Colonie latine e Fora: alcuni casi nella Regio II

In this paper I will discuss some examples of fora in the main cities of Apulia: Luceria, Venusia, Canusium, Herdonia, Brundisium etc. Every city had a forum of different size. In addition to its standard function as a marketplace, the forum was a gathering place of great social significance, and often the scene of diverse activities. It is the most representative element of Roman urban planning, with urbanization being one of the fundamental elements of Romanization. Urban trends in the colonial period produced episodes of monumental buildings, the improvement of functional areas and infrastructures, and the dissemination of monumental complexes sometimes imported directly from Rome, such as large collective buildings, walls and fora. In Apulia we can identify the Augustan age as a time of intense activity regarding the development of fora, including the creation of piazzas bearing evidence of new monumental typologies and the creation of public spaces. Augustus is responsible for a systematic paving of the fora and the paving of roads that previously were only graveled. We can hypothesize interventions in the more ancient colonies aimed at paving the piazzas that in the Republican Age were covered simply with beaten earth and clay.