Where did senate and Romans met?

Answer 1

The senate usually met in the "Curia" or senate house when they had one. (After the death of Clodius the senate house was burnt down) If the curia was not available, they would meet in a designated place such as a temple.

Answer 2

The main commercial area of Rome was west of the Roman Forum Magnum, as the Romans called it (Roman Forum is a modern term). It was an area which connected the heart of Rome to the River Tiber. It comprised the district of the Velabrum, the Forum Boarium, the Forum Holitorium and the Emporium.

The Velabrum was the low ground lying between the slopes of the Palatine and the Capitoline hills. It was bound by the Forum Magnum on the east, the slope of the southern slope of the Capitoline Hill on the north and the northern slope of the Palatine Hill and the Vicus Tuscus. The latter was a road which went to Pons Sulpicius, Rome's first bridge on the Tiber, and Rome's riverine port (Portus Tiberinus. It had many shops and the dealers in incense and perfume (turarii) became its most important traders. The Velabrum's line of separation from the Forum Boarium to its west was the archus argentariorum, the arch of the argentarii, which was built by the argentarii (the money lenders), who lived in the area. The area was traversed by the vicus Iugarius, a road which ran along the slope of the Capitoline Hill where fine cloths were sold. The Velabrum was an important centre of industrial and commercial activity, and in particular of the trade in food-stuffs, oil and wine.

The Forum Boarium lay to the west of the Velabrum and on the bank of the River Tiber, near Pons Silpicius and Portus Tiberinus. It was Rome's first forum venalium (commercial forum or market). It was the cattle market. It also had a religious importance as it hosted the Great Altar of Hercules, the Temple of Hercules Victor and the Temple of Portunus. The Forum Holitorium (Vegetable market) was the site for the sale of vegetables, herbs and oil.

Contrary to what is often thought, the Forum Magnum (or Roman Forum) was not a market place. Rome had two types of fora (plural of Forum): the forum civilium which was a civic centre, and the forum venalium, which was a market place. A forum civilium was the public heart of a city's political, judicial and administrative life. Rome had several fora venalia (plural of venalium). Other such for a were the Forum Suarium (meat market) the Forum Piscarium (fish market), the Forum Vinarium (wine market) the Forum Pistorium (bakers' market) and the Forum Cuppedinis (delicatessen market).

Forum was a forum civilium. It had the aerarium (the treasury) which has in the temple of Saturn, the tabularium (the state archives) which was built on the slope of the Capitoline Hill, the regia (the residence of the Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of Roman state religion), the curia (the senate house) and the saenaculum (which was a place where the senators gathered before the entering the senate house for formal summons) and in front of the curia there was the comitium, an open-air public meeting space where the Tribal Assembly and Plebeian Assembly met to vote and where public speeches were made and public debates were held. It had several platforms for public speeches. The oldest one was called the rostra (plural of rostrum). The name came from the six rostra (warship rams) of captured warships which were mounted to its side. It faced the north side of the comitium towards the senate house. Later it came to be called Rostra Vetera (Elder Rostra) when other platforms were built. These were called rostra with the addition of the name of their builders or the person it honoured. There was also the Graecostasis at the southwest end of the Comitium, to the west of the rostra. The name refers to the Greek ambassadors for whom the platform was built after the annexation of mainland Greece. It became a platform for representatives of foreign nations and dignitaries from the provinces of the empire. There were three basilicas (building where public business and trials were conducted), the Basilica Aemilia, the Basilica Iulia and the Basilica of Maxentius. There were several temples: the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Saturn, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, the Temple of Caesar and the temple of Antonius and Faustina. There were several triumphal arches, many statues and other monuments.It also had the Milliarium Aureum (golden milestone), a monument from where all distances in the Roman Empire were measured, and a shrine called Lapis Niger (Black Stone).

The city of Rome also had four other fora civilia (plural of civilis) which are called imperial fora because they were built by emperors, even though one of them was built by Julius Caesar, who was not an emperor (it was named after him). The others were named after the emperors who had them built: Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva and Trajan

Answer 3

The Forum