New excavations were undertaken in the area in front of the Temple of Augustus in order to document the structure in view of the creation of a project for its restoration. New data came to light regarding the complex building history of the urban quarter around the ancient temple, later a cathedral, where between the 16th and 17th centuries profound and complex transformations took place. As well as adding to knowledge of the material culture of this period, the excavated levels produced numerous finely made Roman architectural and figured marbles. The latter comprised a male portrait, another fragment of a head with a thin fillet around the neck, a female head perhaps of a caryatid. There were also three fragments of a marble inscription mentioning an act of euergetism carried out _in teatro_ by several _Augustales_ in 11 A.D. The inscription is further confirmation of the presence of a theatre at Puteoli, to date unidentified on the ground but represented on the known flask incised by Odemira. The most important piece of topographical data for the Roman period was the presence, in front of the temple, of a large square which may have acted as a _forum_ until the 1st century A.D. It was paved with limestone slabs and supported by a series of cisterns, cut into the tufa bed rock in the Republican period. Once freed of the post-antique structures the access stairway on the west side, with white marble steps, came to light together with the remains of the enclosure that delimited the sacred area. As to the east, this comprised a wall with rectangular niches framed by pilasters and brick half-columns.

Of the vast area discovered in front of the _aedes_ of the Temple of Augustus the substantial remains of the original paving make up of the Augustan forum were uncovered. On the northern side of the square the plinth of a building emerged, constructed of squared tufa blocks with rich marble decorations of Flavian date. This was certainly a public building that originated in the Republican period. Much robbed building material was recovered in the _forum_, including four marble blocks belonging to a low-relief representing a _suovetaurilia_ with a procession of individuals converging towards an altar. Also of note a fragment of inscription bearing the letters: _F. FLA_, and a marble male head capite velato of Julio-Claudian date. Lastly, also worthy of mention the find of a female marble head and a marble slab bearing an inscription in capital letters: _IVNONI SOSPITI. // ISIDI // ORACLVM ACILIVS CELADVS_, and, in low-relief a representation of the ears of a listening god. Part of the _forum_ had been used as a quarry, both in the Republican and medieval periods. Another public building was found on the western side of the square, on an east-west alignment with the southern side opening onto the _forum_. It presented an _opus sectile_ floor and preserved part of the wall revetment. Behind this building a three winged loggia was uncovered. Paved in _opus signinum_ with marble and limestone chippings. Datable to the Flavian period it was probably used for the imperial cult. The sector north of the temple of Augustus was also investigated and excavation of the _tabernae_ was completed. A complex underground water supply system was identified. This comprised two vaulted cisterns, cut into the tufa bedrock and in part masonry built, connected by an orthogonal branch.

During the excavation of the upper terrace of the “rocca” of Rione Terra, occupied by the so-called Temple of Augustus, the easternmost part of the forum of the ancient colony was uncovered, originally paved with rectangular marble slabs. The square was bordered to the south by a public building, perhaps razed in the early medieval period, on the same axis as the temple but at right angles to it. The orientation and its position on the south side of the _forum_ suggest that this may have been the basilica, of which part of the marble architectural decorations survive, datable to a phase of the Flavian period. What remained of the building complex was the northern edge of the platform, built in squared tufa blocks faced with marble slabs and covered by an _opus signinum_ floor decorated with marble chippings and partitioned on the north side by a continuous wall or a series of pilasters in _opus mixtum_. Amongst the marble fragments, found reused in the foundations of the modern building overlying the ancient one, were the hind quarters of a marble horse, a female head and a loricate headless statue. That this was probably Augustus was suggested by the presence on the cuirass of the figure of Jupiter Ammon flanked by two standing winged panthers. Close to this building, on the south-west side of the _forum_ was a large construction in _opus mixtum_, also originally paved with marble slabs of which the impressions left on the relative make up were visible. Exploration of this structure continues. The base of a marble semi-pilaster fixed with iron cramps was found at the centre of the east wall of this room that was perhaps part of another public building situated at the corner of the _forum_ square.