La memoria del sottosuolo. Multispettrale, geofisica e GIS: un approccio multiscalare per la ricostruzione dell'urbanistica di Aquinum

The study focuses on the historical and archaeological reconstruction of the ancient city of Aquinum, combining advanced technologies with a critical historical analysis. The project follows a dual approach: on one hand, the development of a semi-automatic methodology for analyzing data obtained through remote and proximal sensing techniques (satellite imagery, multispectral drone surveys, LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and magnetometry); on the other, a diachronic re-examination of the urban context aimed at understanding the city’s settlement evolution and spatial transformations. The research prioritized the standardization of interpretative procedures to reduce the subjectivity of manual data analysis, creating a semi-automatic workflow for classifying and vectorizing detected anomalies. This enabled more efficient handling of high-resolution data and improved the readability of significant signals. Where the system struggled to detect weak or ambiguous anomalies, a manual digitization phase was introduced to refine and correct the results. The integration of automation and manual input proved to be an effective methodological compromise, ensuring both objectivity and analytical depth. This approach led to the production of detailed thematic maps used as the foundation for the historical and urban study of the site. From a historical perspective, the study revealed the complexity of Aquinum’s urban fabric, marked by multiple overlapping settlement phases. The investigations confirmed known road layouts and identified new ones, pointing to a planned urban structure. The presence of a regular street grid and monumental public buildings suggests the existence of a deliberate urban scheme, consistent with Romanization policies in the middle Liri Valley. This urban organization reflects an ideological vision of space, aimed at asserting the colony’s integration into the Roman res publica.