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92-710: In 112 AD, the Emperor Trajan commissioned a library to be built in his Forum due north of the Roman Forum at the heart of the Roman Empire . Construction was completed in 114 AD. Upon its completion, the Ulpian Library was the premier library and scholarly center of Rome. “This library was also the Public Record Office of Rome” with over 20,000 scrolls containing records concerning the city’s population. The library

184-472: A cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, where later a staircase bearing the name of Cacus was constructed. Rome has its origins on the Palatine. Excavations show that people have lived in the area since the 10th century BC. Excavations performed on the hill in 1907 and again in 1948 unearthed a collection of huts believed to have been used for funerary purposes between the 9th and 7th century BC approximating

276-709: A quarry for new buildings being undertaken in Rome after a long lapse. The Forum Romanum suffered some of its worst depredations during the Italian Renaissance, particularly in the decade between 1540 and 1550, when Pope Paul III exploited it intensively for material to build the new Saint Peter's Basilica . Just a few years before, in 1536, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V held a triumph in Rome on his return from conquering Tunis in North Africa. To prepare

368-520: A small number of inhumation burials. On current evidence, it is likely that burials in the Forum ceased in the late 9th century BC and that the Esquiline Necropolis replaced them. The first archaeological finds on the sites of the key public buildings point to a transformation of the Forum from a cemetery to a public site in the 8th century BC. Part of the Forum was paved over. The earliest finds in

460-541: A statue on each level, presumably of Trajan and possibly of Minerva. The niches (seven total on each wall) containing recessed wooden bookcases located in both walls running the length of the library along with four others running across the back wall stored the scrolls. Estimates on the amount of scrolls held are "approximately ten thousand" for both Latin and Greek libraries. "In addition, there were archival materials, such as praetorian edicts and senatorial decrees, as well as Caesar's autobiography and Trajan's commentaries on

552-606: A tomb to him on the hill and called the place Pallantium, after him. According to Livy , after the immigration of the Sabines and the Albans to Rome, the original Romans lived on the Palatine. The Palatine Hill was also the site of the ancient festival of the Lupercalia . Many affluent Romans of the Republican period ( c.  509 BC – 44 BC) had their residences there. From

644-847: Is also the etymological origin (via the Latin adjective palatinus ) of " palatine ", a 16th-century English adjective that originally signified something pertaining to the Caesar's palace, or someone who is invested with the king's authority. Later its use shifted to a reference to the German Palatinate . The office of the German count palatine ( Pfalzgraf ) had its origins in the comes palatinus , an earlier office in Merovingian and Carolingian times. Another modern English word, " paladin ", came into usage to refer to any distinguished knight (especially one of

736-609: Is one of the most visible landmarks there today. The arch closed the Forum's central area. Besides the Arch of Augustus, which was also constructed following a Roman victory against the Parthians, it is the only triumphal arch in the Forum. The Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) was the last of the great builders of Rome's city infrastructure and he did not omit the Forum from his program. By his day it had become highly cluttered with honorific memorials. He refurbished and reorganized it, building anew

828-671: The Forum Romanum to the larger and more extravagant structures ( Trajan's Forum and the Basilica Ulpia ) to the north. The reign of Constantine the Great saw the construction of the last major expansion of the Forum complex—the Basilica of Maxentius (312 AD). This returned the political centre to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later. Unlike

920-512: The curies of Rome. In 2007 the legendary Lupercal cave was claimed to have been found beneath the remains of the Domus Livia (House of Livia ) on the Palatine. Archaeologists came across the 16-metre-deep cavity while restoring the decaying palace, with a richly decorated vault encrusted with mosaics and seashells. The Lupercal was probably converted to a sanctuary by Romans in later centuries. Many others have denied its identification with

1012-692: The Arcadian settlers from Pallantium , named from its founder Pallas, son of Lycaon . More likely, it is derived from the noun palātum "palate"; Ennius uses it once for the "heaven", and it may be connected with the Etruscan word for sky, falad . The name of the hill is the etymological origin of the word palace and its cognates in other languages ( Greek : παλάτιον , Italian : palazzo , French : palais , Spanish : palacio , Portuguese : palácio , German : Pfalz and Palast , Czech : palác , Croatian : palača , etc.). The Palatine Hill

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1104-617: The Arch of Constantine . The Republican-era houses on the Palatine were overbuilt by later palaces after the Great Fire of Rome (AD 64), but apparently this one was not and perhaps was preserved for an important reason. On the ground floor, three shops opened onto the Via Sacra . The location of the domus is significant because of its potential proximity to the Curiae Veteres , the earliest shrine of

1196-523: The Baths of Diocletian , possibly due to repairs as the contents were returned at a later date. Records show that in 455 AD a bust of Didonius Appollinarius was ordered there by the Emperor Avitus . The Ulpian Library continued in the tradition of Roman imperial libraries with Latin and Greek collections housed separately. In this library, they faced one another across a small colonnaded courtyard that enclosed

1288-465: The Column of Trajan . The library was a two level structure with high vaulted ceilings to take advantage of the natural lighting. The interior walls were divided into bays by columns "set opposite pilasters that framed the niches which held the books and scrolls. There were three steps between the columns that enabled "access to a walkway in front of the bookcases." At the other end of the hall were recesses for

1380-467: The Dacian Wars , of which now only a few words survive ." The space itself was designed to be aesthetically pleasing with desks ( plutei) and the books out of sight on shelves and intending for reading, but was not designed with the growth of the collection in mind. There are reconstructions both digital and physical that show the external and internal view of the library. The digital reconstruction shows

1472-549: The Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas . This proved to be the last monumental addition made to the Forum. The emperor Constans II , who visited the city in 663 AD, stripped the lead roofs of the monumental buildings, exposing the structures to the weather and hastening their deterioration. By the 8th century, the whole space was surrounded by Christian churches taking the place of abandoned and ruined temples. An anonymous eighth-century Einsiedeln Itinerary reports that

1564-529: The Forum of Caesar . The Forum was also witness to the assassination of a Roman Emperor in 69 AD: Galba had set out from the palace to meet rebels but was so feeble that he had to be carried in a litter. He was immediately met by a troop of his rival Otho 's cavalry near the Lacus Curtius in the Forum, where he was killed. During these early Imperial times, much economic and judicial business transferred away from

1656-623: The Severan Dynasty , made significant additions to the buildings, notably the Domus Severiana . The House of Livia , the wife of Augustus, is conventionally attributed to her based only on the generic name on a clay pipe and circumstantial factors such as proximity to the House of Augustus. The building is located near the Temple of Magna Mater at the western end of the hill, on a lower terrace from

1748-477: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina , the Temple of Vesta , the steps and foundation of the Temple of Castor and Pollux , and the Regia . The Conservators protested vehemently against the ruination of their heritage, as they perceived it, and on one occasion applied fruitlessly to Pope Gregory XIII (1572–1585) to revoke all licenses for foraging materials, including the one granted to the fabbrica of Saint Peter's in

1840-465: The Temple of Saturn , the Temple of Vesta and the Curia Julia . The latter represents the best-preserved tetrarchic building in Rome. He also reconstructed the rostra at each end of the Forum and added columns. The reign of Constantine the Great saw the completion of the construction of the Basilica of Maxentius (312 AD), the last significant expansion of the Forum complex. This restored much of

1932-690: The Twelve Peers of Charlemagne ) under Charlemagne in late renditions of the Matter of France . According to Roman mythology , the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal , where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf Lupa that kept them alive. Another legend occurring on the Palatine is Hercules ' defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed

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2024-562: The maestri to issue their own excavation licenses was revoked by the Bull of Pope Nicholas V , which absorbed that power into the Vatican. From then on only two authorities in Rome had the power to issue such licenses: the Vatican and the Conservators. This dual, overlapping authority was recognized in 1462 by a Bull of Pope Pius II . Within the context of these disputes over jurisdiction, ruins in

2116-463: The seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire ". The site is now mainly a large open-air museum whilst the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites. Imperial palaces were built there, starting with Augustus . Before imperial times the hill

2208-521: The "Black Stone" marble together over the Lapis Niger in Rome. Excavations in the Forum continue, with discoveries by archaeologists working in the Forum since 2009 leading to questions about Rome's exact age. One of these recent discoveries includes a tuff wall near the Lapis Niger used to channel water from nearby aquifers . Around the wall, pottery remains and food scraps allowed archaeologists to date

2300-495: The "original town of Rome." Modern archaeology has identified evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area which predates Rome's founding. Intensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century and culminated in the late 19th century, after the proclamation of Rome as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Discoveries continued sporadically throughout the 20th century until the present time. In 2006, archaeologists announced

2392-421: The 19th century revealed one layer on top of another. The deepest level excavated was 3.60 meters above sea level . Archaeological finds show human activity at that level with the discovery of carbonized wood. An important function of the Forum, during both Republican and Imperial times, was to serve as the culminating venue for the celebratory military processions known as Triumphs . Victorious generals entered

2484-574: The Capitoline Hill end of the Forum by order of the consuls for that year, M. Aemilius Lepidus and Q. Lutatius Catulus . In 63 BC, Cicero delivered his famous speech denouncing the companions of the conspirator Catiline at the Forum (in the Temple of Concord , whose spacious hall was sometimes used as a meeting place by the Senators). After the verdict, they were led to their deaths at the Tullianum ,

2576-495: The Comitium and the Temple of Vesta by purchasing existing private homes and removing them for public use. Building projects of several consuls repaved and built onto both the Comitium and the adjacent central plaza that was becoming the Forum. The 5th century BC witnessed the earliest Forum temples with known dates of construction: the Temple of Saturn (497 BC) and the Temple of Castor and Pollux (484 BC). The Temple of Concord

2668-607: The Comitium around the old Etruscan temple where the Senate would meet at the site of the Sabine conflict. He is said to have converted that temple into the Curia Hostilia close to where the Senate originally met in an old Etruscan hut. In 600 BC Tarquinius Priscus had the area paved for the first time. Originally a low-lying, grassy wetland , the Forum was drained in the 7th century BC with

2760-419: The Comitium was excavated into a deep triangular depression. The area was paved with a beaten earth pavement and later replaced with a more substantial gravel one. Nearby was located an archaic sanctuary dedicated to Vulcan known as Vulcanal (also Volcanal ): a small rectangular pit and elliptical basin carved out of an outcrop of tuff . It has been suggested that the earliest ancient materials collected in

2852-480: The Comitium, such as the popular assemblies, funerals of nobles, and games, were transferred to the Forum as it developed. Especially notable was the move of the comitia tributa , then the focus of popular politics, in 145 BC. In 133 BC the Tribune Tiberius Gracchus was lynched there by a group of senators. In the 80s BC, during the dictatorship of Sulla , major work was done on the Forum including

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2944-413: The Forum for the procession intended to imitate the pageantry of the ancient Roman triumph, the papal authorities undertook sweeping demolitions of the many medieval structures on the site, to reveal and better display the ancient monuments. This required the clearance of some 200 houses and several churches, the excavation of a new "Via Sacra" to pass under the arches of Titus and Septimius Severus , and

3036-467: The Forum in 184 BC by Marcus Porcius Cato , who thus began the process of "monumentalizing" the site. The Basilica Fulvia was dedicated on the north side of the Forum square in 179 BC. (It was rebuilt and renamed several times, as Basilica Fulvia et Aemilia, Basilica Paulli, Basilica Aemilia ). Nine years later, the Basilica Sempronia was dedicated on the south side. Many of the traditions from

3128-560: The Forum neighborhood with balconies, which were called after him maeniana , so that the spectators might better view the games put on within the temporary wooden arenas set up there. The Tribune benches were placed on the Forum Romanum, as well. First, they stood next to the senate house; during the late Roman Republic, they were placed in front of the Basilica Porcia. The earliest basilicas (large, aisled halls) were introduced to

3220-539: The Forum to larger and more extravagant structures to the north. After the building of Trajan's Forum (110 AD), these activities transferred to the Basilica Ulpia . The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus was added at the northwest end of the Forum close to the foot of the Capitoline Hill and adjacent to the old, vanishing Comitium. It was dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons against Pescennius Niger and

3312-612: The Forum was already falling apart at that time. During the Middle Ages, though the memory of the Forum Romanum persisted, its monuments were for the most part buried under debris, and its location was designated the "Campo Vaccino" or "cattle field," located between the Capitoline Hill and the Colosseum . After the eighth century, the structures of the Forum were dismantled, rearranged, and used to build towers and castles within

3404-465: The Forum, additional fora throughout the city began to emerge to expand on specific needs of the growing population. Fora for cattle, pork, vegetables and wine specialised in their niche products and the associated deities. Rome's second king, Numa Pompilius (r. 715–673 BC), is said to have begun the cult of Vesta , building its house and temple as well as the Regia as the city's first royal palace. Later Tullus Hostilius (r. 673–642 BC) enclosed

3496-405: The Forum, reach the lowest possible level of the Forum without damaging existing structures, and to identify already half-excavated structures, along with the Senate house and Basilica Aemilia. These state-funded excavations were led by Dr. Giacomo Boni until he died in 1925, stopping briefly during World War I. In 2008, heavy rains caused structural damage to the modern concrete covering holding

3588-432: The Forum. The temple originally was to be built to the god Jupiter but was replaced with Saturn ; historians are unsure why. The building was not used solely for religious practice; the temple also functioned as a bank for Roman society. The Temple stood in the forum along with four other temples, the temples of Concord , Vesta , Castor and Pollox . At each temple, animal sacrifices and rituals were done in front of

3680-522: The Roman Forum. Little is known about when the temple was built, as the original temple is believed to have been burnt down by the Gauls early in the fourth century. However, it is understood that it was also rebuilt by Munatius Plancus in 42 BC. The eight remaining columns are all that is left of the illustrious temple. Though its exact date of completion is not known, it stands as one of the oldest buildings in

3772-632: The Scot Charles Mills who turned it into an elaborate neo-Gothic villa. At the end of the 19th century the villa was converted into a convent. This was partially demolished from 1928 to allow excavations and in the surviving part of the building the Palatine Museum has been installed. Dominating the site is the Palace of Domitian which was rebuilt largely during the reign of Domitian over earlier buildings of Nero . Later emperors, particularly those of

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3864-583: The Via Sacra, the Forum was accessed by several storied roads and streets, including the Vicus Jugarius , Vicus Tuscus , Argiletum , and Via Nova.) Pottery deposits discovered in the Forum, Palatine and Capitoline demonstrated that humans occupied these areas in the Final Bronze Age (1200–975 BC). In the early Iron Age an area of the future Forum, close to the site of Temple of Antoninus and Faustina ,

3956-471: The ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman Kingdom 's earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. These included the ancient former royal residence, the Regia (8th century BC), and the Temple of Vesta (7th century BC), as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins , all of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome . Other archaic shrines to

4048-672: The area of the Vulcanal are from the second half of the 8th century BC. It appears that the Romans were aware of the sites’ archaic origins: the foundation of the Comitium and Vulcanal were attributed to Romulus himself while the first Curia (senate house), which was located nearby, to Tullus Hostilius . At the western end of the Forum, excavations near the House of the Vestals and the sanctuary of Vesta have revealed an important group of 7th-century-BC buildings. The archaeologists have identified them as

4140-453: The building of the first structures of Cloaca Maxima , a large covered sewer system that emptied into the Tiber , as more people began to settle between the two hills. Archaeological evidence shows that by the end of the 7th century BC, the ground level of the Forum was raised significantly in some places to overcome the problems of poor drainage and provide a foundation for a pebble-paved area. In

4232-599: The buildings facing it and, sometimes, an additional area (the Forum Adjectum ) extending southeast as far as the Arch of Titus . Originally, the site of the Forum had been a marshy lake where waters from the surrounding hills drained. This was drained by the Tarquins with the Cloaca Maxima . Because of its location, sediments from both the flooding of the Tiber and the erosion of the surrounding hills have been raising

4324-651: The central square had reduced the open area to a rectangle of about 130 by 50 meters. Its long dimension was oriented northwest to southeast and extended from the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill . The Forum's basilicas during the Imperial period—the Basilica Aemilia on the north and the Basilica Julia on the south—defined its long sides and its final form. The Forum proper included this square,

4416-588: The centre of the city of Rome . Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum , or simply the Forum . For centuries, the Forum was the centre of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials and gladiatorial matches ; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated

4508-530: The city by the western Triumphal Gate ( Porta Triumphalis ) and circumnavigated the Palatine Hill (counterclockwise) before proceeding from the Velian Hill down the Via Sacra and into the Forum. From here, they would mount the Capitoline Rise ( Clivus Capitolinus ) up to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the summit of the Capitol. Lavish public banquets ensued back down on the Forum. (In addition to

4600-450: The city in honor of his ancestor, Pallas, although Pausanias as well as Dionysius of Halicarnassus say that Evander's birth city was Pallantium, and thus he named the new city after the one in Arcadia. Dionysius of Halicarnassus also mention that some writers, including Polybius of Megalopolis , say that the town was named after Pallas, who was the son of Heracles and Lavinia, the daughter of Evander, and when he died his grandfather raised

4692-428: The city's leaders. The heart of ancient Rome , it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills , the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly. Many of the oldest and most important structures of

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4784-415: The discovery of the Palatine House, believed to be the birthplace of Rome 's first Emperor, Augustus. A section of corridor and other fragments under the Hill were found and described as "a very ancient aristocratic house." The two-story house appears to have been built around an atrium , with frescoed walls and mosaic flooring, and is situated on the slope of the Palatine that overlooks the Colosseum and

4876-414: The early phases of the Regia (House of the kings), House of the Vestals, and Domus Publica (official residence of the pontifex maximus ). There seems to have been something of a surge in development of the Forum in the last quarter of the 7th century BC, as many of the changes date from 625 to 600 BC. Archaeologically, there is substantial evidence for development of the Forum in the 6th century BC: parts of

4968-424: The elite towards the Forum, an act symbolically repeated two centuries later by Gaius Gracchus . This began the tradition of locus popularis , in which even young nobles were expected to speak to the people from the Rostra. Gracchus was thus credited with (or accused of) disturbing the mos maiorum ("custom of the fathers/ancestors") in ancient Rome. When Censor in 318 BC, Gaius Maenius provided buildings in

5060-437: The end of the subsequent civil war , Augustus finished his great-uncle's work, giving the Forum its final form. This included the southeastern end of the plaza where he constructed the Temple of Caesar and the Arch of Augustus there (both in 29 BC). The Temple of Caesar was placed between Caesar's funeral pyre and the Regia. The Temple's location and reconstruction of adjacent structures resulted in greater organization akin to

5152-415: The even larger Domus Aurea , over which was eventually built Domitian's Palace. From the 16th century, the hill was owned by the Farnese family and was occupied by the Farnese Gardens , still partially preserved above the remains of the Domus Tiberiana. At the top of the hill, between the Domus Flavia and the Domus Augustana, the Villa Mattei was built in the 16th century, then purchased around 1830 by

5244-431: The excavation of the more prominent monuments to reveal their foundations. In 1425, Pope Martin V issued a papal bull inaugurating a campaign of civic improvement and rebuilding in the city, which was depopulated and dominated by ruins. The demand for building materials consequently increased significantly, making the Forum a convenient quarry for stone and marble. Since the 12th century, when Rome's civic government

5336-422: The extent to which the buildings in the Forum were buried under sediment. Renowned British artist J. M. W. Turner painted Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino in 1839, following his final trip to the city. Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill ( / ˈ p æ l ə t aɪ n / ; Classical Latin : Palatium ; Neo-Latin : Collis/Mons Palatinus ; Italian : Palatino [palaˈtiːno] ), which relative to

5428-531: The focus of judicial activity moved to the new Basilica Aemilia (179 BC). Some 130 years later, Julius Caesar built the Basilica Julia , along with the new Curia Julia , refocusing both the judicial offices and the Senate itself. This new Forum, in what proved to be its final form, then served as a revitalized city square where the people of Rome could gather for commercial, political, judicial and religious pursuits in ever greater numbers. Eventually, much economic and judicial business would transfer away from

5520-428: The forum occurred under Paul III, who in 1540 revoked previous excavation licenses and brought the forum exclusively under the control of the Deputies of the Fabric of the new Saint Peter's Basilica , who exploited the site for stone and marble. Monuments which fell victim to dismantling and the subsequent burning of their materials for lime included the remains of the Arch of Augustus , the Temple of Caesar , parts of

5612-417: The forum were increasingly exploited and stripped. In 1426, a papal license authorized the destruction of the foundations of a structure called the "Templum Canapare" for burning into lime, provided that half the stone quarried be shared with the Apostolic Camera (the Papal treasury). This structure was identified by Rodolfo Lanciani as the Basilica Julia , but the name could have applied to any structure in

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5704-424: The forum. The excavation by Carlo Fea , who began clearing the debris from the Arch of Septimius Severus in 1803 marked the beginning of clearing the Forum. Excavations were officially begun in 1898 by the Italian government under the Minister of Public Instruction, Dr. Baccelli. The 1898, restoration had three main objectives: restore fragmented pieces of columns, bases, and cornices to their original locations in

5796-432: The later imperial fora in Rome—which were self-consciously modelled on the ancient Greek plateia (πλατεῖα) public plaza or town square —the Roman Forum developed gradually, organically, and piecemeal over many centuries. This is the case despite attempts, with some success, to impose some order there, by Sulla , Julius Caesar , Augustus and others. By the Imperial period, the large public buildings that crowded around

5888-401: The level of the Forum floor for centuries. Excavated sequences of remains of paving show that sediment eroded from the surrounding hills was already raising the level in early Republican times. As the ground around buildings rose, residents simply paved over the debris that was too much to remove. Its final travertine paving, still visible, dates from the reign of Augustus . Excavations in

5980-417: The likely construction of the wall to the 8th or 9th century BC, over a century before the traditional date of Rome's founding. In 2020, Italian archaeologists discovered a sarcophagus and a circular altar dating to the 6th century BC. Experts disagree whether it is a memorial tomb dedicated to Rome's legendary founder, Romulus . The Temple of Saturn was one of the more significant buildings located in

6072-404: The local area. In the 13th century, these rearranged structures were torn down and the site became a dumping ground. This, along with the debris from the dismantled medieval buildings and ancient structures, helped contribute to the rising ground level. The return of Pope Urban V from Avignon in 1367 led to an increased interest in ancient monuments, partly for their moral lesson and partly as

6164-406: The middle of the 7th century BC thatch-and-timber huts were demolished on the route of the Via Sacra and rectangular stone buildings began to replace them. The earliest structures in the Forum were discovered in two separate locations: the site of the Comitium and the group of sanctuaries of Regia (House of the kings), House of the Vestals and Domus Publica . Around 650–630 BC the area of

6256-410: The nearby dungeon which was the only known state prison of the ancient Romans. Over time, the Comitium was lost to the ever-growing Curia and to Julius Caesar 's rearrangements before his assassination in 44 BC. That year, two events were witnessed by the Forum, perhaps the most famous ever to transpire there: Marc Antony 's funeral oration for Caesar (immortalized in Shakespeare 's famous play )

6348-422: The northwest, such as the Umbilicus Urbis and the Vulcanal (Shrine of Vulcan), developed into the Republic 's formal Comitium (assembly area). This was where the Senate —as well as Republican government itself—began. The Senate House, government offices, tribunals, temples, memorials and statues gradually cluttered the area. Over time, the archaic Comitium was replaced by the larger adjacent Forum, and

6440-419: The paving have been found and a large number of fragments of terracotta decorations from this area suggests that structures around the Forum were becoming more elaborate and highly decorated. During the Republican period, the Comitium continued to be the central location for all judicial and political life in the city. However, to create a larger gathering place, the Senate began expanding the open area between

6532-439: The political focus to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire , and the resulting Gothic Wars between the Byzantine / Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths over Italia, much of the city of Rome fell into ruin, from famine, warfare, and lack of authority. The population of Rome was reduced from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands, as

6624-487: The populated areas contracted to the river, largely abandoning the forum. Strenuous efforts were made to keep the Forum (and the Palatine structures) intact, not without some success. In the 6th century, some of the old edifices within the Forum began to be transformed into Christian churches. On 1 August 608, the Column of Phocas , a Roman monumental column , was erected before the Rostra and dedicated or rededicated in honour of

6716-401: The powers of the maestri in protecting the ruins, but in conferring papal authority the Vatican essentially brought the maestri under its control and away from the independence of the Conservators. In the 15th century, the Vatican escalated the issuance of excavation licenses, which gave broad permission to individuals to mine specific sites or structures for stone. In 1452, the ability of

6808-607: The prayers and cries of the Sabine women. Because the valley lay between the two settlements, it was the designated place for the two peoples to meet. Since the early Forum area included pools of stagnant water, the most easily accessible area was the northern part of the valley which was designated as the Comitium . It was here at the Vulcanal that, according to the story, the two parties laid down their weapons and formed an alliance. The Forum

6900-407: The raising of the plaza level by almost a meter and the laying of permanent marble paving stones. Remarkably, this level of the paving was maintained more or less intact for over a millennium: at least until the sack of Rome by Robert Guiscard and his Normans in 1084, when neglect finally allowed debris to begin to accumulate unabated. In 78 BC, the immense Tabularium (Records Hall) was built at

6992-568: The religious sites. These acts were meant to provide good fortune to those entering and using the temple. Since the Temple of Saturn also functioned as a bank, and since Saturn was the god of the Golden Age, sacrifices were made there in the hope of financial success. Inside the Temple, there were multiple vaults for the public and private ones for individuals. There were also sections of the Temple for public speaking events and feasts which often followed

7084-489: The sacrifices. From the 17th through the 19th century, the Roman Forum was a site for many artists and architects studying in Rome to sketch. The focus of many of these works produced by visiting Northern artists was on the current state of the Roman Forum, known locally as the Campo Vaccino, or "cow field", from the livestock who grazed on the largely ignored section of the city. Claude Lorrain 's 1636 Campo Vaccino shows

7176-491: The sites of the Comitium and Vulcanal were votive offerings. They indicate that the area was dedicated to a celebration of religious cults. According to Roman historical tradition, the Forum's beginnings are connected with the alliance between Romulus , the first king of Rome controlling the Palatine Hill , and his rival, Titus Tatius , who occupied the Capitoline Hill . An alliance formed after combat had been halted by

7268-608: The start of the Empire (27 BC) Augustus built his palace there and the hill gradually became the exclusive domain of emperors; the ruins of the palaces of at least Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), Tiberius (14 – 37 AD) and Domitian (81 – 96 AD) can still be seen. Augustus also built a temple to Apollo here. The Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 destroyed Nero's palace, the Domus Transitoria , but he replaced it by AD 69 with

7360-611: The temple. It is notable for its frescoes. Known as the Domus Tiberiana because the original house was built by Tiberius , he spent much of his time in his palaces in Campania and Capri. It was later incorporated into Nero 's Domus Transitoria . Part of its remains lie in the current Farnese Gardens . Already during Augustus' reign an area of the Palatine Hill was subject to a sort of archaeological expedition which found fragments of Bronze Age pots and tools. He declared this site

7452-553: The time period when the city of Rome was founded. Pallantium was an ancient city near the Tiber river on the Italian peninsula. Roman mythology , as recounted in Virgil 's Aeneid for example, states that the city was founded by Evander of Pallene and other ancient Greeks sometime previous to the Trojan War . In addition, Dionysius of Halicarnassus writes that Romans say that the city

7544-467: The view from inside the west (Greek) library, through what would have been bronze screens into the portico, where the base of the Column of Trajan can be seen. The library itself faces east, as Vitruvius recommends for libraries, the screens restricting access when the library was not in use and, with the high vaulted ceiling, taking advantage of the morning light. Portions of the floor and the podium of one of

7636-425: The walls survive allowed for the digital reconstruction of the library interior. 41°53′45″N 12°29′04″E  /  41.8957°N 12.4844°E  / 41.8957; 12.4844 Roman Forum The Roman Forum ( Italian : Foro Romano ), also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum , is a rectangular forum ( plaza ) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at

7728-663: The western section of the Forum, often called the Canapare or Cannapara . Between 1431 and 1462 the huge travertine wall between the Senate House and the Forum of Caesar adjoining the Forum Romanum was demolished by a grant of Pope Eugene IV , followed by the demolition of the Templum Sacrae Urbis (1461–1462), the Temple of Venus and Roma (1450), and the House of the Vestals (1499), all by papal license. The worst destruction in

7820-425: Was added in the following century, possibly by the soldier and statesman Marcus Furius Camillus . A long-held tradition of speaking from the elevated speakers' Rostra —originally facing north towards the Senate House to the assembled politicians and elites—put the orator's back to the people assembled in the Forum. A tribune known as Caius Licinius (consul in 361 BC) is said to have been the first to turn away from

7912-405: Was also equipped with presses for storage of both scrolls and books. During excavation, traces of these presses were discovered. The collection of books and scrolls not pertaining to public record, is thought to have been based on the private library of Epaphrodites of Cheronea which contained over 30,000 books and scrolls. Early in the 4th century, the contents of the Ulpian Library were moved to

8004-642: Was delivered from the partially completed speaker's platform known as the New Rostra and the public burning of Caesar's body occurred on a site directly across from the Rostra around which the Temple to the Deified Caesar was subsequently built by his great-nephew Octavius ( Augustus ). Almost two years later, Marc Antony added to the notoriety of the Rostra by publicly displaying the severed head and right hand of his enemy Cicero there. After Julius Caesar's death and

8096-558: Was formed, responsibility for protecting the ruins of the forum fell to the maestri di strade under the authority of the Conservatori , Rome's senior magistrates. Historically, the maestri and the Conservatori saw themselves as guardians of Rome's ancient legacy and zealously protected the ruins in the Forum from further destruction, but in the 15th century the Papacy gradually encroached upon these prerogatives. The Bull of 1425 strengthened

8188-489: Was founded by Greeks from Pallantium of Arcadia , about sixty years before the Trojan war and the leader was Evander. The myth of the city's origin was significant in ancient Roman mythology because Pallantium became one of the cities that was merged later into ancient Rome , thereby tying Rome's origins to the ancient Greek heroes. Other cities in the area were founded by various Italic tribes . Virgil states that Evander named

8280-536: Was mostly occupied by the houses of the rich. The hill originally had two summits separated by a depression; the highest part was called Palatium and the other Germalus (or Cermalus). Using the Forma Urbis its perimeter enclosed 63 acres (25 ha); while the Regionary Catalogues of the 4th century enclose 131 acres (53 ha). According to Livy (59 BC – AD 17) the Palatine hill got its name from

8372-471: Was outside the walls of the original Sabine fortress, which was entered through the Porta Saturni. These walls were mostly destroyed when the two hills were joined. The original Forum functioned as an open-air market abutting on the Comitium, but eventually outgrew its day-to-day shopping and marketplace role. As political speeches, civil trials, and other public affairs began to take up more and more space in

8464-473: Was used as a cemetery (10th century BC), possibly by the communities based on the Palatine and Capitoline hills. Most of the burials were cremations of the same type which is also found in the other sites in Latium . The urn containing the ashes of the deceased was placed inside a large earthenware jar, along with grave goods, and then buried in a cavity cut into the ground and covered with a capstone. There were also

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