Ever since its founding, Rome has been vulnerable to the swelling waters of its Tiber River. This river was so important to the city that it was a defining character in Rome’s history for over two thousand years. However, this river-city relationship would be suddenly severed in the late 19th century as Rome was declared the Italian capital. And, with the creation of the capital, came the creation of the river walls. While this new infrastructure safeguarded the city from future flooding, it razed the relationship between the city and its river. It lost its use as a commercial trade route, transportation system and leisure landscape, and before long the Tiber was forgotten. This thesis proposes a design intervention at Rome’s historic river-city site, the Porto di Ripetta. Once the physical and symbolic gateway to the city, the Ripetta is presently the most disconnected site along the Tiber River. Not only does the proposed project aim to synergistically unite a series of complex archaeological layers from antiquity to present-day, it also aspires to reconnect the city to its historical relationship with its river, introduce another layer within Rome’s transportation network, and expand the city’s cultural agenda along its underutilized continuous corridor. The introduction of river-based programme is logical when created within a series of design solutions that both recognize and address the temporal nature of the riverscape. Through in-depth historical analysis, this thesis examines the complexities of the Tiber River’s existence and analyzes its sociological, physical and political importance to the Eternal City. This understanding of the Tiber River’s unique qualities reveals tangible opportunities for new public spaces connected the potential of the Tiber as part of an expanded network of new public transportation, leisure landscapes, and cultural institutions.

Ever since its founding, Rome has been vulnerable to the swelling waters of its Tiber River. This river was so important to the city that it was a defining character in Rome’s history for over two thousand years. However, this river-city relationship would be suddenly severed in the late 19th century as Rome was declared the Italian capital. And, with the creation of the capital, came the creation of the river walls. While this new infrastructure safeguarded the city from future flooding, it razed the relationship between the city and its river. It lost its use as a commercial trade route, transportation system and leisure landscape, and before long the Tiber was forgotten. This thesis proposes a design intervention at Rome’s historic river-city site, the Porto di Ripetta. Once the physical and symbolic gateway to the city, the Ripetta is presently the most disconnected site along the Tiber River. Not only does the proposed project aim to synergistically unite a series of complex archaeological layers from antiquity to present-day, it also aspires to reconnect the city to its historical relationship with its river, introduce another layer within Rome’s transportation network, and expand the city’s cultural agenda along its underutilized continuous corridor. The introduction of river-based programme is logical when created within a series of design solutions that both recognize and address the temporal nature of the riverscape. Through in-depth historical analysis, this thesis examines the complexities of the Tiber River’s existence and analyzes its sociological, physical and political importance to the Eternal City. This understanding of the Tiber River’s unique qualities reveals tangible opportunities for new public spaces connected the potential of the Tiber as part of an expanded network of new public transportation, leisure landscapes, and cultural institutions.

The Laurentine Shore is the Imperial Roman palaeo-shoreline preserved up to 1km inland of the southern, distal edge of the Tiber Delta coastline of Lazio, western Central Italy. The progradation of the delta is recorded on the site as a series of shore-parallel relict dune ridges. High-status villas developed along the roman period coastline, with a service village (Vicus Augustanus), and other infrastructure such as roads, aqueduct, piscinae and several baths (thermae), these structures have been examined using a multi-scale geoarchaeological approach. A sea level reconstruction based on multi-proxy palaeo-environmental analysis of a silt/peat sedimentary transition from the base of a Roman piscina suggests that the sea level at ca. 2400 ± 40 BP was around 1.25 ± 0.2 m below modern sea level. This analysis provides further context for assessing the development of the site during the late Holocene in relation to the progradation of the Tiber delta and for the important Imperial Roman period occupation of the Laurentine Shore and other important sites such as Portus and Ostia Antica in the central part of the Tiber delta. At several key periods in the late Holocene, the palaeo-shoreline has been reconstructed using a geochronological framework of optical luminescence dates and geomorphological survey of the Tiber Delta dune ridge record. In particular, during the Imperial Roman period, ca. 2000 BP) it has been shown that the Laurentine Shore was settled during a period of significant Tiber delta shoreline progradation. Two-major building phases at the Vicus Augustanus occur within this progradation phase. By the abandonment of the site in the 5th century AD, the shoreline was around 70 m seaward of the shoreline during the 1st building phase of the Vicus. This rate of shoreline change could be noticeable by the population over decadal timescales and may have driven the alteration of coastal building and property plots during the 500 year lifetime of the settlement. A combined methodology incorporating sedimentology, geochemistry and petrological analysis of diagenetically altered sediments found that early vadose diagenesis may have a deleterious effect upon luminescence dating dosimetry, inducing age underestimation, especially of reddened dune sands. Petrological analysis has also shown that a lack of anomalous fading in luminescence behaviour observed in K-feldspars may be due to a lack of complex microstructure in the mineral grains driven by the metamorphic, Alpine origin of these minerals. An assessment of the geoarchaeological approach used in this thesis shows that a scale-driven context provides a useful structure for examining the various processes and factors affecting the geomorphological and sedimentological records improving confidence in the examination of the archaeological record.

Beneath Keathley Canyon (KC) off the Southern Coast of Louisiana and Texas, allochthonous salt bodies have attained thicknesses of over 7620 m (25000 feet), providing excellent seals and migration pathways for hydrocarbons produced by post-rift sedimentary deposition. This study analyzes a small portion of the KC area, utilizing Petrel Seismic software and well information from the KC102 (Tiber) well. An intra-Miocene wedge, expressed beneath salt, may provide information about movement of allochthonous salt over Wilcox sands, sediment compaction, and hydrocarbon pathways. Progradational sedimentation is the driving force which leads to faulting in the early Miocene, allowing Jurassic salt to rise, spreading laterally and upwards towards the surface, scarring the sediments beneath it in glacier-like form. This intrusion helped to create the proper conditions for formation of a petroleum play system, maintain reservoir quality sands and temperatures, and create a four way closure in the Eocene for prospective well location.

Ostie et Portus sont deux villes portuaires emblématiques de la façade littorale de la Rome antique. Construites au contact du Tibre et de la mer Tyrrhénienne, elles se situent dans des milieux géomorphologiquement très instables (mobilité du fleuve et du trait de côte). Nous nous proposons dans cette étude de reconstituer les dynamiques hydrosédimentaires du Tibre deltaïque à l’époque romaine (principalement aux Ier s. av. – Ier s. ap. J.-C.) et d’en identifier les conséquences sur le système Ostie-Portus. Pour mener à bien ce travail, nous nous appuyons sur des données sédimentaires issues de carottages réalisés dans le paléoméandre d’Ostie et les canaux de Portus. Ces résultats sont ensuite confrontés aux données archéologiques et historiques. Le croisement des données sédimentaires, archéologiques et textuelles permet d’envisager une crise hydrosédimentaire d’origine anthropoclimatique dans le bassin versant du Tibre s’étalant de la seconde partie du Ier s. av. J.-C. au début du Ier s. ap. J.-C. A Ostie, cette crise s’exprime par : (1) une accumulation de sédiments à l’embouchure du Tibre qui conduit au comblement du port fluvial d’Ostie ; (2) plusieurs inondations importantes (parfois torrentielles – cf. Rome) ; et (3) peut-être une hausse des niveaux phréatiques. A cela s’ajoute, avant ou pendant cette crise, une forte variabilité latérale de l’embouchure et du paléoméandre d’Ostie, qui a pu affecter le développement d’Ostie. Contraint par une forte pression démographique à Rome et par le contexte socio-économique, Claude fonde Portus au milieu du Ier s. ap. J.-C. Cette ville portuaire maritime est conçue dans l’idée de pallier les insuffisances du port d’Ostie : (1) les capacités d’accueil du port sont considérablement accrues (bassin de 200 ha) ; (2) le site d’implantation est choisi 3 km au nord de l’embouchure du Tibre pour échapper aux contraintes hydrosédimentaires qui se posaient à Ostie. Pour des raisons logistiques (transport des marchandises vers Rome), la planification de Portus est accompagnée d’un système de canaux relié au Tibre. Les ingénieurs romains prennent cependant soin de dissocier le système des canaux de celui des bassins portuaires (gestion de la charge solide) et certains de ces canaux sont envisagés comme évacuateurs de crue (gestion des inondations). Les études sédimentaires menées permettent de décrire les modalités de fonctionnement et de comblement de certains de ces canaux (Canale Traverso, Canale Romano). Ce travail est complété par une réflexion méthodologique sur le diagramme de Passega et une modélisation de l’évolution holocène de la partie nord du delta du Tibre à partir de l’analyse de carottes. / Ostia and Portus are two important harbour cities located on theThyrrenian coast, near the ancient Rome. This location corresponds to a fastly changing landscape (river and coastline mobility). The aim of this study is to reconstruct the Tiber hydrosedimentary dynamics in its delta plain during Ancient times (mainly in the 1st c. BC - 1st c. AD) and to identify their impact on the system Ostia-Portus. To complete this work, we analyse sedimentary cores drilled in the palaeomeander of Ostia and the canals of Portus. These results are compared to the archaeological and historical data. Crossing sedimentary, archaeological and textual data allows to consider hydrosedimentary anthropoclimatic crisis in the Tiber River watershed, during the period between the second part of the Ist century BC and the beginning of the Ist century AD. This crisis is expressed in Ostia, by: (1) a sediment accumulation at the mouth of the Tiber River, leading to the filling of the river mouth harbour of Ostia; (2) several major floods (at Rome - sometimes torrential floods); and (3) perhaps an increase of the groundwater levels. During this hydrosedimentological crisis or before, a strong lateral mobility of the Tiber mouth and the palaeomeander of Ostia probably affect the development of the city. Obliged by a strong demographic pressure in Rome and by the socio-economical context, Claude built Portus in the middle of the 1st century AD. Portus is planned with the idea to overcome the shortcomings of Ostia’s harbour: (1) by an increased harbour basin area (200 ha), and (2) by its establishment, 3 km north of the Tiber mouth, to avoid the main hydrosedimentary constraints. For logistical reasons (goods transport to Rome), Portus includes a fluvial canal system, connected to the Tiber River. However, Roman engineers take care to separate the canal system and the harbour basins (sediment load) and some of these canals are considered floodways (flood management). Sedimentary analysis characterise the canal functioning and filling (Canale Traverso, Canale Romano). This work is complemented by a methodological reflection on the Passega diagram and by a modeling of the Holocene evolution of the Tiber delta’s northern part , based onthe analysis of core samples.

Rome et Éphèse sont deux villes portuaires emblématiques de la Méditerranée antique ; la première fut le centre de l’Empire romain et la seconde devint la capitale romaine d’Asie mineure à la fin du 1er s. av. J.-C. Leur rayonnement économique et commercial en Méditerranée reposa notamment sur leur système portuaire. Cette étude a pour vocation de retranscrire le développement économique de ces deux cités par le signal des paléo-pollutions. Pour mener à bien ces travaux, nous avons prélevé des carottes dans les archives sédimentaires des bassins portuaires sur lesquels les isotopes du plomb ont été mesurés. La reconstitution des paléo-environnements par la géochimie élémentaire a été un préalable indispensable. Sur le temps long, la dynamique des masses d’eau portuaires fut visiblement soumise à la progradation des systèmes deltaïques, ainsi qu’aux interventions humaines qui modifièrent les environnements aquatiques initialement ouverts et bien oxygénés au profit de milieux fermés en déficit de dioxygène. Ce confinement des bassins portuaires franchit un seuil irréversible pour la navigation dès lors qu’un régime épilimnique se mit en place en raison d’une trop faible profondeur de la colonne d’eau. Les niveaux de contamination au plomb ont relativement bien enregistré l’état de santé économique de Rome et d’Éphèse qui évolua notamment au gré des périodes de prospérité et de troubles. Cependant, l’évolution des conditions environnementales et les multiples dragages semblent avoir altéré une partie de ces enregistrements. Les données isotopiques du plomb, converties en paramètres géologiques (Tmod, μ et к), nous ont également permis d’émettre des hypothèses sur les sources d’approvisionnement en minerais de plomb à l’origine de ces pollutions. On peut en retenir que les stratégies d’alimentation en plomb à l’époque romaine furent locales. En effet, il semble assez logique que ces deux cités aient dominé les espaces économiques environnants avec lesquelles elles étaient en contact. En revanche, alors que l’entrée dans le Moyen Âge s’accompagne du déclin de Rome, Éphèse retrouve sa prospérité passée avec l’importation de plomb hercynien d’Europe de l’Ouest produit massivement à la suite de la révolution économique médiévale. / Rome and Ephesus are two iconic harbor cities of the ancient Mediterranean; the first was the center of the Roman Empire and the second became the Roman capital of Asia Minor at the end of the 1st c. BC. The economic and commercial influence of these two ports in the Mediterranean depended heavily on their harbor systems. The aim of this study is to discern the economic development of Rome and Ephesus from the geochemical signals of the pollution they were exposed to. To this end, we drilled cores through the sedimentary archives of the two ancient harbors and measured major and trace element concentrations and Pb isotope compositions. Both harbors were subject to delta progradation, Rome by the Tiber and Ephesus by the Caÿster, which changed the aquatic environments from being initially open and well oxygenated to becoming closed and anoxic. The harbor basins finally shut down for shipping when an epilimnic system came into place due to too shallow a depth of the water column. Although changing environmental conditions and multiple dredgings appear to have altered some parts of the geochemical record, the pollution levels of lead quite accurately reflect the state of the economic health of Rome and Ephesus, which evolved the most during periods of prosperity and disorder. Pb isotope data, converted into geological parameters (Tmod, μ and к), further allowed deducing the provenance of the geological sources of lead ores at the origin of the pollution. Based on these results, it appears that lead ore supplies during the Roman period were of local origins, reflecting how Rome and Ephesus dominated the surrounding economic areas with which they were in contact. However, while the beginning of the Middle Ages is accompanied by a decline of Rome, Ephesus regains its past prosperity with the importation of Hercynian lead from western Europe. It was produced massively as a result of the medieval economic revolution that Europe experienced from the 10th century onward.

L'île tibérine est l'île fluviale se trouvant sur le Tibre, à hauteur de Rome. sa première occupation connue remonte au iiie siècle av. j.-c., lors de l'installation d'un culte en l'honneur d'Esculape. Ll'île est également au centre d'un noeud de communication entre les deux rives du fleuve. L'objectif du travail sera d'étudier la place de l'île dans la ville de Rome, de retracer son évolution, déterminer ses fonctions ainsi que ses liens et interractions avec les quartiers mitoyens : le trastevere ou le forum boarium, par exemple. L'étude s'ouvrira donc aux ponts de Rome et à certaines zones riveraines de l'île.l'étude sera réalisée en reprennant les textes des historiens et géographes antiques, les inscriptions, les vestiges archéologiques et les récits des voyageurs modernes. Cette disposition topographique de Rome, au bord d'un fleuve, à proximité d'un îlot central, se retrouve dans d'autres villes antiques. Il sera intéressant, après avoir développé l'étude de l'île, de comparer la situation avec celle d'autres villes qui présentent les mêmes caractéristiques, comme Paris ou Antioche par exemple / Tiber Island, between Vrbs and Trastevere, is one of the topographical characteristic of the site ofRome. Its history and fame begun with the arrival of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine brought fromEpidauros. No study went thoroughly back over the history and topography of this significant component ofroman scenery since the monograph written by M. Besnier in the early years of the 20th century. Nowadayscurrent developments in archeological research and new perspectives in roman topography throw new light onmany issues. This thesis aims to go back over the development, the town-planning but also the place the Tiberislet occupied in town. In this perspective, this is not just about grasping the island as a place but also as acomponent of roman landscape and urban development. Indeed Tiber island can only be apprehended at firstwithin its natural surroundings then its urban one. The island shows a high concentration of cults, which begunwith the advent of Aesculapius, who made it the “sacred island” thus permanently marking its topography.However, studying its planning and administration reveals it was real district too, with all the features as regardsarrangements and activities. At first on the fringe of the city, its integration to the city begun in the 2nd centuryBC until it was established as uicus Censori by the augustean reform. During the Imperial period, the island isalready seen as an old-settled part of the city, which will only know new changes with the banning ofpolytheistic cult. / L’isola Tiberina, tra l’Vrbs e il Trastevere, costitui una delle particolarità topograficedel sito di Roma. La sua storia, ma supratutto la sua notorietà, comincia quando arriveEsculapio, il dio greco della medicina, importato da Epidauro. Dalla monografia di M.Besnier, pubblicata all’inizio del XX secolo, nessuna studia è tronata su questo soggetto inmodo approfondito. Ora, l’attualità della ricerca archeologica e le nuovi approci in topografiaromana getteno nuova luce su molte problematice. Duncque, questo lavoro propone diriesaminare l’evoluzione, gli insediamenti ma anche il ruolo dell’isola nella città. Inquest’ottica, non si considera solo l’isola in quanto luogo ma come elemento del paesaggio etdel urbanismo romani. Perché si posse capire l’isola Tiberina unicamente nel suo ambiante,innazi tutto naturale, poi urbano. L’isola si define soprattuto per la concentrazione di culti sulsuo territorio, iniziata dall’arrivo di Esculapio che l’insedia nel suo ruolo d’ « isola sacra » emarca definitavamente la sua topografia. Tuttavia, la studia del suo spazio et della suaamministrazione mostra che era anche un vero quartiere, di cui aveva tutti gli attributi inmateria di strutture ed attività. Inizialmente fuori dalla città, la sua intergrazione nelfunzionamento della città comincia dal II secolo a.C. fino alla riforma di Auguto che laistituisce uicus Censori. All’epoca imperiale, l’isola ostituisce già parte integrante della cittàda molto tempo, che conoscerà nuove trasformazioni col divieto del culto politeisti.Parole chiavi