I. Definition
Porticus is Lat. for the Greek stoá , a covered colonnade with rear and often also side walls. The columns could be in antis, prostyle or between side walls. The porticus with one or multiple naves was normally linear and one-storeyed, but could also be round (porticus absidata) and two-storeyed. In contrast to the Greek stoá the Roman porticus was seldom free-standing. Porticūs lay mostly along a road or an open space in front of a building or on one or more sides of a courtyard. As a peristylion , porticus also denote…