Roman Forum

Part of the Roman Forum.

The Roman Forum is an area of the city of Rome which the ancient city developed around. It is the place where commerce, business, cult, and the administration of justice took place.

It was for centuries the centre of Roman public life. It was the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches. It was also the heart of commerce. Here statues and monuments mark the city's great men. It has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history.

The Forum is in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. Today it is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and excavations. It has 4.5 million sightseers each year.

Buildings in the Forum

The Roman Forum is famous for the number of buildings and other ancient ruins that it contains. These include:

• Temple of Castor and Pollux
• Temple of Vesta

Roman Forum Media

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  Identifier: handbookofromeca00john (find matches)Title: A handbook of Rome and the CampagnaYear: 1899 (

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  A speculative map of Rome c. 753 BC showing the swampy situation of the early Forum between the Arx and Velia

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  Fragment of a terracotta frieze plaque from the Regia at the east end of the Forum showing a minotaur and felines, c. 600–550 BC, Antiquarium Museo Del Foro Romano

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  Roma. Templo de Vesta.

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  A view of the Roman Forum seen from a window of the Palazzo Senatorio: at the centre the church of Santi Luca e Martina (beside it at the right can be seen the roof of the Curia Julia), in the lower right the Arch of Septimius Severus

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  Map of the Roman Forum. Structures of Republican Rome are shown in red and those of Imperial Rome in black. From Platner's Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, 1904. (Adjusted)

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  Rendering of the Roman Forum as it may have appeared during the Late Empire

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  Arch of Septimius Severus

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  The column of Phokas, Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy.