Ricerc@Sapienza

The paper focuses on the epigraphic evidence of the excavations in the so-called Temple A. They contribute to our knowledge of late antiquity, not only in Laodicea but also in the entire province of Phrygia. Significantly, they testify to the importance of pagan cults and, accordingly, of civic praise of emperors, to the exercise of power. Epigraphic evidence ranges from the first tetrarchy to Constantine’s reign.

The paper addresses some issues on water and the water supply system of two cities of the Lycus Valley (Asia Minor) in the imperial age: Hierapolis of Phrygia and Laodicea on the Lycus. Many authors testify to the phenomenon of Hierapolis’ springs of hot waters. Vitruvius witnesses the use of water for the construction of fences in the first century BCE. So does Strabo more or less in the same time span, while the jurist of Augustan age, Antistius Labeo, refers precisely to the case of Hierapolis when treating the interdictum de aquis frigidis.