Hellenistic Sanctuaries in Cuma and Paestum and their Role in the Architectural Landscape of Hellenistic Campania

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Markus Wolf
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology
• Term: from 2014 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 258125302

The first object of these new study is the temple of Apollo on the acropolis of Cuma. Through a new architectural survey campaign of the temple and of its related architectural elements, we plan to clarify the various building phases of the sanctuary, something that has never been previously attempted. Significant architectural elements are now documentable for the first time. On this base, it is possible to propose a new reconstruction of the temple building phases so to include, between an archaic and a Roman imperial phase, also an Hellenistic- Samnite one. A second object is represented by a group of smaller temples in Paestum, located to the Northwest of the large temple of Poseidon and dated to the Hellenistic later phase of the settlement. In this case too, we shall undertake a new survey campaign to document both the layout and some of the related architectural elements, always with the scope of offering a reconstruction of the building as it has never been done before. In this group of small temples, there is an amphiprostylos, three more prostyl temples with their laid on the front altars, including the so called tempio italico, and a rectangular enclosure with an offer pit. Some temples within this group date still to the early Hellenistic, Lucan period, others instead, to the moment following the foundation of the Roman colony in 273 BCE. Buildings in Cuma and Paestum are to be discussed within the wider context of Hellenistic sanctuaries in Campania and in continuation of a comparative research, which began with a preliminary study of an Hellenistic altar in Teano, this study should shed new light on a never before studied architectural landscape.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI); Abteilung Rom