Roman Florence

Florence is famous worldwide for its Renaissance identity, but it has many more faces worth exploring: first of all the most ancient… the Roman one.

In the historical center, many are the traces that remind us about the millennial origins of Florence. We don’t know the exact year of its foundation (maybe 59 b.C.), but there are no doubts that it originally was a Roman camp called Florentia. Looking at a map of the city we can clearly see that the street grid still retains the regular structure typical of a Roman castrum. The 19th-century Piazza della Repubblica was built where the ancient Forum used to be located, while the perimeter walls ran along today’s via Tornabuoni, piazza del Duomo-via Cerretani, via del Proconsolo - where the shape of the foundation of a tower is still visible in correspondence with the first city wall - and a segment of Lungarno. The Cardo (today’s via Roma, via Calimala) and the Decumanus (via Strozzi, via del Corso) intersected at the center of the Forum, where today stands the Column of Abundance in Piazza della Repubblica.

During the second half of the 19th century - especially during the years when Florence became the capital of Italy - the extensive works of “renovatio urbis” caused to fortuitously come across many traces of the Roman period that lay beneath layers of pavement and cobblestones: the most interesting discoveries were made during the demolition of the Mercato Vecchio, “Old Market” (now Piazza della Repubblica). Further discoveries were made in the 1980s, during the repaving of Piazza della Signoria. Many of the remains were only temporarily brought to light: the Forum and the Tempio Capitolino of Piazza della Repubblica, the thermal baths and the villa beneath the Baptistery, the imperial thermal baths and the fullery found underneath Piazza della Signoria, and the section of Cardo found under via Calimaruzza. But many others can still be easily reached by descending only a few steps, portals to the past. The most important one is the Roman Theater underneath Palazzo Vecchio; and there are also the remains below Torre della Pagliazza (in piazza Sant’Elisabetta) and the ancient headquarters of Arte dei Giudici e Notai (Guild of Judges and Notaries), in via del Proconsolo 16r, presently occupied by a restaurant. Let’s not forget the Crypt of Santa Reparata, dating back to the Paleochristian period, which can be accessed from the interior of the Cathedral.

Undoubtedly, Florentia’s Roman roots are clearly shown by the regular-shaped street grid of its historical center, typical of former Roman camps, as well as by several street toponyms (via delle Terme, for the presence of thermal baths; via di Capaccio = Caput Aquae, via Calimala = Callis Maia, main street). Also Ponte Vecchio, the bridge symbol of Florence, was built where its Roman predecessor originally stood, as evidenced by some recent findings in the river bed.

In the 15th century, in the spirit of Humanism and Renaissance, Florence, as well as many other cities, showed a new awareness of its own glorious roots. Cosimo I de’ Medici celebrated his territory’s Etruscan origins (ancient Tuscia) by establishing the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1569.

The best places to find out more about Tuscany’s history are definitely the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, where important Etruscan-Roman masterpieces are exhibited, and the beautiful Archaeological Area of Fiesole.