The excavation of the temple of Venus in Pompeii forms part of a larger project comprising excavation, geological and geophysical surveys covering the south-western front of the so-called Altstadt. A study will be made of the relationship between the city and the docks which must have been situated close behind the area between Porta Marina and the Terme del Sarno. The temple of Venus represents the most imposing and important building complex in the area. The aim of the excavations was simply to verify the the reliability of the dating provided at the beginning of the XIX century by Mau, the previous excavator. He saw two construction phases: one of Sullan date, linked to the foundation of the colony, the other of the Julio-Claudian period.
The preliminary results seem to indicate new dates for both phases: whilst the great, terraced sanctuary of the Republican period should be placed within the second- half of the II century B.C. ( therefore making it contemporary with the nearby basilica). The Imperial rebuilding, to which the great series of horrea on the frontage belongs, was still ongoing at the moment of the eruption in 79A.D. The Republican buildings were re-used in the Julio-Claudian period, when a bath complex was added.

Within a restricted space north of the eastern portico, an archaic level has come to light, made up of a fall of mud bricks. Their origins, pertinence and function are not yet understood. In the same area a sacred building has also been found, probably with a portico, relating to the “samnite” phase of the III century B.C. It is characterized by the presence of various cisterns full of votive and ritual artifacts. The sanctuary of Venus is not therefore the creation of Sulla: the Republican complex, already completed at the end of the II century B.C. overlies a pre-existing cult site, pertinent to Venus herself or, as already suggested by Filippo Coarelli, to the Samnite goddess Mefite. (Emmanuele Curti)