The Roman Forum

A radically new look at the ruins of the centre of ancient Rome. The Roman Forum may be a highlight of the tourist route in Rome, but many visitors still find it a baffling and unwelcoming place.

There can be few more historic places in the world. Caesar was cremated there. Charles V and Mussolini rode by it in triumph. Napoleon celebrated his Festival of Liberty there. David Watkin’s Forum is the site as it was famous for centuries, celebrated in the romantic views of the Grand Tour, not the archaeologists’ building site it has become. He helps us rediscover the Forum’s rich history during and since antiquity, and that of the remarkable buildings which later centuries have added to this evocative place.