Funding of public buildings and calculation of the costs of the stone materialsthe case of the Forum of Segobriga (Cuenca, Spain)

Resumen

This paper presents an approach to the costs of the stone material, of workmen specialized in its treatment and of the actual building activity related to the Forum of Segobriga: an important architectural site which can be fully reconstructed thanks to the archaeological research where both the local limestone, from the nearby quarries, and much more precious stones, like Hispanic or imported marbles, were used. Based on the possibility to investigate how ancient patronage worked, this research provides a better knowledge of the financial resources of the provincial ruling classes, the way these resources were used by the patrons, the modes that conformed to the official architecture and the role of the imperial cult within the socio-political context the province. It is possible also for Segobriga to identitfy a mixed patronage, of local eminent citizens, among whom we can mention the "calventii" to whom a large monument in the Forum was dedicated, or a "proculus Spantanicus" to whom can be ascribed the Forum floor as we can deduce from the inscription over 16 m long, and with letters in bronze. This character, and possibly another one, boast the fact that he had it paved at his own expense ("forum sternendum d(e) s(ua) p(ecunia)"...). An important piece of information, this latter, as it offers the opportunity to reckon the cost of the slabs as they have all been preserved.