Instituted in 1894 by local scholar Pio Capponi;the collection grew rapidly especially through donations;but it suffered heavy losses during the Second World War.Since 1959;the Museum;which has recently been enlarged and modernised;had been housed in two rooms belonging to two adjacent building of different periods;the first is located in the so-called Torre Fromentaria;dating back to the 13th century;the second is part of a building of 1956;current seat of the Town Council.The exhibition area is closely linked to the extraordinary Foro Emiliano complex;with the original paving of the 1st century A.D.;which still has the role of political-administrative and religious centre of the town.The archaeological material includes finds dating from the Palaeolithic era to the Roman era and is mainly composed of statues;architectural fragments;burial epigraphs and sarcophagi.Worthy of note:the lithic and faunistic finds from Riparo Salvini;an important coastal environmental deposit of the early Palaeolithic period;a series of Roman portraits (2nd century B.C.-2nd century A.D.);an altar dedicated to the Providentia of Traianus with scenes of imperial largesse;an emperor’s statue with armour decorated with scenes of naval victories and maritime trades.