Page - 25 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

2 FromNature to Topography 25 Therefore, although a commercial use of the canal for the inner-city handling of goods is likely, the wide area of the steps contiguous to the street grid, their monumental design, the presentation of freestanding inscriptions and, later, of amassive honorarymonument, both of whichpresupposeand implyacertainpublicity,mayargueagainst itsuseasapurely commer- cial infrastructure. It is a hypothetical, but nevertheless appealing assumption to imagine this urban area along the northern side of the canal as amore high-profile location, possibly even with a sought-after public character. The case of Concordia thus indicates a more coherent, ‘total’ appropriationofwater than theone inneighbouringAltinumor inVeronamentionedat thebeginning. In its subordination to the local streetgridand its completearchitecturalization, it is conceivedhereasa topographicalplace, asa locale for thepublic, for localised interaction andevenmonumental communication–apart from the forum. With their ambitious architectural initiatives, Verona and Iulia Concordia confront uswith two different approaches to including or even embracingwater, i.e. local watercourses, on a largescale intheir topography. InVerona, theriverwasoneelementofamonumental reshaping of a complete hillside, including river embankment, theatre, terraces, and a sanctuary. The re- sult was a veduta-like arrangement, with the river serving as a visual starting point, yet also distancing the viewer. In Iulia Concordia, on the other hand,we find a localwatercourse com- pletely subordinated to the city layoutwith its orthogonal systemof streets and insulae, and, thanks to thesubsequentdonationof thesteps,upgradedasa locale.Yetdespite thesedifferent approaches,both inVeronaandIuliaConcordiawaterwasembedded inaremarkablycoherent, prominentwayas anelement of anoverall urbanarrangement.Naturebecame topography. Localwater and local identity: the caseof Padua Themany-layered local ‘treatment’ of water within urban space in northern Italy finds a rare and unusual facet in the case of Padua, pointing to the potentialmeaning of water in a local cityscapebeyondthe infrastructuraloraestheticaspectsoutlinedabove.Alreadyduring the late Republicanperiod, the oldVenetic and laterRomancitywaspraised for its prosperity. Accord- ing to Strabo, Padua was the best of all the cities in the region. The geographer Pomponius Mela characterises the city in his De Chorographia as urbs opulentissima.41 City and territory were, according toLivy, himself aPaduan, characterisedbywatercourses, canals anda lagoon landscape. An important urban factorwas the riverMetuacus,which surrounded the core area of the ancient city. Several areas and infrastructures of the Roman ‘riverscape’ of Padua are known fromarchaeological excavations. Bridges, piers, andwarehouses along the river formedan im- portant part of the Metuacus’ waterside. Yet one of the structures, excavated in today’s Via Battisti 1, is of particular interest: awide, probably semicircular architectural settingbuilt from large trachyteblocksanddated to themiddleof the 1st centuryBC.42 Theknownremainsof the onlypartially excavatedarchitecture allow for a reconstructionas akindofwide, steppedexe- drawith at least seven 29cmhigh steps, opening towards the river and descending to it. Due to its unusual layout, the structure canhardly be interpreted exclusively as a pier for thehan- dling of goods. Rather, it has features of amonumental architectural setting that instead indi- catea specific character asaplace for a specialpurpose. The riverwould thusbea topographi- cal space for adiscrete locationwith a specificmonumental quality.43 41 Mela 1, 60. 42 RutaSerafini 2002, 57f.; Vigoni 2013, 99f. fig.66; Zara 2018, 132 fig.92; 447no. 114. 43 Yet the concrete appearanceof this constructionbeyond the architectural layout or even its valorisation as an installation remain unclear. The use of the very durablematerial trachyte aswell as nomention of awhite lime- stone or anydecorative elements point to a rather utilitariandesign. Considering this, it is hypothetical – yet has a certain charm– to connect this constructionwith a regularly staged naval battle to celebrate a historic victory