The forum remained in the oldest part of town over the centuries. The existing rectangular area, 157 x 35 m, was surrounded in the 4th-3rd century BCE by taverns and shops. In the 2nd century BCE it was embellished with two-storey porticos, the columns built of tufa. During the Samnite and Roman periods the forum was also a religious centre, with the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter to the north, the Temple of Apollo to the west .

Located SE of Naples at foot of Mount Vesuvius; possibly founded by the Oscans in 6th century BCE; ruled by Samnites, then taken by Rome ca. 80 BCE; was prosperous city and resort; damaged by earthquake in 63 CE, rebuilt; destroyed by eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. The eruption buried Pompeii under 22 meters of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery around 1592. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire.