{{Location map|Italy |label = Forum Fulvii |lat_deg = 44 |lat_min = 53 |lon_deg = 8 |lon_min = 32 |width=200 |mark = Blue pog.svg |marksize = 6 |float = right |caption =<small>Location in modern Italy</small> |border=gray }}
'''Forum Fulvii''' was a small but flourishing [[Ligures|Ligurian]]/[[Celt]]ic first, then Roman settlement on the [[Via Fulvia]], a road of north-west Italy, probably laid out by [[Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 125 BC)|M. Fulvius Flaccus]], consul in 125 BCE,<ref>P. Fraccaro, in ''Studies Presented to David Moore Robinson on His Seventieth Birthday'', George E. Mylonas and Doris Raymond, eds. (St Louis: Washington University) 1953, vol. II.</ref> from [[Dertona]] (today’s Tortona) to [[Hasta Pompeia]] (Asti). It has sometimetimes been identified with [[Valenza]], but is now known to have been in the village of '''Villa del Foro''', a suburb of [[Alessandria]], population 433,<ref>Population as at 31 May 2008, {{citation|url=http://www.comune.alessandria.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/D.79deb8c2774caa3c9cc4/P/BLOB%3AID%3D631|title=Popolazione residente suddivasa per sobborghi e quartieri città|accessdate=2008-07-13|publisher=Comune di Alessandria|year=2008|author1=Direzione servizi demografico |author2=servizio anagrafe e statistica }}.</ref> some {{convert|7|km|mi|0}} west-southwest of the town’s centre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/383651 |title=Places: 383651 (Forum Fulvii Valentinum) |author1=Pearce, M. |author2=P. Tozzi, DARMC |author3=R. Talbert, S. Gillies |author4=T. Elliott, J. Becker |accessdate=October 18, 2015 <!-- 10:33 pm --> |publisher=Pleiades}}</ref>
It was located close to the river [[Tanaro]], just below its confluence with the [[Belbo]]. Excavations of the site that have taken place since the 1980s, have revealed {{convert|200|m|ft}} of this tract of the road, which was in use from 125 BCE until the second century CE. It is about {{convert|12|m|ft|0}} in breadth and was constructed of riverine cobblestones mixed with small bricks and [[slag]] 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]]), 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]] refers to it in his ''[[Historia Langobardorum]]'': <blockquote>In the time of this king [ [[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.<ref>Paul the Deacon, ''History of the Lombards'', translation by William Dudley Foulke, 1907. [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/langobard/044.php Book 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313010913/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/langobard/044.php |date=2007-03-13 }}</ref></blockquote>
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.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.giornal.it/Pagine/Articolo/Articolo.asp?ida=16638 |contribution=Scavi a Villa del Foro fanno riemergere antica tubatura preromana |date=26 June 2007 |title=Giornal.it, Il quotidiano della provincia di Alessandria |access-date=13 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208060452/http://www.giornal.it/Pagine/Articolo/Articolo.asp?ida=16638 |archive-date=8 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}.</ref>
The '''Antiquarium ''Forum Fulvii''''', in Via Oviglio, displays finds from the excavations and provides orientation in understanding the site of the Roman town.<ref>{{citation|title= Antiquarium Forum Fulvii |publisher=ZeroDelta.net |url=http://www.zerodelta.net/musei/antiquarium-forum-fulvii_alessandria.php |accessdate=2008-07-13}}.</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.comune.alessandria.it/htm/musei/musei_civici/forum_fulvii.htm Antiquarium Forum Fulvii (museum) Website]
==References== {{refbegin}} * {{citation |url=http://www.archaeogate.org/classica/article/912/1/il-progetto-scientifico-dagli-etruschi-a-baudolino-vill.html |title=Il progetto scientifico "Dagli Etruschi a Baudolino. Villa del Foro e le origini di Alessandria" |date=2008-07-11 |publisher=Archaeogate, il portale italiano di Archeologia}}. * [http://www.undo.net/cgi-bin/undo/pressrelease/pressrelease.pl?id=990625214&day=990741600 Roma Imperiale Villa del Foro Alessandria – pressrelease] {{refend}}
{{coord|44|53|18|N|8|32|1|E|region:IT_type:city(433)|display=title}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Italy]] [[Category:Roman sites in Piedmont]] [[Category:Frazioni of the Province of Alessandria]] [[Category:Alessandria]] [[Category:Former populated places in Italy]]