The green city quarter close to the amphitheatre in pompeii and its rural identity

The aim of the paper is to highlight a particular urban ensemble within the city of Pompeii as an example of a well-defined ancient city quarter. The outline of the specific tangible and intan- gible qualities of the district is accompanied by a brief discussion of its chronological development. The district under consideration, the southeastern part of the city, is characterised by the presence of vineyards and market gardens. Another singular feature is al fresco dining establishments, which are found only in this area of the town - in the immediate vicinity of the amphitheatre and the Palestra Grande. Taken together, the architectural, archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence reveal a green quarter full of characteristic 'voids', with perceivable breaks in the urban landscape and temporal clustering of activities. Thus, at least in the example presented here, infrastructural and functional density turns out to be crucial for defining an ancient city quarter, while economic factors in our case study appear decisive for the emergence of this particular district within the city walls. Furthermore, topical issues such as resilience and sustainability are addressed in this contribution, since the Pompeian rus in urbe stands for one of the basic economic components, as well as for the rural identity, of the local community.