Roman forum

The Roman Forum, located in the heart of the eternal city, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, witnessing over a thousand years of Roman history. This extraordinary complex of ruins, surrounded by the Palatine and Capitoline hills, represented the nerve center of the political, legal, religious, and economic life of ancient Rome. The origins of the Forum date back to the founding period of Rome, when the Forum valley, initially an inhospitable marsh, was drained and transformed into a public area thanks to the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, one of the oldest sewer systems in the world. In the 6th century BC, under the reign of Tarquin the Elder, the Forum began to take shape as a paved square in tuff, destined to become the pulsating heart of the city. During the republican period, the Forum was enriched with important public and religious buildings, including the Temple of Saturn, the Regia, seat of the Pontifex Maximus, and the Temple of Vesta, with its sacred fire always kept burning by the Vestal Virgins. The construction of the Basilica Aemilia and Julia further transformed the Forum, providing covered spaces for commercial and judicial activities. The Basilica Aemilia, in particular, is the only one of the four republican basilicas to have survived, albeit in the form of ruins. The Roman Forum also became the place where the most important celebrations of Roman public life took place. The Via Sacra, the main street of the Forum, was the triumphal route followed by victorious generals in their processions. Here, on a podium decorated with the rostra of captured enemy ships, Roman magistrates held public speeches and administered justice. With the advent of the empire, the Forum continued to be a vital center of urban life, but the construction of the new Imperial Fora by Julius Caesar and the successive emperors shifted some administrative and ceremonial functions. However, the Roman Forum remained a place of great symbolic and religious importance. Augustus built the Temple of Divus Julius there, dedicated to his adoptive father Julius Caesar, deified after his death. Tiberius restored the Temple of Concord, while Vespasian and Titus erected the Temple of Vespasian. The decline of the Forum began in the late empire, when Rome itself began to lose its central role in the empire. The buildings of the Forum were progressively abandoned and many of its structures were stripped of their materials for other constructions. In the Middle Ages, the area of the Forum was transformed into pasture for livestock and became known as the Campo Vaccino. Only with the Renaissance and the modern era did a renewed interest in Roman antiquities begin, leading to the first archaeological excavations. Among the most iconic monuments of the Roman Forum is the Arch of Septimius Severus, erected in 203 AD to celebrate the emperor’s victories against the Parthians. This triumphal arch, with its detailed reliefs, is a magnificent example of imperial Roman art. The Curia, seat of the Roman Senate, is another building of great historical significance. The current structure, rebuilt by Diocletian in 283 AD after a fire, is one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in the Forum.