The Forum of Ostia. The political and religous centre, 27 BCE - 117 CE

Name of applicant

Daniel Damgaard

Title

Researcher

Institution

German Archaeological Institute in Rome

Amount

DKK 450,000

Year

2024

Type of grant

Internationalisation Fellowships

What?

The forum of Ostia, Rome's ancient harbour city, underwent a rapid commercial and urbanistic development during the 1st century CE. In that period, several forum phases were constructed. Unfortunately, this has been a largely unexamined period. Hence, the period will here be analysed and intepreted and a more complete picture of the forum will therefore emerge for the first time.

Why?

There has been a lack of focus on the forum considered as a coherent context. A focus on individual buildings as evidence of certain political and economic trends has hindered a more complete picture of the urban development. In recent times, a new perception of the urban space has enabled an approach, where the civic centre is interpreted as an inhabited space rather than individual buildings.

How?

All archaeological material from excavations conducted since 2011, archive material, geophysical data, and 3D-data will be gathered. With this data gathered, it will be possible to analyse the orientation and planning symmetries of hitherto unknown building and forum layouts. This ultimately leads to an understanding of the urban development of the forum of Ostia during the 1st century CE.

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