ABSTRACT
The designation of the sector of Pompeii lying east of the strada Stabiana andsouth of the via dell’Abbondanza (Figure 23.1) as Regions I and II is a modern invention. Giuseppe Fiorelli devised it during his superintendency as a way of systematically cataloguing the buildings brought to light at the site (cf. Foss, Ch. 3; Laidlaw, Ch. 39). In fact, the entire sector contains two different types of urban subdivision. To the west, two rows of square insulae follow the line of the strada Stabiana; east of these, three rows of variably sized rectangular insulae are ordered along the axis of the via di Nocera. The two types of insulae have completely different roles and are chronologically distinct with regard to the development of the city plan (cf. Geertman, Ch. 7).
