Roman Forum (Forum Romanum)

Attribution:

JoshTrefethen.com

Key Dates

The area of the forum was originally a grassy wetland, drained in the 7th century BC by the building of the Cloaca Maxima. In 600 BC Tarquinius Priscus traditionally had the area paved for the first time, and the forum was augmented with temples, basilicas, arches and other public buildings thenceforth - notable constributors being Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Julius Caesar, Augustus and the Flavians.

Rome

Italy

Key People

Pretty much anyone who was anyone in Rome can be connected to the Forum Romanum in some way. It was the heart of the city - especially in the Republic when the area housed the Senate and was the scene of large public meetings.

Julius Caesar

If Rome is the centre of the ancient world, then the Forum Romanum could lay claim to being the centre of Rome. Lying between the Palatine hill - home to many of the Roman elite - and the Capitoline hill - home to many of her gods - the forum was the judicial, political and economic centre of the Roman Republic.

Given its importance, it's hardly surprising that successive generations of Roman senators (and later emperors) put their stamp on the Forum Romanum by erecting impressive temples, basilicas, arches and so forth, while the area's prominence in the religious and political life of the republic is reflected in the presence of the Curia (Senate House), Rostra, Regia and the hosue of the Vestal Virgins. The forum boasted temples to Castor and Pollux; Saturn, Vesta, Venus and Roma, Titus and Vespasian; Antoninus and Faustina; Caesar and Concord, as well as playing host to the Basilica Aemilia, Basilica Julia and, later, the Basilica Maxentius and Constantine. Meanwhile, the forum was also adorned by the arches of Augustus, Tiberius, Titus and Septimius Severus... and less pleasantly Rome's chief prison, the Tullianum.

Related Structures

Rostra - platform from which magistrates and politicians spoke to the assembled people of Rome.

Curia - The Senate House of the Roman Republic and Empire, rebuilt at various times.

Regia - Originally the residence of the kings of Rome, and later the office of the Pontifex Maximus.

Admission Fee

Admission Free

Events

Past

Images