Descrizioni dei frammenti antichi a Roma fra X e XV secolo. Considerazioni preliminari su termini impiegati nella documentazione edita.

The paper presents the analysis of some specific terms used in edited documents to describe fragments and antiquities in Rome and outside the City Walls, between the X and the XIV centuries. Three further documents from the second half of the XV century are considered. This selection of records, from edited notarial and religious orders’ archives, is far from being exhaustive – since it describes the approach towards antiquity of a small part of the Roman population. However, it can help in underlining the way the remains were perceived and the possible variation of these attitudes through the Late Middle Ages. Examining the collected documents, the fragments seem to be described in a positive and noble way until the XIV century, while in the scripts from the XV century the ruins seem to gradually acquire a sense of decay and neglection. Thus, the dignity and authority of the remains seems to become less important, while the emphasis is increasingly placed on the decay of matter.