Excavations undertaken in the south-eastern part of the forum where, on the Masseria del Gigante property, a temple of imperial date had been uncovered, confirmed the typology of the complex. This closed rectangular courtyard and portico with a temple on a high _podium_ was situated in the middle of the short side of the _forum_. The temple had very close parallels with the so-called “temple with portico” in the same town. Amongst the finds was a large fragment of a draped female statue in Italian marble, reproducing a 4th century B.C. type. It is likely that the statue stood in a semicircular niche in the back wall of the northern side. The chronology probably still falls within the Domitianic period, to the period of the renewal of _Cumae_ following the opening of the new _via Domitiana_. Recently, the collapse of another interesting building emerged north of the Masseria del Gigante, in the south-eastern corner of the _forum_. This was a structure in tufa _opus quadratum_, the first order of Doric columns, the second order of Ionic columns and the inner faces of the arches decorated with rosettes. This monumental façade was decorated with high relief figured balustrades which seemed to reproduced in architecture the perspectives of II style painting (for example the villa at Oplontis). The _opus quasi reticulatum_ technique used for the walls of the rooms extending behind the façade has a parallel in the so-called “aula of Sulla” in the same town, suggesting the same late Republican dating.

Continuation of the excavation revealed that, behind the portico, the space was delimited by rooms with barrel vaulted ceilings. Three were explored along the southern side, all built in _opus reticulatum_ with brick quoins. Inside each were ancient wells built in Greek style _opus quadratum_. The most interesting of these rooms was the third to the west, where in the Augustan period a monumental _nymphaeum_ had been constructed. This had a marble paved entrance and the wall of the water tank was decorated with a fountain head, the spout in the form of a Medusa’s head, and an inscription referring to the merits of the _Luccei_, who financed the construction of a section of an aqueduct. The _nymphaeum_ was also decorated with a glass paste mosaic, fragments of which were found in the layers of collapse, and with a statue resting on a fake rock of grey tufa. Two pilasters resting on richly moulded white marble bases stood to the sides of the entrance.

A trench was excavated in the right hand corner of the stairway leading up to the previously excavated temple _podium_. Despite the large scale levelling that had taken place the materials documented uninterrupted occupation from the time when the colony was first established. A sector of the necropolis dating to the end of the 9th century B.C. was also uncovered. Another trench was put into the south-eastern sector of the _forum_ portico, revealing two rectangular rooms built in _opus reticulatum_ with _opus caementicium_ vaults. Preserved to the height of the upper level of the portico these were _tabernae_, whose entrances from the portico had been narrowed in the late antique period (4th-5th century A.D.) Excavation was completed of the stretch of portico between the south-eastern corner of the _forum_ and the passageway between the square in front of the temple of the Masseria and the _forum_ itself. Here, four grey tufa columns belonging to the portico were uncovered together with the socle of the portico, probably used for displaying statues. The abandonment of the area was marked by a double burial up against the northern side of the great _podium_. Lastly, the sector of the southern _forum_ portico, including the entrance point to the rectangular _forum_ itself, onto which the Masseria complex faced, was also brought to light. The entry to the _forum_ was marked by the presence of a single span monumental arch, in _opus caementicium_, faced with thick limestone slabs. Excavation of the _tabernae_ along the southern side confirmed that the late Republican structures stood directly on the _opus quadratum_ foundations of the forum’s first lay out (beginning of the 3rd century B.C.). The first _tabernae_ to the west of the _forum_ entrance were restructured in the Augustan period to become a _vestibulum_ with a wide stairway. To the south the eastern façade of a structure was uncovered. Constituted by a terrace on a _podium_ delimited by a railing, it led into a vast _chalcidicum_, paved with _opus signinum_. An inscription found nearby, suggests it was a bath building. In the late antique period both the terrace and the entrance ramp were made accessible to carts through the putting down of layers of compacted sand. The _forum_ underwent radical functional reorganisation, the signs of the removal of building materials during this phase were very clear. The remains of honorary statues that filled the porticoes were found in the area, including an headless portrait statue of the ‘Grande Ercolanese’ type, and an statue of a young man, also headless, wearing a toga with bulla (1st century A.D.).

This season concentrated on the area west of the temple with portico, the excavation data providing a diachronic reading of the occupation of the lower city from the early archaic until the late antique period. In fact, there was occupation across the area from the early archaic period onwards, attested by a first residential structure preserved only on three sides and on a north-east/south-west alignment, with an internal floor surface and central hearth. The structure dates to between the last quarter of the 8th century and beginning of the 7th century B.C. Therefore, in this phase, this was clearly a residential area and remained so until the beginning of the 6th century B.C. During the second half of the 6th century B.C., the entire area underwent a radical transformation, taking on a monumental character with public functions. Interesting evidence of this change was documented in the south sector where a pit filled with a votive deposit was found and part of a wall built of stone orthostats was intercepted. This belonged to a monumental building facing north that can be dated to between the end of the 6th- beginning of the 5th century B.C. During the 5th century and until the end of the 4th century B.C., the development of the area’s public and cult characteristics continued, attested by structures and furnishings of votive type. In the first decades of the 3rd century B.C., the area underwent a radical functional transformation: the sacred structures were razed almost to the same height and cut by the construction of an imposing terracing wall, part of the organisation of the zone south of the forum, within the overall project to monumentalise the entire forum area. Between the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 1st century B.C., a circular fountain was built in the north sector, coherent with a patch of floor mosaic identified just outside the explored area that documents the restructuring of this public space, overlooking the Capitoline in the Republican period. Further monumentalisation occurred during the early imperial period with the construction of new buildings and the straightening of the forum’s line on the south side. An imposing porticoed structure was built on the west side of the Temple with Portico, of which only the east and north perimeter walls were exposed. The _opus caementicum_ foundation incorporated earlier structures and levels of collapsed walls built of tufa blocks. Two apsidal rooms with _opus reticulatum_ walls and mosaic floors faced onto the portico. They were accessed from the forum, as was the porticoed area, via trachyte stone steps. The late antique period is attested by “a cappucina” burials and an _enchytrismos_ burial, part of an early Christian necropolis created in the area following the destruction of the porticoed building.

Excavation continued on the south-eastern side of the area west of the Temple with Portico confirming the occupation across the entire area in the archaic period. A wall with double facing of yellow tufa blocks attested this phase. It belonged to a structure in whose southern side were preserved traces of a threshold. About 8.63 m of the wall were exposed. The residential nature of the area was documented by a patch of floor surface relating to the period between the end of the 7th- beginning of the 6th century B.C. As in earlier campaigns, continuity of occupation with radical transformations was also documented in this area. At the end of the 3rd century B.C., an enclosure wall was built on a north-south alignment. About 15 m of this structure were excavated showing that it had no foundations but rested directly on a levelled and compacted surface created for the building of new structures. Between the end of the 1st century B.C. and the beginning of the 1st century A.D., all of these preexisting structures were razed and leveled and a monumental building with a portico was built (partially excavated in earlier campaigns). This remained in function until the late antique period when it was systematically robbed. In the late antique period, the area was gradually abandoned and the spaces used for the creation of small tanks, probably linked to craft working activities, and drains partially reusing the imperial water channelling system. The new occupation occurred following the systematic destruction and dismantling of the imperial monumental buildings in order to recover the building materials. The structures relating to artisan activity were short lived and quickly abandoned; once again the area changed function, as attested in this area by a section of an early Christian necropolis, to be associated with that found on the eastern side of the area during the 2006 excavations. The ten burials identified were almost all “a cappucina” tombs carefully covered with _tegulae_ and _imbrices_. They were mainly adult burials apart from a small “a cappucina” tomb and an _enchythrismos_ burial.

To the south-west of the terracing wall delimiting the southern end of the forum, the excavations revealed a pit probably relating to a cult area, containing miniature vases of plain ware pottery. In addition, the pit contained numerous shells, perhaps evidence of communal ritual meals eaten during particular rituals. A large extension of the excavation area to the north provided the data for the completion of the portico’s plan, a structure partially excavated during the previous two campaigns. The rectangular structure was on the same alignment as the great terrace wall at the southern end of the forum. Its _opus caementicium_ foundation incorporated earlier structures and levels of collapse of squared tufa blocks. Many fragments of architectural decorations in yellow tufa, probably from the earliest forum portico, were visible in the structure’s mortar. Rectangular blocks of yellow tufa rested on the foundation level. These constituted the bases of stuccoed brick-built Doric columns. The portico saw a phase in which the colonnade was formed by tufa columns, attested by several impressions of tufa bases identified on the south-eastern side of the structure. In the late antique period, the entire building was dismantled and razed, and the floor levels almost completely removed.

Along the south side of the triangular piazza, in the forum at Cumae, a two-roomed building was uncovered. Datable to between the end of the 2nd and the 1st century B.C., it was preserved at the level of the floor make ups, constituted by tufa chippings without mortar, and patches of floor constituted by a central mosaic carpet with a chain of lozenge shapes, bordered by a meander of swastikas. No substantial changes took place during the subsequent period, apart from a number of rebuilds of the walls during the 1st century A.D. A road on a south-west/north-east alignment passed the western side of the complex, leading towards the acropolis. This went out of use in the late antique period when the entire area began to be filled with dumps of waste from iron working, the residue from the craft working activity that must have taken place in the immediate vicinity. After the building and road went out of use, they were partially occupied by two “a cappuccina” burials and an _enchytrismos_ burial, part of the same necropolis attested by about 20 tombs uncovered on the eastern side of the building during previous campaigns. Across the entire excavation area, but above all on the southern side, the agricultural activities undertaken until the mid 19th century for the planting of a vineyard, further compromised the ancient structures.

The 2011 excavations exa,omed the south-western sector of the forum, exploring part of the building with two rooms partially uncovered in the previous year. It was not east to read the plan of the earliest phase, dating to between the end of the 3rd – beginning of the 2nd century B.C., due to the successive rebuildings of the walls and overlying floor levels. In the central part of the trench, between rooms 3 and 4, an _opus signinum_ floor with occasional terracotta fragments and irregular limestone insertions (3.70 x 3 m), was cut on the west side by an _opus incertum_ wall on a north-south alignment. Between the west side of room 3 and room 2, there was an _opus signinum_ floor with a central panel of lozenge decoration, bordered by a fillet dotted with limestone tesserae. It was in this phase that the road on a south-west/north-east alignment leading to the acropolis was built. It flanked the west side of the building and was bordered by a row of yellow tufa blocks. The road was cut on the east side by the construction of an _opus reticulatum_ wall. A phase dating to the end of the 2nd century B.C. was documented at the two ends of the building. On the west side, in correspondence with room 1, a floor made of _opus signinum_, was exposed. It had a central panel constituted by a chain of rhombus shapes, bordered by a cornice of limestone tesserae (4.20 x 3 m). At the eastern end of the building, room 5 had a floor with a central mosaic panel constituted by a chain of lozenges, framed by a meander motif (2.60 x 3.50). On the south side of the rooms, there was an open area, probably a garden. In a later phase, dating to between the end of the 2nd - 1st century B.C., the building was restructured and there was a radical reorganization of the spaces and the floor level was raised by about 0.60 m. The orientation of the rooms, originally with the long side on an east-west alignment, was changed by the construction of new dividing walls so that the rooms were at a right angle to the earlier layout. Following these changes, the zone that was previously an open area on the south side, was completely occupied by the new constructions. The latest floor levels preserved their characteristics, although heavily damaged on the south side by robbing from the end of the 4th century A.D. until the definitive obliteration of the structures during the 5th century A.D.

The area investigated in 2012 was probably occupied by an insula, constituted by a complex residential structure. In its earliest phases the building was made up of a series of rooms, aligned along the southern edge of the triangular piazza and parallel to the south side of the Capitoline. On their south side, there was an open space, probably a garden. The materials in context date this first building phase to the end of the 3rd century-beginning of the 2nd century B.C. During this campaign, the latest phase of the complex was identified, dating to between the end of the 1st century B.C. and the second half of the 1st century A.D. The open area on the south side was occupied by new rooms; further transformations reorganised the spaces so that the residential complex had two rooms on the west side separated by a central open space of about 2.60 x 3.50 m. The building’s western perimeter wall had two facings in _opus reticulatum_ and _opus vittatum mixtum_ quoining with alternating courses of small tufa parallelepipeds and brick. The main entrance to the building had a semi-pilaster in _opus vittatum_ on each side and was probably surmounted by an architrave. This door was situated on the west side facing on to the road, aligned south-west/north-east and leading to the acropolis. The building does not seem to have undergone any substantial transformations during its long life, from the end of the 2nd to the 4th century A.D., when a part of the structures collapsed following an earthquake. During the 5th century, several beaten surfaces were created on top of the collapsed building in oprder to level the area. Three burials were put into these levels on the west side; these were “a cassa” tombs in tufa blocks, with the skeleton in a supine position and without grave goods.

The area in which the excavations began is situated in the south-west corner of the forum, almost at the edge of the short side on which the _Capitolium_ stands. This sector, occupied by a building adjacent to that identified immediately to the east, had already been partially investigated. The visible structures were constituted by three rooms, one of which paved with mosaic, situated in the north-west corner of the building constructed in _opus_ _caementicium_ and _opus_ _reticulatum_. The stratigraphic analysis of the walls indicated a succession of interventions that modified the position of the entrances, some of which were blocked. The north-eastern sector of the building was occupied by a large room, partially excavated, and by a cistern that fed a fountain situated outside where the north-south road met the forum area. In the first place, the excavations (trench 22, 12 x 10 m) identified and documented the old edge of the 20th century excavations. The stratigraphy was somewhat disturbed down to the crest of a new wall, which was on the same alignment with the group of rooms already seen on the north-western part of the building. On the east side of the trench there was a wall collapse, characterised by many rubble fragments that still had the plaster facing attached. A marble female head was found here, in secondary deposition in a dump of rubble, with the back of the head facing upwards. The treatment of the hair seems similar to that on portraits of Faustina the Younger, and therefore can be attributed to a production of the second half of the 2nd century A.D.