Seite - 16 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

16 Patric-AlexanderKreuz Canals andwaterways: Controllingwater in the cities Shaped evenmore by the local hydrologywas the urban layout ofMilan, like Verona amajor Celtic settlement.Bridgesoverwatercoursesandcanalswithinand immediatelyoutside thecity walls arementioned in publications, but are often insufficiently known.7 The resulting, rather incompletepictureallowsnotopographical connections tobeexploredorevenareconstruction of the localnetworkofcanals.8Yete.g. the lackofanorthogonal layoutof thecity (and,accord- ingly, the experience of the local urban tissue and its streets) has been explained by the local hydrological situationand theearlier settlementdevelopment alreadydeterminedby it.9 Inad- dition, structures like canals, piers, embankments, bridges and related infrastructure of poten- tialhighvisibility in thecityareaproper,aswellas in thesuburbium,musthavebeenperceived asacommonelementof the local topographyanddailyurbanexperience. TheyproveMilan to bea ‘cittàd’acqua’10–even ifwearenotable tospecify theconcreteconsequences for the local topographyand its localizedurban spaces. This, in turn,hasbeenaccomplishedrecently for thecityofAltinum,where the topography hasbeenrevealedcity-widebyacombinedanalysisofaerialphotographsand infrared images11 (Fig.3). Here, in a settlement area characterised by fluvial and lagoon processes, canals sur- roundedanddelimited thecityarea,while twowide inner-city canalsof rather irregular course formed the backbone of the city: anEast-West canal of about 26mwidth and a canal running from north to south of lesser width. Identifiable as dominant elements, the two canals were linedbystreetsand,at least for somestretches,borderedbystoneembankments.12 Theysubdi- vided the city area of approx. 1400×700m into three areas. In addition, the layout of the streets, the locationof severalpublicbuildings, bridges,mooringsandpierswithporticoes can be identified. Distinguishable – and explained by the city’s development, determined in turn by the localhydrological situation–are e.g. different orientationsaswell as insula sizesof the street system in the city area: thenorth quarterwith its public buildings of the city centre, the south quarter, and the east quarter as a later expansion of the city area.13With its canals and their urbanistic impact, Altinumoffers remarkable insights into the urban reality of the afore- mentioned statements byVitruvius or Strabo, remindingus also of cities of later epochs in the region, suchasChioggiaor,of course,Venice,wherecontrolledwaterplayedandplaysamajor role for theurban space, its development andexperience. The important role of canals andwaterways for the cities on the caput Adriae can also be underlinedforAquileia, themajorurbancentreof theregion.Geophysical investigationscarried out by the Austrian Archaeological Institute from 2011 on allowed for the documentation and analysisof rivercoursesandcanals in theurbanareasoutside thecitywalls.14Canalsoriginally runningalong theold fortificationwalls show that the citywas, comparable toMilanandAlti- num,surroundedbywaterways: the riverNatisoalongtheeasternandsouthernsideof thecity, theCanaleNordwhich connects into theNatiso from thenorth, and theCanaleAnfora,which, takingup theorientationof the street gridof the city’s layout, led towards thecity at about the heightof thedecumanusrunningto thewesternsideof the forum.Thecanale thenturnednorth 7 Haug 2003, 67. 414 no.2.3.: bridge of the 1st century AD crossing an open canal running from north to south within the city area. 8 Sacchi 2012, 13f. 9 CeresaMori 2004, 305; Sacchi 2012, 13f. 10 Sacchi 2012, 14. 11 Ninfo et al. 2009;Mozzi et al. 2011; Tirelli 2011. 12 The construction of the bankof themain channel is largely unknown.Anexcavationnear the localmuseum, however, uncovered apart of thewestern border of the canal. It featured– at this place – amore than 4mdeep ramp-like sectionwith stepsdatingback to the 2ndhalf of the 1st centuryBC:Vigoni 2013, 100 fig.67. 13 On thesedifferences in theurbanareaofAltinum, seeTirelli 2011, 61‒66. 14 Groh 2011, 156 figs. 3. 10;Groh–Schimmer 2013, fig.4.