IMPERFECTUM ADHUC: EDIFICI INCOMPIUTI E ATTIVITÀ EDILIZIA IN ASIA MINORE TRA TRAIANO E I SEVERI

Abstract

Ancient laws have important implications for the study of Roman building activity and architecture. However,
the number of legal (and literary) texts relating to unfinished buildings and aborted projects is very
limited. Explanation for this is found in the fact that the very concept of completing a building on a specific
date was unknown to Roman mentality and law: buildings are subject to constant additions, repairs, and
renovations by successive patrons. An interesting partial exception is represented by a limited set of second-
and third-century sources relating to Asia Minor. Notwithstanding their specific chronological and
geographical framework, these texts can be considered as representative of wider phenomena affecting the
Empire from the Trajanic-Hadrianic to the Severan periods.