Ricerche del Politecnico di Bari a Leptis Magna: la Curia

The contribution derives from a recent search on the architecture of the Curia in the Old Forum of Lepcis Magna, carried out between 2008 and 2010 by a team of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the Polytechnic of Bari, directed by Monica Livadiotti and Giorgio Rocco. The activity has been carried out on the basis of a cooperation agreement between the Polytechnic of Bari, the Centre for Documentation and Research on the North African Archeology “A. Di Vita)” of the University of Macerata and the Department of Antiquities in Tripoli. During the activities new surveys and the complete catalogue of architectural fragments relevant to the monument were carried out; some diggings to control the chronology and urgent work of consolidation were also realized. Rather interesting data result from this review of the structures and architectural configuration. The building, realized in local limestone and sandstone, was excavated in the 30’s by Giacomo Guidi and since then remained unpublished. With a central building on a podium surrounded by porticoes, it fits into the category of templa cum porticibus, well attested in Roman Africa, with a monumental propylon as an access; it presents morphological, structural and materials features that refer to the 1st cent. AD, not beyond the Flavian period. This chronology, far higher than the date assumed by R. Bartoccini - the 4th century - can now give back the monument a particular importance in relation to the Curia Julia in Rome, whose model the lepcitan example disseminates in Africa, handing down perhaps its closer memory. The architectural study also showed a transformation phase dated to mid-second century AD, with the replacement of the old front, clearly obsolete, with a new marble facade, according to a general renovation of the monuments of the Old Forum, evidenced by analogous transformations of the two main temples of the north-western side of the square.