Palatia, praetoria ed episcopia: alcune osservazioni

In Late Antiquity the terms palatia, praetoria, episcopia define buildings which house different institutions of public power, both secularand religious. On account of their typological features, it appears that in many cases these buildings are quite similar. This homogeneity is, at least partially, due to the similarity of their functions: ceremonial ways, representative spaces, reception halls, baths, religious places, rooms for private use, all reflect in the layout and choices of decoration the models chosen by the elites, according to a shared expressive language that covers the entire Mediterranean area. The analysis of the archaeological data and also the comparison with the literary and epigraphic sources show the complexity of these architectural phenomena, often dependent also on the history attached to the owneship of the buildings.