L'area forense di Forum Sempronii (Fossombrone, PU)

Forum Sempronii was founded in the 2nd century BC, probably by Caius Sempronius Gracchus, on a vast terrace of the River Metauro, in a site populated in Pre-Roman times. After flourishing and evolving between the 1st and the 2nd century AD, the city declined steadily in the mid-late Imperial Age. The excavations carried out since 1974 have brought to light important elements for the understanding of the urban planning of the city, which is based on a programmatic regular plan, with the via Flaminia as the large decumanus maximus. A fundamental contribution has recently been given thanks to the use of aerial photos, satellite imagery and geophysical prospecting in significant areas: in addition to the discovery of an amphitheatre, in particular, the significant area of the Forum to the North of the Via Flaminia has been identified, with three temples and porches surrounding a large square. Outside the eastern boundary of the forum a third structure is now identified as the Augusteum of Forum Sempronii, still paved with rectangular slabs of grey marble. After meticulous archival research, we are now able to prove both that the bronze statue of a winged Victory kept at the German Museum of Kassel was recovered in 1660 inside this significant building. We can also reasonably speculate that most of these public buildings are the result of an imposing urban and architectural reorganization of the municipium during the Augustan period.