Some say this street was important since it provided a way for carts to avoid the important intersection coming up next on our passage, but a lack of wheel ruts makes this interpretation problematic. An alternative interpretation sees the via Stabia here as lying along or just outside an original urban nucleus and the eastward course of the via dell'Abbondanza as the product of an extensive extension of the city. The important public structures mentioned here project out from the flush frontages defining the street channel. On the site they are more conspicuous relative to that house entrance than is apparent in photographs. This intersection and the via del Foro leading from it to the forum will be discussed more fully elsewhere in the PFP report.
All dimensions are rough measurements taken in the field.
The equivalent in metric measurement is given in parenthesis. The next row of columns, the ones fronting the forum, lacks the mate to the pair framing the street. The result is a bowed alignment that is hardly noticeable within the generous cross section in which it occurs, although it is noted on the Eschebach plan. Note that the measurements are approximate and are to the outer face of the curb stones. Others in the PFP will address the western portico and precinct walls of the forum.