The Forum Romanum

With the name Forum Romanum are called all the monuments which remaining parts are standing between the Capitol, the Colosseum, the Imperial Fora and the Palatine. Here you can find the Arch of Triumph of Titus, the big Basilica of Maxentius, the Temple of Antonino and Faustina and the Temple of Saturn, just to mention some of these antique monuments.

The forum, which was the heart of the city, started out as a open marketplace, but gradually it got more and more adorned with portico's basilica’s and temples. This was the area in which public life manifested itself. If you wanted your name to be remembered in history, the thing to do was to donate a building to the city on the forum. It was also the place gladiator games were being held before the institution of the amphitheaters. The old forums became due to the addition of all kinds of public and privately build additions quite chaotic and the expanding also city needed a larger area as its center. This is why Julius Caesar initiated the building of the first imperial forum, of which four were to follow, build by his successors.