Our last day was amazing. We were up early to beat the heat, caught the Metro and headed for the Roman Forum. We actually got a glimpse of the Forum from the Terrace of the Fornese Gardens in Palatine Hill our first day here.
Today, we would be exploring these ancient ruins with the help of an audioguide and our imaginations. The Roman Forum got it’s start in 750 BC as a meeting ground. It developed into a five acre public are with temples, arches, markets, courts, government buildings, and more. The area functioned as the center of life until 46 BC. It was then that Ceasar decided to build his own Forum – all overlooked by the Emperor from the palace on Palatine Hill. Amazingly, these ruins were not discovered and excavated until the 19th century.
There are so many things to see here. A “good tour” takes at least a couple of hours. And while Cindy took hundreds of pictures, I’ll post only a few of them. You enter the Forum on the Via Sacra or the Sacred Way. It was the road that crossed the entire length of the square and you can see it in the picture above going through the arch.
Some of the highlights we saw:
THE ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS – it was build around 203 AD to celebrate Emperor Septimius Severus’s victory of the Parthians.
THE TEMPLE OF SATURN – all that is left of this structure are eight beautiful columns. It was Rome’s oldest temple built in 497 BC and was also the home of the treasury.
THE TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX – this is the temple where the magistrates were sworn in. It dates back to the 5th century BC but all that remains are the three lone columns see below.
THE BASILICA OF MAXENTIUS AND CONSTANTINE – this dates back to 308 AD and was used for judicial meetings. It was so large (one of Rome’s largest buildings) that several meetings could take place in it at one time without intrusions. All that remains are the three huge coffered vaults behind Cindy and I below.
THE TEMPLE OF ANTONINUS AND FAUSTINA – this was built in 141 AD. It has survived in such good condition because a church was built inside it in the Middle Ages. Much of the marble and bronze was stripped away in the 13th century to be used in other strutures.
There were so many things to see and I tried to capture it all on video with explanations. Cindy did a great job of taking pictures and I’ve posted everything we have on FLICKR in the EUROPE Collection – so check it out.