Il foro di Suessula nel contesto delle aree forensi in Campania settentrionale

Abstract

The present research concerns Suessula’s forum, an urban center located in the current municipality of Acerra (NA). The forum was discovered in the beginnings of the ‘900 when Marcello Spinelli, the owner of terrain that correspond to a part of the old center, intercepted the ancient pavement of Public Square, during the works for the planting of a citrus tree. After a long time of desertion, in 1999 and thanks to the collaboration between the Superintendency and the University of Salerno, a preliminary investigation was led in order to define the encumbrance of the ancient urban layout. Until 2007, systematic archaeological excavations substantially affected the forum area, highlighting a part of its northern side bounded to the east by a paved road. The resumption of the excavations in 2015 gave further impetus to the research emphasizing the need to re-elaborate critically what emerged from a complex and stratified history of arts. Therefore, the objective of this PhD is to outline the state of knowledge of the forum, moreover integrating the documentation of excavations, the available archive data, and the study of archaeological and epigraphic materials. The almost uninterrupted frequentation continuity from the first archaeological evidences of the Iron Age up to settlement of the Late Middle Ages , has forced the research to focus the study of the public square on a different chronological arc: from its first design, between the late of the 2nd century and the early 1st cent. BC, up to the first interventions that attest a gradual loss of public function, dated to the 3rd century AD. For a more complete understanding of the context, it was necessary to investigate the function of the fora on regional level, through the analysis of urban, architectural, and ideological aspects. The comparison with some case studies allowed recognizing the processes that distinct the centers of Campania, when they were annexed to Rome. Generally, the fora constitute a privileged context for reading these dynamics and their comparison has allowed us to outline the use of common macro-features in the organization of public space and in the presence / absence of specific building types in a homogeneous chronological context. The study then focused on the specific object of the research. By elaborating for each known building in the Suessula’s forum an analytical examination of the architectural characteristics, and the stratigraphic relationships through revising of the excavation documentation. The detailed analysis of the archaeological data then allowed making certain interpretative hypotheses on the function of the buildings, specifying if the state of archaeological evidences doesn’t permit their formulation. Spinelli's investigations and clandestine activities significantly have compromised the state of conservation of the ancient structures; therefore, only the foundations or a few rows of elevation survived until today. Due to this condition, the interpretation was possible only through the planimetric comparison with other known buildings; however, it was possible anyway to present other new interpretative hypotheses. The results of the most recent archaeological diggings have provided new elements, including some of great relevance. In particular, the identification of two of the three known corners of temple A allowed the return of the real dimensions of the building, and the reconstruction of the its plan. The identification and partially excavation of a porticoed building immediately to the west to the Temple, building G, also restored the first identified element for the demarcation of the square on the western side. Understanding of the planimetric development of the temple made possible a first reconstructive proposal by advancing the hypothesis that it may be a prosthetic tetrastyle pycnostyle with a ratio between short and long sides of 1: 1.8. The incessant research has also confirmed that the construction of the Forum was based on a unitary project, which organizes the public square and the buildings with a front colonnaded that open onto it. During the recent excavations of the square two inscriptions was found, their preliminary study offers new and interesting points for the research. As regards the topographical aspect of the square, the unpublished documents found in the Archivio di Terra di Lavoro were very essential. These are reports of the Commissione Conservatrice dei Monumenti e oggetti di Antichità e Belle Arti nelle province di Terra di Lavoro, drawn up following the inspection of the secretary A. Broccoli at the Forum of Suessula to visit the excavations in course of M. Spinelli. The importance of these documents is enhanced by the description of sectors of the public square not yet investigated from modern excavation campaigns. The data provided, although greatly expanding our data of the Forum, it do not allow us to reconstruct its dimensions. As part of the research was addressed on the study of the architectural terracotta found during the excavations of the University of Salerno. A large number of elements (about 170 frag.) comprising Cymatium slabs, cladding slabs, tiles and pantiles, has been filed with graphic and photographic documentation. The study of this type of materials has made possible to recognize two homogeneous decorative systems attributed to temple A and building B, based on the recovery data supported by the metric ratios. Therefore, thanks to the study, it was possible also to propose the reconstructive hypotheses for the roof. The typological comparisons, identified above all in Pompeian public and private buildings, have allowed us to insert the Suessulan materials in the broader context of Campania's production between the Late Roman Republic and the beginning of the Imperial Age. The data of this study was also summarized into this thesis. The integration of archaeological, historical and archival data has allowed the research to reach more complete and complex information about the public square. The critical organization of the known archaeological data, and the discover of new important architectural and topographical aspects offer new and very required research directions to improve the understanding of the complex and fascinating Forum reality, but in many other characteristics still unknown. [edited by Author]