Building I,IV,1 is a row of Hadrianic shops (opus mixtum, c. 127 AD) to the east of the garden in the centre of the Insula of the Paintings. Between the shops are three external staircases that were accessed from Via dei Balconi. In late antiquity the ground floor was given up, presumably because of Tiber inundations. It was filled with sherds and rubbish, and the street was raised, up to the level of the first upper floor. The new level was rammed and again used as a road. The upper floors were still inhabited, witness walls of opus vittatum.

At the north end, on the street, is a public, covered water basin. Behind it, in the west facade, is a terracotta relief with carpenters' tools.

Plan of the building. North is to the left. After SO I.

The shops seen from the south-east. Photo: Robert Consoli.

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The north end of Via dei Balconi during the excavations, seen from the south. The museum can just be seen top left.
Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica, B2236.

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The public water basin on the street, seen from the south-east. Photo: Klaus Heese.

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The relief with tools in the west facade, seen from the east. Photo: Klaus Heese.

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A late-antique wall of opus vittatum at a very high level.
Photo: Calza 1920, fig. 4.