Attività del Politecnico di Bari a Leptis Magna: i progetti di anastilosi del Circo Antonino e il Foro Severiano

As a general rule in an anastylosis, the positioning of the fragments must respect the original disposition of the same elements in the ancient building. Then, the restoration project must be always preceded by a detailed study of the monument including the precise recording of all the fragments in situ in order to determine their attribution and position in the monument. Besides, it is always better to integrate the original fragments in the same material of the originals in order not to contrast chemically, structurally and chromatically with the ancient ones. These have been the basic principles which guided two different anastylosis projects of monuments in Lepcis Magna (Libya), the Antonine Circus and the Severan Forum, conducted in 2009 by G. Rocco and M. Livadiotti (Polytechnic University of Bari, Department of Sciences of Civil Engineering and Architecture). More in detail, the Circus restoration project consists of three different interventions: 1) partial anastylosis of the carceres; 2) anastylosis of the first sector from west of the southern tribuna; 3) anastylosis of the meta prima. Instead, in the Severan Forum the restoration has been oriented towards the anastylosis of the east corner of the portico, with a de-restoration of a previous reassembling. This paper aims to present these projects and the scientific results of a research that, elaborating restoration projects, revealed new data on the monuments in question, further clarifying their architectural configuration and history.