|
|
|
Roman Forum Rome
 Open from 9 am to between 4 and 7 pm, depending on the season. Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm.
This forum is the largest architectural complex of ancient Rome currently preserved. It was constructed over a period of 900 years.
Originally, this valley - situated between the Capitole and the Palatine - was a burial place for the people living in the hills. A century later the area became a centre of exchange between the Etruscans and the Latins, as well as a social centre for the growing population in the Roman hills. The city of Rome was born! Still under the Etruscan kings the area was drained and paved. For sewerage processing they installed the famous Cloaco Maxima.
Little by little, the Forum became the commercial, political and religious centre of ancient Rome. The chiefs met there to make decisions concerning the community, and inhabitants used the area to exchange their products and to worship their gods.
After the last Etruscan king, Tarquin the Great, was expelled in 509 BC, the Consulate was established. The Republic had begun and Rome, the rural city, was preparing to become the Empire's capital. The beginning of the republican period was characterised by the extension of the territory: When Rome was at war with its neighbours in the 5th century BC, it was in the Forum that the victories were celebrated.
The Forum's importance declined after the 4th century AD, and the buildings, temples and monuments constructed by consuls, emperors and senators fell into ruin.
During medieval times the area was extensively plundered for its stone and precious marble. Ironically, the physical destruction of ancient Rome can be partly blamed on the Romans themselves, since they dismantled it marble block by marble block to build other palaces, churches and monuments.
Invading barbarians and earthquakes were also causes of destruction. It was only during the Renaissance that the forum provided inspiration for artists and architects. In the 18th and 19th century the area was systematically excavated. Even today you will see archeological teams at work.
|
|
|
|
