Enrico FELICI

Research Areas, in brief

As underwater archaeologist and topographer of antiquity, he has focused particularly on ancient coastal topography, studying coastal installations based on archaeological, aerial, and submerged, literary, epigraphic, iconographic, and cartographic sources. As a co-founder of the Italian Association of Underwater Archaeologists (A.I.A.Sub.), he has promoted the dissemination and consolidation of the discipline's ethics and methodologies, also publishing numerous articles critically disseminating and analyzing scientific, ethical, professional, regulatory, and legislative aspects. His experience in underwater and coastal environments has led to a manual on the methodologies of underwater archaeological work: Archeologia subacquea. Metodi tecniche e strumenti (Underwater Archaeology. Methods, Techniques, and Tools), Rome 2002. He has also taught the first Italian degree program in Underwater Archaeology (University of Tuscia, 2002-2005) and taught Underwater Archaeology in various academic years at the University of Catania.

He has conducted topographical and technical-structural investigations of ancient Greek ports built in opus quadratum and, especially, in Roman opus caementicium. He has surveyed both above-ground and below-ground archaeological remains and interpreted their construction in light of sources, particularly Vitruvius. Among the contexts examined are Antium, Cosa, Ostia (Claudius' port), Astura, and the canal of Lake Paola (Sabaudia). As a member of the University of Tuscia's underwater archaeological mission at the Kyme excavation site (Turkey), he contributed to documenting the city's Greco-Roman port structures.

He has conducted direct surveys and aerial photogrammetric restitution on the Nissoria Mountain (EN), proposing—based on literary and archaeological sources—an interpretative revision of the construction of rough stone fortifications (opus siliceum, or irregular polygonal), with clarifications on the meaning of the Vitruvian emplecton.

He was the recipient of the PRA grant (University of Catania, 2007-2009) entitled "Latomie e approdi antichi sulla costa siracusana" (Ancient Quarries and Landings on the Syracusan Coast). Within this framework, he conducted investigations of coastal contexts in eastern and southern Sicily and experimented with methodologies for archaeological documentation in coastal environments. He identified and documented coastal quarries and their moorings, tracing elements for stone movement at Punta Castelluccio (Augusta), Plemmirio, and further south (Ognina, Punta del Cane, etc.). Comparison with sources led to reflections on the dynamics of stone material supply.

He has subsequently published research on the naval transport of building stone in antiquity, examining its various components: coastal quarries, vessels, personnel, canals, and routes. Among the main findings was the resolute denial of the alleged "double-hull" conformation of obelisk-carrying ships, an imaginary configuration based on an incorrect translation of sources.

He demonstrated the non-existence of alleged epigraphical presuppositions in fr. 23 and 24 b-d of Severus' Forma Urbis, advanced by others to support various interpretations of the Porticus Aemilia (which, published in authoritative sources, were seriously misleading the study of the ancient topography of vast areas of Rome). He then confirmed, based on technical-structural, typological, topographical, and functional arguments, the identification of the building mentioned by Livy, as previously proposed by G. Gatti.

He continued his research on Roman ports, particularly by proposing—through comparison of sources and structural elements—a new interpretation of the construction processes of Claudius' port at Ostia. In this context, he suggested reconsidering the role of excavation of basins and connecting canals in port engineering, and commented on Nero's project to bring the Tyrrhenian Sea to Rome from Ostia via a canal.

The topic was then the subject of a general survey of the excavation of canals for waterway purposes in antiquity, focusing on their various purposes (navigation, transportation, construction, and—in coastal settings—exploitation of the wetlands behind the dunes and connection to port facilities). A critical review of this practice resulted in a Mediterranean synoptic overview of the numerous installations, in the monograph "Nos flumina arcemus, derigimus avertimus. Canali, lagune, spiagge e porti nel Mediterraneo antico" (We Were the Rivers, We Were the Seas. Canals, Lagoons, Beaches, and Ports in the Ancient Mediterranean), Bari 2016.

During archaeological surveys on the southeastern Sicilian coast, he identified and documented an ancient tuna fishery with fishing and salting facilities. This study led to an exegetical review of the sources relating to tuna fishing in antiquity. This resulted in a comprehensive review of the literary and archaeological sources, which elevated the traditional tuna fishery to ancient times.