\f1 \fs22 PIAZZALE DELLE CORPORAZIONI Built in the Augustan age (first century AD), along with the theater, it was
originally a space for the audience, who used it to take shelter from the sun during intervals in performances or from the rain when these were interrupted. As time passed the porticoes of the square were used to house the <<offices>> of ship owners (nav
icularii), negotiantes, merchants from the most important cities of the Empire, and the collegia, <<corporations>> or trade associations. \par