Forum Romanum

Located in the valley between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, the Forum was historically the market place and meeting venue of ancient Rome, the site of triumphal processions, gladiatorial combat, public speaking and the centre for legal and commercial affairs. Some of the oldest and most important structures of the city state are to be found here.

Throughout it's rise to Republic and beyond to Imperial domination, the Forum was the centre of the political establishment as first the Comitium, the formal assembly area and seat of the Republic government, followed by the Senate itself met here. Over time, the Senate House, government offices, tribunals, temples, memorials and statues gradually cluttered the area and by 179BC the old Comitium was replaced as the judicial activity. However, it wasn't until 130 years later, with the construction of the Basilica Julia and Curia Julia by Julius Caesar and the subsequent relocation of the Senate to the latter that the final form of the Forum that we see today was realised.