forum

forum (‘market-place’), a levelled rectangle of ground in the centre of every large Roman town and a constant feature of Roman town-plans even in the provinces. Although there was a tendency over the years for trade to be transferred to shops in other quarters, the forum remained the focus of the town's political, social, and commercial life, and was surrounded by the chief civic buildings. It sometimes gave a town its name, e.g. Forum Julii (Fréjus). The various fora in Rome itself are as follows.

Forum Augustum, a forum that was also the very large precinct (110 m. by 83 m., 360 ft. by 270 ft.) of the temple of Mars Ultor (‘avenger’). The temple was dedicated in 2 BC by the emperor Augustus, having been vowed by him during the battle of Philippi in 42 BC. The forum was built to provide additional room for the law-courts and to meet other needs of the increasing population. Augustus placed in it bronze statues of all successful Roman generals, many of whose inscriptions have been found. It was from here that provincial governors ceremonially set off, and here they were received upon their return.

Forum Boārium, the ‘cattle-market’ and also an important centre for traffic, situated between the Palatine hill and the river Tiber.

Forum Julium or Caesaris, dedicated by Julius Caesar in 46 BC as a centre for business. In it he erected a temple to Venus Genetrix, mythical ancestress of the Julian gens, which he had vowed at the battle of Pharsalus in 48, and in front of it placed an equestrian statue of himself.

Forum Rōmānum, the ancient marketplace and later the political, commercial, and religious centre of Rome, occupying what was originally a marshy valley which served as one of the defences of the first city on the Palatine hill and separated it from the Capitoline and Quirinal hills (see SEVEN HILLS OF ROME). It is this which is normally referred to as ‘the forum’ at Rome. For early features of it see JUTURNA, REGIA, and VESTA. Its earliest monuments were the first temples to Saturn (497 BC), Castor (484), and Concordia (336). The speaker's platform (rostra) was in existence by 338 BC. The first overall plan of the forum is in large part due to Sulla who at the beginning of the first century BC paved much of the area, built a new basilica, and restored the Rostra. Julius Caesar's further designs for it were largely carried out by the emperor Augustus, who transformed it, and most of the surrounding buildings have come down to us much as he left them—the rebuilt temples of Saturn, Castor, and Concordia, the temple of Julius Caesar, two basilicas, and the restored Rostra.

Forum Trāiāni (sometimes called the Forum Ulpium), built by the emperor Trajan in AD 113 between the Capitoline and Quirinal hills, the last and most magnificent of the Roman fora erected by the emperors. It contained the Basilica Ulpia (a lawcourt), the Bibliotheca Ulpia (a library comprising two halls, one for Greek and the other for Latin books), and Trajan's Column. After Trajan's death Hadrian erected in the forum a temple dedicated to him. Trajan's Column, 38 m. (125 ft.) high and hollow, with a spiral staircase leading to the top, still stands in a good state of preservation. It is decorated with a spiral frieze illustrating the events of the Dacian Wars and once contained Trajan's ashes in a golden urn.