The granite slab pavement surface now visible is part of the paving of the Roman forum in Olbia, that is, the public place par excellence of every Roman city: a square often surrounded by temples and other public buildings, a place of meeting and exchange, including trade. The one in Olbia, built during the reign of the Flavian dynasty of Emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, opened onto the ancient harbor and extended from the present City Hall to Villa Tamponi. Along the western side were two temples, one of which was dedicated to Venus and may have existed as early as the Phoenician, Greek and Punic phases of the city, later surviving as the churches of St. Mary of the Sea and St. Anthony Abbot, located at the beginning of today’s Corso Umberto.
