The Velia hill is one of the most significant areas of the center of ancient Rome. In spite of the role Velia held in the history of the City, its knowledge is deeply affected by the numerous transformations that have characterised its history up to the contemporary age. As things stand, the project focuses on a peculiar site ¿ never excavated before - close to Roman Forum in order to contribute to the reconstruction of the landscape of the ancient hill and to clarify the historical phases of the urban sector along the northern edge of the Via Sacra. Literary, epigraphic and iconographic sources ¿ already collected, systematised and analysed by the PI of the present research project - suggest a wide range of archaeological and topographic issues that are crucial for the reconstruction of the urban history of the area. Among the many topics, the project deals with: the reconstruction of the original orography of the hill; the definition of the neighbourhoods called Velia in ancient sources; the road network; the definition of the urban phases marked by monumental building programs of the Imperial Age; the recognition of a series of ancient sanctuaries of high religious, political and ideological importance; the structuring of functional and commercial complexes, above all the horrea Piperataria, in part already excavated within this research project. An intensive program of stratigraphic and non-invasive (magnetometry, surveys, etc.) investigations and historical research, together 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 and with the extraordinaries results of the previous archaeological campaigns carried out within this research project.
The research project stems from the will to deal with an analytical, systematic and interdisciplinary approach, a series of historical-topographical problems only marginally treated in the broad scientific debate about this sector of the ancient city. Numerous researches have, in fact, focused on the impact that the monumental architectural achievements of the imperial age had, like the Basilica of Maxentius and the Temple of Venus and Rome, on the other hand neglecting a global study aimed at understanding and reconstructing the different components of the Velia urban landscape and that would analyse the radical transformations that swept the area, starting from the archaic age, with significant ideological, political and social implications (by Fazio, Grazian 2020). Research based on long-term historical analysis and with an urban vision is so far unprecedented among the studies on Roman topography.
In this condition, the ¿Velia Project¿ will be a useful tool of knowledge, in terms of topographical configuration and historical evolution, of a dense and significant piece of the urban history of ancient Rome, never investigated until now.
Significant were, in fact, the results acquired following the three excavation campaigns (with the fourth in progress) which allowed the highlighting of new archaeological problems as well as the expansion of the available historical knowledge. In this sense, the campaigns planned for the next three years of the new concession aim, in addition to expanding the knowledge acquired and verifying the fundamental data achieved, the scientific and systematic exploration of an area of the Roman Forum never excavated previously, a unique condition in the entire archaeological park of the Colosseum and which constitutes the natural continuation of the investigations already carried out, as well as the understanding of the problems that emerged in the past.
In fact, regarding the results already achieved, it was possible, in the first place, to document a large brick building with niches and an extensive paving in opus spicata, relating to a pre-Neronian phase, which seems to have had the dual function of monumentalization and sub structuring of the Velia slope, whose virgin soil was, in fact, found behind the imposing construction. The function and articulation of the niche structure, the orientation of which suggests a continuation in the area outside the excavation, represents a problem of exceptional interest that can be better understood only following further investigations in the area between vicolo delle Carine and the apse of the Basilica of Maxentius. The knowledge of the Neronian phase was, on the other hand, expanded by the discovery of a series of basements in cement conglomerate, conforming to the rhythm and orientation of the others already known on the opposite side of the Via Sacra - but diverging from the previously documented orientation. In this context, it was also possible to document some design moments of the Flavian architects who partially used the founding elements of the Neronian site for the construction of the back wall of the courtyard of the horrea. In addition, the extension of the investigations in the external area is crucial in order to document further evidence regarding the reuse of Nero's pre-existing structures during the Flavian construction site. The knowledge of horrea was instead expanded by the fundamental discovery of a stairwell functional to the connection between the complex and the part that extended outside towards the so-called via delle Carine, located at a lower level, allowing an ever-clearer understanding of the complex volumes and paths of the Flavian building.
The plurality and complexity of the data that emerged from the previous excavation campaigns therefore open up a series of new scenarios of crucial historical-urban importance. In light of the problems of historical and interpretative reading, it will therefore be essential to continue and complete the archaeological investigations between the apse of the Basilica of Maxentius and the aforementioned street in order to verify all the possible historical and urban phases already documented in the previous excavation campaigns, as well as deepen, through the study of the data that emerged, all the identified problems. In fact, the continuation of the excavation in the area in question may reveal completely unexpected scenarios, both archaeological and historical, as well as useful elements to expand the study of a site - perhaps the only one in the Roman Forum area that has yet to be investigated - which will allow to add new pieces to the knowledge of the monumental centre of ancient Rome. Furthermore, the conclusion of the investigations on this site will lead to the opening to the public of a new area of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, as has already happened for the rooms previously excavated under the Basilica of Maxentius, currently under restoration.