Forum Fulvii was a small but flourishing Ligurian/

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic first, then Roman settlement on the Via Fulvia, a road of north-west Italy, probably laid out by M. Fulvius Flaccus, consul in 125 BCE, from

Dertona Tortona (; , ; ) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Its ''frazione'' of Vho is one of I ...

(today’s Tortona) to

Hasta Pompeia Hasta may refer to: Latin * Hasta (spear) * Hasta Pompeia, a Roman town today known as Asti Sanskrit * Hasta (hand), a Sanskrit word meaning hand gesture or position * Hasta (unit), a measure of length * Hasta (nakshatra), the thirteenth nakshat ...

(Asti). It has sometimetimes been identified with

Valenza Valenza ( or ''Valensá'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about north of Alessandria, in the extreme Montferrat’s offshoots, in the Lombardy’s ...

, but is now known to have been in the village of Villa del Foro, a suburb of

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

, population 433, some west-southwest of the town’s centre. It was located close to the river

Tanaro The Tanaro (; ; ; ) is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of drainage basin (partly Alpi ...

, just below its confluence with the

Belbo The Belbo is a river of southern Piedmont, Italy. It is a right-side tributary of the Tanaro. Geography The Belbo rises in the Langhe, on the borders between Piedmont and Liguria in the hills of Montezemolo. After flowing through the Piedmonte ...

. Excavations of the site that have taken place since the 1980s, have revealed of this tract of the road, which was in use from 125 BCE until the second century CE. It is about in breadth and was constructed of riverine cobblestones mixed with small bricks and

slag The general term slag may be a by-product or co-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals depending on the type of material being produced. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be c ...

from iron smelting. It is notable that the road had to be resurfaced on a number of occasions after suffering from floods. Forum Fulvii flourished between the second century BCE and the third century CE; it was a centre for trade (the Tanaro, as well as the Via Fulvia, was an important means of transportation) and the artisanal manufacture of glass (''see''

Roman glass Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman Empire in domestic, industrial and funerary contexts. Glass was used primarily for the production of vessels, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. Roman glass producti ...

), ceramics and iron goods. It is likely that the Roman settlement was abandoned as a result of repeated flooding: to this day the Tanaro and the Belbo have the capacity to cause great damage after periods of torrential rain. Nevertheless, Forum Fulvii must have been re-settled by the eighth century, as

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, sc ...

refers to it in his ''

Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' () is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate no later than 796, maybe at ...

'':

In the time of this king Liutprand, King of the Lombards ">Liutprand,_King_of_the_Lombards.html" ;"title="Liutprand, King of the Lombards">Liutprand, King of the Lombards there was in the place whose name is Forum, near the river Tanarus, a man of wonderful holiness Baodolinus by name, who, aided by the grace of Christ, was distinguished for many miracles.

In 2007 nearby excavations for a methane pipeline brought to light an ancient underground pipeline which seems to have been designed to carry water from the Tanaro to Forum Fulvii. It apparently dates from the pre-Roman period. The Antiquarium ''Forum Fulvii'', in Via Oviglio, displays finds from the excavations and provides orientation in understanding the site of the Roman town..

Notes

External links

Antiquarium Forum Fulvii (museum) Website

References

* .
Roma Imperiale Villa del Foro Alessandria – pressrelease
{{authority control Roman towns and cities in Italy Roman sites in Piedmont Frazioni of the Province of Alessandria Alessandria Former populated places in Italy