Supplements

BABESCH Supplement 46 (2023)
Alexandra Alexandridou, Yannos Kourayos, Ilia Daifa (editors), Despotiko, the site of Mandra. The “Temple” complex and its deposits
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BABESCH Supplement 47
Marcello Turci, Lo sviluppo termale del settore costiero della città di Ostia: Riesame della documentazione e nuove indaginialle Thermae Maritimae (IV, X, 1) e alle c.d. Terme Marittime (III, VIII, 2)

The present study is the result of a research on the thermal/roman baths located in the coastal district of Ostia. In Hadrian’s time, the coastline of the port town was developed with a series of thermal buildings: the Thermae maritimae (IV, X, 1), the «Terme del Sileno» and the so-called «Terme Marittime» (III, VIII, 2). This thermal vocation increased in late antiquity when a series of bathing facilities were built along the coastal road. Through the direct study of the thermal architecture, the revision of ancient excavations and the examination of the urban evolution of Ostia, as well as the wider territorial contexts (connections, infrastructures, exchanges, trades), this volume offers new perspectives integrating archaeological research with the economic, political and social history of the imperial and late Roman period.

BABESCH Supplement 48
Gemma Jansen, Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow and Richard Neudecker (eds), Sixty-Six Toilets and Urinals in the Ancient City of Rome. Sanitary, Urbanistic, and Social Agency

This book is the first ever in presenting a complete overview of all Roman toilets known in the capital of the Roman empire. Roman toilet specialists, Gemma Jansen, Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow and Richard Neudecker, together with 31 collaborating archaeologists working in Rome, provide a comprehensive description of these excavated toilets with abundant illustrations. Some of these toilets have been known for years, others have been excavated only recently and are presented for the first time in this work. Another first is that this assembly of toilets has been analyzed as a group, and in a greater context. The work discusses not only their cultural context, but also their hygiene, their water supply and drainage, architecture, seat design and their place in the urban and mental environment of the ancient city of Rome. The presented investigations are based on both archaeological remains and Roman text-based sources. This unprecedented compendium does not just aim to address specialists of the field; interested readers will find that they can exit the immediate confines of the toilets and step right into the heart of Roman culture and society.

BABESCH Supplement 49
Babette Bechtold, Stefano Vassallo, Le anfore Greco-occidentali dale necropoli di Himera (VI-V sec. A.C.). Produzioni e circolazione

In recent years, the increasing quantity and quality of specialised analysis have invigorated the study of ancient amphorae, enhancing our understanding of transport dynamics along maritime routes and the relationship between the origin of the products contained in the amphorae, their distribution, and the primary commissioning centres.
This volume presents the results of the research conducted on the Western Greek amphorae discovered in the necropo¬leis of Himera, dating from the early 6th century to 409 BCE, the year of the settlement’s destruction and abandonment. Building upon previous examinations of Phoenician-Punic amphorae from the same site, this new study encompasses 554 specimens utilised as containers for children’s burials. By formally studying the vessels and employing mineralogical and chemical clay analyses, numerous centres that adopted this unique amphoric shape to market and transport their agricultural products, primarily wine, between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE were identified.
Through the analysis of the amphorae excavated at Himera, a point of arrival for these containers along one of the most dynamic trade routes in the Tyrrhenian world, the evolution of this amphoric shape can be traced. Its earliest examples originated from Sibari in the early 6th century BCE, followed by widespread adoption by numerous Greek settlements in Sicily and Magna Graecia, as well as Marseille, Corcyra, Butrint, and Corinth. The popularity of this typology is further evidenced by its production in non-Greek centres, such as the Punic emporia of Palermo and Solunto, and the indigenous centre of Entella.

BABESCH Supplement 50
Gilbert Wiplinger (ed.), Bathing Culture in Budapest. Proceedings of the International Frontinus Conference Budapest, September 8-15, 2022