian donations to the Roman bishopric formed the core of new papal farms – the domus cultae – which were instituted in the 8th cent. by popes Zacharias and Hadrian to increase the city’s food supply after the end of the system of the imperial annona and the loss of properties of the church in Sicily.