Author: C. Lamanna

Download article as .pdf: Gli impianti termali di Ravenna: infrastrutture idriche e organizzazione urbana in età tardoantica

This paper explores the hydraulic infrastructure and bathing facilities of Ravenna from the Roman to the Late Antique period, combining archaeological, epigraphic, and literary evidence within a topographical perspective. The study traces the development of the city’s water supply system – from wells and cisterns to the Trajanic aqueduct and its later restorations under Theoderic and the Byzantine exarchs – highlighting its role in shaping Ravenna’s urban and social fabric. Through the examination of at least fifteen bath complexes, both public and private, it reconstructs patterns of spatial distribution and functional organization in relation to the city’s main thoroughfares and monumental areas. The evidence reveals the long continuity and gradual transformation of bathing culture into the early Middle Ages, as ecclesiastical institutions inherited, adapted, and repurposed former public baths for charitable, ritual, and representational aims. The case of Ravenna provides a privileged lens through which to understand the enduring interaction between water management, architecture, and urban life in Late Antiquity.