L’augusteum di Roselle. Un’ipotesi ricostruttiva

This paper analyzes the building known as Augusteum, which is situated in the south-west corner of the forum of the roman colony of Rusellae (GR). The name of the structure comes from its function: it was the main place in the colony for the imperial cult. This is supposed because of the finding of a series of statues representing the imperial family. From the study of the Augusteum, conducted throughout bibliographical, material, and structural analysis, we have found three main different phases of the life of the building. The first phase is of Augustan Age and presents a rectangular room with an apse. The second phase is of Claudian Age, whereas the third phase is of late II century A.D. and is probably a restoration of the Augusteum after a landslide. Together with the data analysis, we proceeded with a digital tridimensional reconstruction of each phase. The integration of unmeasurable lengths has been done with comparisons with similar buildings, for example the curia Iulia in Rome. We hope that this work will be useful for dissemination projects -given the immediate comprehension of the ancient ruins- and even for further studies of the roman forum of Rusellae. It will be even possible to digitally put the tridimensional image of each statue found inside the Augusteum in its original place, creating a virtual anastylosis, in order to study their original collocation.