Forum Novum, Archaeological site in Torri in Sabina, Italy

Forum Novum is a Roman municipium site in Torri in Sabina, beside the Aia stream. Excavations from the late 1970s and geophysical surveys from 1997 located a basilica, a temple complex, part of the forum, a baths complex, an amphitheatre and small tabernae; an urban villa stood near the centre. The site was sparsely built up, with few domestic structures.

Forum Novum was elevated to municipium status by the early 1st century AD and assigned to the Crustumina tribe; Pliny lists it among towns in the Naturalis Historia. It was probably founded after an earlier Republican forum, hence the name Novum. The centre stayed active into the 3rd century AD, and a market was still held there in the 4th century. A bishopric was established in the 5th century, giving the later name Vescovìo; the colony was destroyed in the Saracen raids culminating in 846.

The name Vescovìo, still used for the area, comes from the bishopric established here in the fifth century, which made Forum Novum a regional focus through the early medieval period and remains a titular see today. A market was still held at the centre in the fourth century, and the site kept its role as a gathering point for the surrounding rural population.

Forum Novum lies in the countryside near Torri in Sabina, by the Torrente Aia, and is reached by rural roads; the excavated area is unroofed and partly overgrown. The British School at Rome surveys of 1997 and later used geophysics and ground-penetrating radar, so visible remains are slight: look for the forum, baths and amphitheatre outlines rather than standing walls.

The 1997 British School at Rome survey used ground-penetrating radar to fill gaps where geophysics could not reach, locating the forum, baths and amphitheatre. It found only small tabernae as domestic buildings, plus an urban villa near the centre, suggesting local elites monumentalised a rural market centre.