Forum Cornelii
FORUM CORNELII (Φόρον Κορνήλιον, Strab.; Φόρον Κορνηλίου, Ptol.; Κορνηλίου ἀγορά. Dio Cass.: Eth. Forocorneliensis: Imola), a considerable town of Gallia Cispadana, situated on the Via Aemilia, and distant 23 miles from Bononia and 10 from Faventia. It stood on the W. bank of the river Vatrenus, now called the Santerno. (Strab. 5. p. 216; Plin. Nat. 3.15, s. 20; Ptol. 3.1.46; Itin. Ant. pp. 100, 127, 287; Itin. Hier. p. 616.) It is said to have derived its name from its foundation by the dictator Sulla (prudent. Peristeph. 9, init.), and appears to have been already a place of some importance at the death of Caesar; as, in the civil war which followed, it was occupied by Octavian, who established his winter-quarters there. (Cic. ad Fam. 12.5; Dio Cass..) It is afterwards noticed by Martial, who appears to have composed the third book of his epigrams during a residence in this town (3.50.4), and continued under the Roman empire to be a flourishing municipal town. (Gruter, Inscr. p. 518. 4, &c.) Its name is again mentioned during the Gothic Wars, and as late as the seventh century P. Diaconus ranks it among the locupletes urbeso f the province of Aemilia. He tells us that it had a citadel (castrum), which was called Imolas, from whence the modern town has derived the name of Imola. (Procop. B. G. 2.19; P. Diac. 2.18.)
[E.H.B]The site of a Roman municipium 32 km SE of Bologna on the Via Aemilia. The site is in an area inhabited since prehistoric times, though little is known of the continuity. Monte Castellaccio, directly S of the town, was a way station in the Bronze Age and not the only example of such early development. The Roman center was certainly built in connection with the Via Aemilia and the name reflects restructuring of the region under Sulla. The centuriation has the Via Aemilia as an axis, and the cardo (Via Selice) crosses it in relation to the E part of the urban area. The town was an early diocesan seat. The economy appears to have been largely agricultural.
The plan of the city is very irregular in the E section where the Via Aemilia itself could not be straight because of the terrain. It is probable that there were two urban phases, with an expansion to the W characterized by a regular orthogonal system still partly preserved. It is documented by the discovery of paved streets and the remains of buildings. The civic center was definitely established in this area, at the intersection of the two principal axes. The plan of the city is notably elongated along the route of the Aemilia, with rectangular city blocks elongated in the same direction. The history of building construction is largely documented by the remains of extensive private houses. They include a domus in Via S. Pier Crisologo from the first Imperial age, which has polychrome mosaics, and the much earlier suburban villa with large rooms in Viale Rivalta. It also has mosaics. But the period of great building activity continued at least through the 3d c. A.D. The only public monument known today is the amphitheater, to the W of the city and parallel with the Via Aemilia. It was explored in 1929 and then covered over. Its axes measure 108 m x 81 m and it has a circular foundation of cemented brick and radial walls with opposing arches. It was dug into the earth, with earth packed inside the masonry sustaining the tiers. The arena was, in fact, much lower than the level of the plain in ancient times. The chronology of the building is not clear; possibly it dates from the early Imperial period. It is so large that it must have served the inhabitants of an extended area.
The extensive population of the countryside around the town is indicated by the relative number of large villas, especially in the natural amphitheater formed by the hills to the S of the city. Excavation of several villas has revealed the existence of establishments for farming. Elsewhere in the plain, kilns for the production of ceramics have been identified. The necropoleis are along the access roads and have not been noted in any detail. From the Ponticelli necropolis to the S came the remains of a large monument with leonine ornamentation. To the W is a suburban necropolis in use until late antiquity. In that area the first Christian center developed around the Church of S. Cassiano.
The modern name is probably pre-Roman, as attested by the late sources, and was revived in mediaeval times.
BIBLIOGRAPHYMancini et al., Imola nell'antichità (1957) MPI.
G. A. MANSUELLI