Questo articolo offre un resoconto delle ricerche in corso sull’Acropoli di Populonia (campagne di scavo 2023–2025). Il progetto si incentra sull’area del sito dove una grande casa di élite romana fu costruita nella seconda metà del II secolo a.C. (con successive modifiche) e sul fronte stradale dell’edificio pubblico noto come ‘Le Logge’. Gli scavi stanno fornendo dati per meglio comprendere lo sviluppo urbanistico dell’acropoli in epoca tardo-repubblicana insieme ad aspetti della vita quotidiana pubblica e privata a Populonia. Significativamente, la distruzione della casa a causa di un incendio intorno alla metà del I secolo a.C. offre l’opportunità di riconsiderare le cause che portarono all’abbandono dell’acropoli, utilizzando fonti scritte e archeologiche per indagare questa fase finale della storia urbana del sito.

This paper provides a report on the ongoing research on the Acropolis of Populonia (excavations 2023–2025). The project focuses on the area of the site where a large Roman elite house was built in the latter half of the second century BCE (with subsequent modifications) and on the street front of the public building known as ‘Le Logge’. The excavations are providing data to better understand the urban development of the acropolis in the Late Republican period along with aspects of public and private daily life at Populonia. Crucially, the destruction of the house by a fire around the mid-first century BCE offers the opportunity to reassess the causes that led to the abandonment of the acropolis, using textual and archaeological sources to investigate this final phase of the site’s urban history.

This paper provides a report on the ongoing research on the Acropolis of Populonia (excavations 2023–2025). The project focuses on the area of the site where a large Roman elite house was built in the latter half of the second century BCE (with subsequent modifications) and on the street front of the public building known as ‘Le Logge’. The excavations are providing data to better understand the urban development of the acropolis in the Late Republican period along with aspects of public and private daily life at Populonia. Crucially, the destruction of the house by a fire around the mid-first century BCE offers the opportunity to reassess the causes that led to the abandonment of the acropolis, using textual and archaeological sources to investigate this final phase of the site’s urban history.