Francesca D'Andrea

I am an archaeologist specializing in Greek and Roman archaeology and the history of art, ancient Roman topography, and Latin epigraphy. I began my studies at Sapienza University of Rome, where I obtained the B.A. and M.A. degrees in Classical Archaeology. The years of study and training in Rome were crucial for the development of my dual identity as a field archaeologist and an epigraphist. I developed my skills under the guidance of Clementina Panella at the excavation site on the northeastern slopes of the Palatine Hill and in the epigraphic storerooms under the guidance of Silvia Orlandi. My master’s thesis, focused on the archaeological and epigraphic study of a group of tombs discovered at Porta Maggiore, is the first result of this fruitful combination.

A postgraduate internship under the supervision of Rita Volpe at the Sovrintendenza Capitolina, allowed me to conduct research on the archaeological area of the Scipio’s Tomb and on hundreds of inscriptions stored in the depots, many of which were unpublished.

My studies continued at the Statale University of Milan, where I obtained a post-graduate diploma from the Specialization School in Archaeological Heritage. For my thesis in Roman Archaeology under the guidance of Fabrizio Slavazzi, I continued my research on the funerary landscape between the Appian and Latin Ways, and on the collection of antiquities at the Tomb of the Scipios that had formed there since the 19th century. During those years, I also began cultivating an interest in archival and antiquarian research, and in the

modern urban history of Rome. The results of this decade-long research have finally taken the form of a monograph published in 2023.

For my PhD, I once again changed cities, moving to Pisa after winning a bursary at the Scuola Normale Superiore. My doctoral project, supervised by Gianfranco Adornato, was dedicated to the topography of the Esquiline Hill, with the aim of reconstructing its peri-urban landscape and tracking its development and transformation dynamics between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD. To achieve this, in addition to traditional sources, I used the open-source software QGIS to create a digital archaeological map.

At the Scuola Normale, I had the opportunity to participate in surveys in the territory of Locri and archaeological excavations in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. I collaborated on the OltrePlinio project by curating the bibliography and the monthly newsletter. In the same context, I won a post-doc position to create a GIS dedicated to mapping ancient literary sources on sites of Flavian Rome. In 2018, I spent a semester in Berlin as a Visiting Student at Freie Universität under the supervision of Monica Trümper. I participated in and organized conferences and workshops in Europe and the United States. In recent years, I also had the opportunity to expand my teaching experience by preparing lectures and seminars for students and doctoral candidates in courses taught by Gianfranco Adornato (SNS), Andrea Giardina (SNS), Daniele Manacorda (Roma Tre), and Antonino Facella (Genova).

In my work, I use a combination of archaeological, epigraphic, literary, antiquarian, and archival sources - enriched by the potential of digital tools - for the reconstruction of the ancient landscape and the political, social, religious, and cultural dynamics that shaped it over the centuries. I firmly believe in the importance of multidisciplinary research, shared knowledge, and open access, benefiting from the exchange of ideas among scholars from different disciplinary fields, countries, and cultures.