ARIMINUM
(Rimini) Forli, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
On the Adriatic coast half way between Ancona
and Ravenna and between the Ariminus (Marecchia)
and the Aprusa (Ausa) rivers. According to Strabo it was
first an Umbrian colony, then in 268 B.C. a Latin colony,
recolonized under Augustus. In the 3d c. B.C. Ariminum,
with Arretium, was a stronghold in the line of defense
against the Gauls in the Padana plain. It was the terminal point of the Via Flaminia, and later also of the
Via Aemilia and the Via Popilia, making the city a port
of notable size at the mouth of the Ariminus. Ariminum
followed the party of Marians, and as a consequence
was damaged and depressed by the Sullans. The site was
of great strategic importance in the 2d c. B.C., and later
was Caesar's point of departure for the civil war. It was
the temporary headquarters of Augustus during the Illyrian wars, and was later variously involved in the events
of the 3d-4th c. A.D., and in the Gothic war at the time of
Justinian. Ariminum was a component of the Adriatic
pentarchy. It was the seat of a bishopric at least from the
4th c., and in A.D. 359 was also the seat of a council.
The principal monuments are an arch of Augustus, a
bridge of Tiberius, and an amphitheater. At either side
of the arch stretches of the walls remain and bases of
towers contemporary with the first colonization, both in
polygonal work of local stone. Of the new circuit wall
constructed in the time of Sulla in opera quadrata, there
remains the S gate with two arches, which has since been
reconstructed in another position. Several funerary monuments found along the Via Flaminia complete the Republican remains at Ariminum, made more understandable
today by the discovery of ceramic workshops contemporary with the first colonial city plan. The arch, which
dates from 27 B.C., was substituted for the E gate, and
is the monument commemorating the roadbuilding policies of Augustus. It is a single span framed by the Corinthian order in Classical style, and is the oldest preserved monument of this type. It bears four shields with
images of divinities inspired by the ideology of the period
after the battle of Actium. The bridge of Tiberius, from
A.D. 14, is an imposing work with decoratibn and inscription which indicate its sacred nature. The amphitheater,
probably Hadrianic, in the NE part of the city near the
large ancient port, has a single row of arches. It was in
rubble concrete revetted with brick, and with pilasters in
the Tuscan order.
The city was orthogonal in plan except in the SE sector, but the outline of the walls was semicircular, conforming to the concavity of the land. The grid of streets
is almost entirely preserved in the modern streets, with
the forum at the intersection of the principal axes. In
the Imperial age a block adjacent to the forum held the
theater. The cardo led to the port and was originally the
principal road of the city. Later, following the junction of
the Via Flaminia with the Via Aemilia, the most heavily
used artery became and remained the decumanus. The
port was gradually moved as the course of the river
changed with time, and as a consequence a second forum
was built to the W in late antiquity in the area that became the center of life in the mediaeval period.
Excavations in the last ten years have documented the
life and activity of the urban center during the first colonial age and have also brought to light an important
phase of late antiquity. The latter is linked with a period
of impressive rebuilding, especially in the private sector.
Large homes contained polychrome mosaic pavements
featuring geometric and figured designs of great variety
and size, and showing a notable level of artistic achievement. The plans of private buildings from the late and
middle Imperial age are also shown by recent excavation
to be outstanding and complex. Evidence is scarce concerning the city's economic life, with the exception of the
ceramic workshops located in the S and W suburbs and
a private horreum mentioned in an inscription and perhaps located near the ancient port. The entrance to this
is now buried and unrecognizable. A suburb beyond the
Marecchia, and included within the mediaeval walls, is
perhaps of ancient origin. Necropoleis have been recognized to the S and E, but little is known of them. In the
E burial area the first Christian ecclesiastical building
was constructed. The territory to the NW shows traces
of a centuriation oriented secundum caelum, and considered to be very ancient. There were numerous inhabited
centers in the territory around Ariminum, and from
mediaeval documents it appears that the land was farmed
throughout the entire ancient period.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tonini,
Storia civile e sacra riminese,
I-IV (1848); Aurigemma,
Guida ai più notevoli monumenti romani e al Museo archeologico di Rimini (1934)
MPI; G. A. Mansuelli,
Ariminum (1941)
MPI; id.,
“L'arco di Augusto a Rimini”
Emilia Romana II (1944)
109-91; id., “Additamenta ariminensia,”
Studi in onore
di C. Lucchesi (1952) 113-28; id., “Il monumento augusteo del 27 a.C.,”
Arte antica e moderna 8 (1959) 363-91;
11 (1960) 16-35; Arias, “Mosaico romano policromo di
Rimini,”
Studi in onore di C. Luechesi (1952) 1-10;
Zuffa, “Nuove scoperte di archeologia e storia riminese,”
Studi archeologici riminesi (Studi Romagnoli 13) (1964)
47-94
MPI.
G. A. MANSUELLI
