Ricerc@Sapienza

The Velia hill is one of the most significant and historically qualified areas of the center of ancient Rome. However, its adequate knowledge has been inhibited by the numerous transformations that have characterized its history up to the contemporary age. So, archaeological research and excavation project focuses on a peculiar site close to Roman Forum. Literary, epigraphic and iconographic sources, already collected, systematized and analyzed by the PI of the present research project in several monographs and articles published and discussed in the last twenty years, suggest a wide range of archaeological and topographic issues that are crucial for the reconstruction of the urban history of this important part of the ancient city.
First of all, some key problems ought to be underlined: the definition of the neighborhoods called Velia in many ancient sources; its road structure strictly connected to the delicate issue of identification of the Via Sacra route; the definition of the urban phases marked by important monumental programs of the Imperial Age; the recognition of a series of ancient sanctuaries of high religious, political and ideological importance; finally, the structuring of the functional and social physiognomy of an area so close to the Roman Forum and during the centuries interpreter of different settlement, commercial, monumental and representative vocations.
A focused program of stratigraphic investigations and historical research, with a complete survey of the previous excavations and discoveries, will allow to acquire new documentary elements for a better understanding of the various topographical and historical problems. The scientific value of the program will be enriched by the comparison with the great discoveries made in the last decades in the adjacent areas of the Palatine, with which the area in exam has historically constituted a coherent urban system connected to the eastern neighborhoods of the city.