P35 The forum and the public buildings

P35
The forum and the public buildings
The public space was dominated by the forum, the authentic centre of the political and the religious
life. The holy buildings, the administrative seats and the shops concentrated in this square. The
monuments destined to the free time – as the thermal baths or the theatre – were in its proximity;
otherwise, the amphitheatre was peripheral.
The archaeological sources – especially the discovery of a temple on a high podium partially
preserved in Pertinace square – have permitted to identify the area of the Roman forum in the
current Risorgimento square.
The rectangular forum was surrounded on the long sides by two arcades of which only few bases
have preserved on the northern side and it was crossed by a cardus. On the west side there was the
temple, surrounded on three sides by the columns, and the remains of a building on the east side
could be probably referred to the civil basilica.
The neighboring quarters were occupied by the theatre (Insula XI) and by the remains of the thermal
baths (Insula X)
1) Fragment of a corynthian capital recycled in the masonry of one of the towers in
Risorgimento Square
2) Corridor of the temple preserved under Palazzo
3) Archaeological area of Pertinace square with the remains of the podium of the temple