Background

- In early times the "forum" (place outside the door) was just a marsh, where many roads met.

- Here people could meet outside of town and exchange goods.

- As Rome grew the forum remained a meeting place and market place.

The Design of the Forum

- The oldest forum was called the Forum Romanum.

- As trade and business grew other forums were built by Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nerva, Trajan, & Ves.

• Each forum was carefully planned:

1. Open rectangular space surrounded by a colonnaded shelter or walkway on 3 sides
2. On the 4th side was the Basilica or town hall (roofed building)
3. The Basilica was concrete with an arched colonnade and a barrel vaulted roof.

The Forum Romanum (from left to right)

a. The Arch of the Emperor Septimus Serverus - built in 203 AD. to commemorate his many victories over the barbarians and his accession to the imperial throne.

b. The Golden Milestone - from which all distances were measured on the roads that led from Rome.

c. The Rostra with its curved back from which orators addressed the crowd.

d. The Temple of Saturn

e. The Basilica Julis (completed by Augustus in 14 AD.)

f. The Temple of Castor

g. The Curia Julia

h. The Basilica Aemilia

i. The Sacred Way - the main processional roadway into Rome.

j. The Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine (completed in 313 AD.) 114 feet high

k. The Colosseum (built in 69-79 AD. by Vespasian where spectators could watch gladiator contests)