Between city and countryside: investigating the suburbium of Roman Pisa

Roman Pisa represents a compelling case study for understanding the suburbium in the context of a medium-sized centre on the Italic peninsula. Its strong commercial vocation, shaped by its strategic position near the Tyrrhenian Sea and between the Arno and Auser rivers, played a decisive role in defining its urban and suburban landscape. Past attempts to reconstruct Pisa’s urban layout have often imposed rigid models that align poorly with archaeological and palaeohydrographic evidence, obscuring the complexity of city-periphery relationship. The Pisa Progetto Suburbio was initiated to overcome these limitations through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates literary and epigraphic analysis, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, legacy data, targeted excavations, and 3D reconstructions. This study reveals both well-defined patterns and significant knowledge gaps, offering new perspectives on the evolving relationship between Pisa and its suburbium.