Construction in Imperial Rome: organisation, logistics, and daily life on building sites

This article investigates the phenomenon of the building site in ancient Rome, drawing on ancient literary sources, legal texts, as well as epigraphic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence. It conceptualises the construction site as a series of sequential activities carried out by construction workers both on-site and off-site, all aimed at building completion. The focus is on the initial stages of the process, commencing with the commissioning party (private, public, or imperial) and identifying corresponding construction site types, which differed in scale, specialisation, and resources. The paper describes the operational dynamics associated with design, material procurement, logistics, and labour management culminating in the actual construction phase. The analysis continues by examining the construction site as both a workplace and a physical space, concluding with a reconstruction of the daily work routine.