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ROME
Monuments
Forum of Trajan (entrance from the via 4 November)
In the tenth century B.C., between the Campidoglio and the Palatino, there was a stagnant plain dotted with primitive habitations.
During the monarchy the swamp was blessed and chosen as the center of political, commercial and religious life. In the time of the Republic, it was enriched by new monuments, but the expansion of Rome necessitated new areas designed for public activities.
Thus the antique Forum was abandoned, buried by fortresses and churches that were constructed over the ruins. Those now recognizable include the 12 columns of the Temple of the "Consentes" Gods, the vestiges of the Temples of Vespasiano and Concordia, the Arch of Settimio Severo (see chart), the Temple of Saturn, the Curia, the Arch of Tiberius, the Basilica Giulia and the Basilica Emilia, the Temples of Antonino and Faustina, Castor and Pollux, and Julius Caesar, the Domus Regia, the Temple of the Vestal Virgin (the oldest marble temple in Rome, dating to the second century B.C.), the House of the Vestal Virgins, the Arch of Augustus, the Fountain and Altar of Giuturna, the Oratory of the 40 Martyrs, Santa Maria Antica, the Temple of Romulus, the Basilica of Massenzio, Santa Maria Nova and the Arch of Titus (see chart). |
