Some considerations on the Roman building techniques in the early fifth century

The aim of this study is to expand our knowledge of the building techniques practised in Rome in the first decades of the fifth century. Starting with an analysis of the largest construction project in the city at that time – the great Honorian heightening of the imperial wall of Rome – comparisons were made with other buildings of that era in order to reconstruct the building process. We were particularly interested in the materials used (mainly bricks and tufa blocks), their origins (whether new or spolia), how they were used, how scaffolding was constructed (worked out by observing putlog holes) and recognising the various tasks of labourers put to work on this construction project. This study is part of a body of research on Roman construction techniques, a matter of interest to architects and archaeologists, particularly those that focus on Rome’s Aurelian Wall.