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Foro Imperiali

Foro Imperiali

Walking The Roman Form - Part Two

Carrying on from the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina we walk along the Basilica Aemilia

Then we pass the Curia Julia, Temple of Peace, and go into the Imperial Forum.

The Imperial Fora (Fori Imperiali in Italian) are a series of monumental fora (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire.

The Forum of Nerva also known as the Forum Transitorium was commissioned by Emperor Domitian and completed by his successor, Nerva, it was constructed between AD 85 and 97.

From there we walk into the Forum of Caesar

At the back of the forum there are a set of period passages that take us under the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

The first fora, the Forum of Augustus with the Mercati di Traiano bordering it.

Finally there is Trajan's Column and Forum.

Basilica Aemilia

Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia

Basilica Aemilia

The Basilica Aemilia was a significant structure in the Roman Forum, originally built in 179 BC by the censors Marcus Fulvius Nobilior and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. It was initially called the Basilica Fulvia et Aemilia, but over time, it became known simply as the Basilica Aemilia1.

This grand building served as a commercial and public space where financial transactions, business meetings, and legal proceedings took place1. It was known for its impressive architecture, featuring columns of African and cipolline marble, and Corinthian capitals2. The Basilica Aemilia was also adorned with statues and decorations celebrating the achievements of the Aemilian family1.

Unfortunately, the Basilica Aemilia was destroyed by the Visigoths during the sack of Rome in 410 AD. Today, only the foundations and some rebuilt elements remain, offering a glimpse into its former grandeur1.

1. www.historyhit.com, 2. en.wikipedia.org
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia
Basilica Emilia

Tempio della Pace

Basilica Emilia

Towards the Curia Julia

Basilica Emilia

The Temple of Peace

The Temple of Peace (Latin: Templum Pacis), also known as the Forum of Vespasian, was built in Rome in 71 AD under Emperor Vespasian in honour to Pax, the Roman goddess of peace.

Positioned southeast of the Roman Forum, between the Via Sacra and the Carinae, the temple stood on the southeast side of the Argiletum, offering a view of the Velian Hill and overlooking the renowned Colosseum.

It housed artifacts such as the Table of Shewbread and the seven-branched menorah from the Jerusalem Temple, which were taken as spoils during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

en.wikipedia.org

Curia Julia

Curia Julia

Curia Julia

The Curia Julia (Latin: Curia Iulia) is the third named curia, or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia Cornelia, which itself had replaced the Curia Hostilia. Caesar did so to redesign both spaces within the Comitium and the Roman Forum. The alterations within the Comitium reduced the prominence of the Senate and cleared the original space. The work, however, was interrupted by Caesar's assassination at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey, where the Senate had been meeting temporarily while the work was completed. The project was eventually finished by Caesar's successor, Augustus Caesar, in 29 BC.

The Curia Julia is one of a handful of Roman structures that survive mostly intact. This is due to its conversion into the basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro in the 7th century and several later restorations. However, the roof, the upper elevations of the side walls and the rear façade are modern and date from the remodeling of the deconsecrated church, in the 1930s.

en.wikipedia.org

Forum of Nerva

Foro di Nerva
Foro di Nerva

Forum of Nerva (Forum Transitorium)

Forum of Nerva (Italian: Foro di Nerva; Latin: Forum Nervae) is an ancient structure in Rome, Italy, chronologically the next to the last of the Imperial fora built.[1

The Imperial fora within the city of Rome have, in recent decades, become again a focus of attention for archaeologists within the city. The east section of the Forum Transitorium was uncovered during large-scale excavations undertaken by the Fascist regime during the construction of the road which was originally called the Via dell’Impero, now called the Via dei Fori Imperiali. Rodolfo Lanciani was the first to gather historical sources regarding the Forum Transitorium in 1883. Initial excavations in 1913, 1926–28 and 1932-1941 helped to measure extant columns as well as uncovered the foundations of the Temple of Minerva and the perimeter wall. This temple also gave the forum another name which is used by Martial, the Forum Palladium. This derives from an epithet of the Greek Minerva, Pallas Athena. Although there was relatively little known regarding the forum outside of literary texts before the 20th century, new excavations and insights are leading historians and archaeologists to new and exciting theories about what this forum was used for and its importance as a thoroughfare through an increasingly important part of the Roman urban landscape.

en.wikipedia.org

Forum Caesaris

Forum Caesaris
Forum Caesaris
780_2898_0860.jpg
Forum Caesaris

Forum of Caesar

Julius Caesar decided to construct a large forum bearing his name. This forum was inaugurated in 46 BC, although it was probably incomplete at this time and was finished later by Augustus.

The Forum of Caesar was constructed as an extension to the Roman Forum. The Forum was used as a replacement venue to the Roman Forum for public affairs as well as government; it was also designed as a celebration of Caesar's power. Caesar had placed, on the front of his forum, a temple devoted to Venus Genetrix, since Caesar's family (gens Julia) claimed to descend by Venus through Aeneas. A statue of Caesar himself riding Bucephalus, the celebrated horse of Alexander the Great, was placed in front of the temple, to symbolise absolute power.[citation needed] This centralised vision corresponded to the ideological function, following the propaganda of the Hellenistic sanctuaries; also the choice of the Forum site carried a meaning: the future dictator didn't want to be far from the central power, represented in the Curia, seat of the Senate. In fact, not long before Caesar's death, the Senate agreed to reconstruct the Curia on the site.

en.wikipedia.org

Passages

780_2928_0890.jpg
780_2932_0894.jpg

Foro di Augusto

Foro di Augusto
Foro di Augusto
Foro di Augusto
Foro di Augusto

The Forum of Augustus

The Forum of Augustus (Latin: Forum Augustum; Italian: Foro di Augusto) is one of the Imperial fora of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus (r. 27 BC – AD 14). It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after they were first vowed.

The triumvir Octavian vowed to build a temple honoring Mars, the Roman God of War, during the battle of Philippi in 42 BC. After winning the battle, with the help of Mark Antony and Lepidus, Octavian had avenged the assassination of his adoptive father Julius Caesar.[1] He became the Princeps of Rome in 27 BC under the name Augustus, and planned for the temple to be built in a new forum named after himself. Augustus used social propaganda by continuing Julius Caesar's will to create a Temple to Mars Ultor "greater than any in existence," by placing it within the Temple, linking himself to his divine adopted father, obtaining a strong link to the Roman population through their love for the deceased dictator.

The Forum of Augustus was built to both house a temple honouring Mars, and to provide another space for legal proceedings, as the Roman Forum was very crowded. Before battle, generals set off from the Temple of Mars, after attending an inaugural ceremony. Other ceremonies took place in the temple including the assumption of the toga virilis by young men. The Senate met at the Temple when discussing war and the victorious generals dedicated their spoils from their triumphs to Mars at the altar. Arms or treasure recovered from battle were often stored in the Forum as well. Another use that Augustus made of the Temple was to store the standards taken by the Parthians from Crassus during his failed campaign, after their retrieval through Augustus' diplomacy in 20 BC, as depicted by the Augustus of Prima Porta. Three Aquilae were lost in 9 AD in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest of the Legions Legio XVII, Legio XVIII and Legio XIX; all three were recovered-one in 14 AD from the Marsi and one in 15 AD from the Bructeri; the 3rd was recovered in 41 AD from the Chauci-and all three placed within the Temple of Mars the Avenger.

en.wikipedia.org

Trajan's Column and Forum

Trajan's Column and Forum
Trajan's Column and Forum
Trajan's Column and Forum
Trajan's Column and Forum

Trajan's Forum

Trajan's Forum (Latin: Forum Traiani; Italian: Foro di Traiano) was the last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in ancient Rome

This forum was built on the order of the emperor Trajan with the spoils of war from the conquest of Dacia, which ended in 106. The construction began between 105 and 107; according to the Fasti Ostienses the Forum was inaugurated in 112. Trajan's Column was erected and then inaugurated in 113.

The Forum consisted of a sequence of open and enclosed spaces, beginning with the vast portico-lined piazza measuring 300 metres (980 feet) long and 185 metres (607 feet) wide, with exedrae on two sides. The main entrance was at the south end of the piazza, through a triumphal arch at the center commemorating the Dacian Wars, decorated with friezes and statues of Dacian prisoners. The arch was flanked by tall walls built from blocks of Peperino tuff clad entirely in marble, which enclosed the Forum on three sides.

Between the Basilica Ulpia and the terminal piazza containing the temple, were two libraries, one housing Latin documents and the other Greek documents. Between the libraries stood the 38-metre (125-foot) Trajan's Column. The libraries housed state archives including the acts of the Emperors and the edicts of the praetors.

en.wikipedia.org

Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column (Italian: Colonna Traiana, Latin: Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which depicts the wars between the Romans and Dacians (101–102 and 105–106). Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern.

The structure is about 30 metres (98 feet) in height, 35 metres (115 feet) including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 32 tons, with a diameter of 3.7 metres (12.1 feet). The 190-metre (620-foot) frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing deck at the top. The capital block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons, and had to be lifted to a height of about 34 metres (112 feet). Ancient coins indicate preliminary plans to top the column with a statue of a bird, probably an eagle. After construction, a statue of Trajan was put in place; this disappeared in the Middle Ages. On December 4, 1587, the top was crowned with a bronze figure of Saint Peter the Apostle by Pope Sixtus V, which remains to this day.

en.wikipedia.org
Trajan's Column and Forum
link to flickr photography album
location map

About Foro Imperiali

The Imperial Fora (Fori Imperiali in Italian) are a series of monumental fora (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire.

The Imperial Fora, while not part of the Roman Forum, are located relatively close to each other. Julius Caesar was the first to build in this section of Rome and rearranged both the Forum and the Comitium, another forum type space designated for politics, to do so. These fora were the centres of politics, religion and economy in the ancient Roman Empire.

During the early 20th century, Mussolini restored the Imperial Fora as part of his campaign to evoke and emulate the past glories of Ancient Rome, but he also built the Via dei Fori Imperiali across the middle of the site. The modern street and its heavy traffic has proved a source of damage to the buildings because of vibration and pollution. There have been a number of proposals to remove the road, but none have taken effect

en.wikipedia.org
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