The demolition of the modern barn revealed two rectangular rooms in _opus reticulatum_ with headers of grey tufa parallelepiped blocks and cement vault, preserved intact to the upper level of the portico. These structures were _tabernae_ whose access frontage from the portico was narrowed in the late antique period (4th-5th century A.D.) by the construction of _opus vittatum_ walls. In this period, the two rooms were used for storing marble removed from the forum’s monuments. The excavation of the sector of portico between the south-east corner of the forum and the passage between the piazza in front of the temple of the Massaria and the forum was completed. Four of the portico’s grey tufa columns were uncovered, the continuation of this part of the portico was decorated with the masks found during the previous campaign, together with a large base abutting the portico’s socle, which was later partially obliterated. The base, which presented traces of a marble facing, was probably used to display statues. Overall, these excavations confirmed what had been previously documented: the portico was heavily robbed before being buried by the collapse of the structures facing on to it; the column drums were preserved from the base diameter to a height of about 1.50 m; the _opus vittatum_ base of the portico did not preserve any of the original facing. The abandonment of the area was attested by a double burial abutting the northern side of the large statue base. The tomb was cut into a layer of detritus made up of fragments from elements of the portico mixed with muddy soil, the removal of which continues. A lime kiln was uncovered in this layer, situated between the west side of the base, the pilaster and west side of the walled area, attesting the robbing of the forum’s monuments. This level lay beneath the collapse of the upper floors of the buildings behind the portico, later obliterated by layers of silt during the gradual swamping of the area.

_Campagna 2006a_ The area partially explored in 1994 was extended to the central part of the piazza in front of the _Capitolium_, where surface layers of dumped material were removed down to the Byzantine occupation layers. The pieces of an almost completely reconstructable headless statue, a replica of the Hellenistic _Umbildung_ with belt were recovered from these layers. This is the most widely known type, the so-called Aphrodite Louvre Napoli, preliminary date late 1st century A.D. This copy is an interesting attestation in a western context of this type, to date represented in Italy by only three copies (Tampa, Villa Borghese Rome, Palazzo Colonna Rome), as well as the two unpublished examples in Florence Archaeological Museum. A section of the northern portico was exposed and architectural elements were recovered that were useful for the re-composition of the double Ionic-Corinthian colonnade. The rooms behind the colonnade were also exposed, comprising a large colonnaded vestibule forming the entrance to a public building and an apsidal niche interpreted as a _sacellum_ of the imperial cult. _Campagna 2006b_ The excavations in September-October investigated the northern end of the forum, already partially explored in the 1950s. The aim was to uncover the ancient structures completing this part of the forum area, obliterated by layers of colluvium. The removal of these layers and structural collapses revealed the first sector of the northern portico. More architectural elements were recovered from the Ionic-Corinthian colonnade including fragments of architrave and frieze decorated with vegetal motifs and arms. Behind the portico, the large entrance vestibule, leading into a public building, was seen to measure 16 x 12 m. The apsidal niche was 4 m wide and 6 m deep and paved with “Greco scritto” marble, moderately well-preserved over most of the surface. Continuation of the investigation towards the east revealed more of the portico and a room whose walls were faced with marble, only partially excavated.

The excavations completely exposed room III and part of the portico in front, separated by a low step. The removal of the alluvial layers revealed both the collapses and fragments of architectural decoration, and part of the marble wall facing belonging to the vast hall. The quadrangular hall (6 x 14 m) had an entrance to the south, probably flanked by two pillars or columns, attested by _in situ_ plinths. The walls were in _opus reticulatum_, which to the north rested on blocks of yellow tufa _opus quadratum_, left over from the first monumental border around the forum. On the western side of the latter, was a large opening flanked by pillars, a link between the forum area and the buildings to the north. Therefore, the buildings dating to the mid 3rd century B.C. were transformed and adapted during the 1st century B.C. In fact, the blocking of the opening and the overall definition of the hall that was paved in _opus signinum_, visible below the make ups for the later flooring date to this period. The construction technique was similar to that used for the _sacellae_ on the western side of the northern forum, confirming the coherence of the project that came to be defined in the final years of the 1st century B.C. In a later period, the walls were decorated with _aedicolae_ the largest, at the centre of the main wall, paved with coloured marble. These housed statues as attested by the plinth exposed in the eastern _aedicola_ . The rich decorative scheme identifies this space as an imperial cult building dating to between the end of the 1st century and the first decades of the 2nd century A.D.

In November 2012, excavations continued in the northern part of the forum. A quadrangular trench (8 x 3 m) was dug in the area north of the yellow tufa _opus quadratum_ wall, in correspondence with the large opening that went out of function in the Roman period. The excavation aimed to 1) continue investigations in the forum’s northern sector; 2) recover the stratigraphic sequence in areas not yet investigated; 3) expose structures in areas not completely excavated during previous campaigns. The removal of the surface layers of soil, compromised by modern agricultural activity, revealed layers of collapsed loose building rubble (fragments of tufa, brick, tile, _cubilia_), overlying a layer of crushed tufa, recognized in the test pits dug near the walls. Cleaning of this context revealed the foundation offset of the _opus quadratum_ wall and the level of the threshold relating to the opening that was later blocked. Traces were identified of the re-working of the corner pillar of yellow tufa blocks, situated west of the opening, probably undertaken at the same time as the interventions on the structures during the 1st century B.C. In the small area investigated, the floor level was not reached. The presence of large fragments of _opus signinum_ attested its partial destruction. The discovery, along the wall, of numerous joining amphora fragments, kitchen ware and internal red-slip ware pottery, gives a preliminary date for the last phases of occupation and the abandonment of the excavated area of between the 3rd and 4th century A.D.

This season’s excavation continued the work of the previous campaign and therefore involved the section of the forum’s north portico uncovered in 2014. Two new rooms facing onto the portico were uncovered and it was seen that the line of the colonnade was interrupted in correspondence with a large ditch running east-west. Earlier excavations had also uncovered a new area of the forum’s limestone paving and a base next to the cut of this ditch. The base was built before the limestone paving, dated to the Augustan period, was laid. Thereafter a deep cut went through the stylobate of the colonnade, in fact none of its elements were found _in_ _situ_. Based on the excavation data from this campaign, this robbing can be dated to between the 6th and early 7th centuries A.D. The demolition was radical and cut the foundation courses of the portico. The removal of the late antique phase revealed, on the west side, the portico’s foundations of large yellow tufa blocks arranged in four courses. The cleaning of the south edge of the robber trench revealed a structure in yellow tufa blocks, visible in the section below the forum’s limestone paving. To the east of this structure there was a wall built of small tufa blocks with a neat regular face, running E-W. The occupation level associated with this structure was removed in antiquity by the interventions relating to the construction of the northern part of the portico. In fact, a substantial foundation was identified beneath the portico’s foundations, which a preliminary examination of the pottery dates to the 3rd century B.C. The removal of the levels relating to the Hellenistic _plateau_ uncovered an occupation layer in which there were several regular pits containing charcoal residue, traces of anthropic activity that the pottery dates to the early archaic period. A trench was also opened in the NE corner of room III on the north side of the forum, where the paving had subsided in antiquity. The removal of the material filling the cavity caused by the subsidence exposed the structure’s foundations, which as seen in other sectors of the forum, made use of pre-existing structures of yellow tufa blocks, datable to the Samnite phase and first phase of the forum. Several blocks presented quarry marks that have already been identified in other structures relating to the Samnite forum.