Le città della Sicilia nella prima età imperiale. Considerazioni sulla periodizzazione a partire dal caso di Taormina

The question of how the landscape of Sicilian cities changed after the Augustan reform remains largely unanswered and the chronological definition of such phenomena is still vague in most cases, with unavoidable consequences also on the general interpretation of this crucial period in the history of the island. The present paper aims to give a contribution to the issue by analysing the case of Tauromenium, where excavations carried out in the past century in the heart of the modern centre have yielded important evidence of the early stages of life of the Augustan colony. Through a comprehensive review of the available data, we will propose a chronological sequence of the interventions that gradually transformed the public areas of the city.