Le tabernae di Pompei: funzione e organizzazione della piazza forense in età medio e tardo-sannitica

Between the end of the fourth and the last quarter of the second century BC, the Forum of Pompeii, located close to the ports ever since the time of the city foundation, shows a clear functional organization of space. On the north and middle-west side two great sanctuaries dominated the square, while the south part was occupied by administrative and judiciary buildings, as the Basilica and the so-called Tufa Porticus of Popidius. After the Sullan colonization of the city, the square became the place for the political life and for the official cults of the community. Only the east side remained essentially unchanged until the first imperial age, bordered by simple shops renovated several times during three centuries. The look of this part of the Forum did not differ from that of other urban settlements of Italy, especially the Latin colonies, where tabernae usually surrounded a large part of the square. These workshops were used for producing and for exchanging goods which, in the specific case of Pompeii, were probably related to a particular type of manufacturing, referred to fishing activity.