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The Forum Romanum |
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written
by eatonj / 09.01.2004 |
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Description |
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| Encarta Reference Library 2002. "Forum" |
| Map of the Forum |
| Here is a map of the Forum including most of the major sites which are visible today, but not all. While it is not the most complete map I have seen, it is the easiest to read and grasp some concept of how the Forum is layed out. |
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| http://arts-sciences.cua.edu/gl/images
/safran_slides/roman_art/November_30/
RomanForumAerialView.jpg |
| Aerial View of the Forum |
| Here's a nice aerial view of the Forum. |
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Describing the Forum in antiquity is a slippery and elusive task, as it varied greatly over its thousand year history. As noted, the architecture of the Forum we see today is the design mainly of Julius Caesar and Augustus, with some monuments erected in their places earlier and some embellishments made later. The actual “forum” area of the Forum was and had always been an open, likely grassy area in the center of the roads which ran through the site. It is a large rectangular area of about 300 feet long oriented lengthwise generally along an east to west axis, although this was skewed slightly to a northwest to southeast axis during the renovations by Julius Caesar. In this area were once hundreds of bronze statues as well as seven honorary columns down the south side installed after the fire of 283. The Column of Phocas, the tallest and most intact of any of the remaining columns in the Forum lies to the eastern end in front of the Augustan and Caesarian Rostra. However, it is important to note that by the time this column was erected in 283 these rostra were no longer in use as the late imperial rostra was constructed at the east end of the central Forum area.
Again to the west behind the rostrae and embedded into the base of the Captoline Hill are the Precinct of Harmonious Gods and Temple of Concordia Augusta with the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, the deified Flavian emperors who ruled around 80 AD, sandwiched neatly in between long after the temples on either sided had been built. Directly to the north of the rostrae is the grand Arch of Septimius Serverus, which is still in very good condition today, showing the original decorative carvings of 203 AD. Immediately after crossing under the arch one finds himself in the Comitium, the meeting site for the public assembly, in the center of which lies the lapis niger or “black stone” where it is rumored Romulus is buried. North of this is Julius Caesar’s Curia a large brick building with the marble flooring remaining intact as one of the best examples of the Romans colorful marble designs and enormous bronze doors opening to the Comitium. Together the Comitium, Rostra, and Curia composed the center of government for the empire.
Directly to the north and south of the main forum area are the Basilica Aemilia and the Basilica Julia. These two level colonnaded structures, modeled after Greek architectural designs of the second century BC, were constructed to serve as judicial centers, but in reality served also as meeting sites, marketplaces, and a location for ever popular dice games, as noted by the game boards carved into the marble floors of the Basilica Julia. In front of the Basilica Aemila lies a small but important shrine to Venus Cloacina, in honor of the Cloaca Maxima, the ancient drain that runs under the Forum.
To the southeast of the Forum lies the sacred center of Rome with the Temple of Vesta, the House of the Vestal Virgins, and the Regia. The Temple of Vesta, said to have been built by Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, was originally a simple round wooden and thatched hut. Due to the fact that it housed the sacred flame of Vesta, and the tendency of wood to burn when around flame, the Temple burned down and was reconstructed quite frequently. One feature that was always maintained was the eastern orientation of the entranceway. Eventually the temple was rebuilt with tufa and marble making fires less frequent. The house of the Vestal Virgins was one of the grandest houses in all of Rome, with a peristyle that rivaled those of the emperors’ palaces and would impress the gods. Finally the Regia was the residence of Pontifex Maximus until Augustus combined the role of Pontifex Maximus and emperor and thus moved the residence to the Palatine. The name translating as the greatest bridge maker, the Pontifex Maximus also took on the role of religious icon acting as a bridge between the citizens and the gods.
As far as the architecture of the Forum, it was all centered around grandeur. The Forum was constructed as a symbol of Roman strength and accordingly employed the finest building materials available and the latest building techniques. Especially desirous were the colorful varieties of marble quarried after conquests in the East, Egypt, and Northern Africa, which they used either as the building blocks themselves or as decorative plating on cement structures. Most impressive are the gigantic monolithic columns imported from around the world and erected by a process which is still unknown to modern archaeologists. Most prolific were the festive Corinthian style columns, although several examples of Ionic columns and a few Doric columns can also be found. Nearly all of the structures that we see still today in the Forum were modeled after the architectural styles of the Greeks, whom the Romans admired and respected greatly for their democracy, arts, and philosophy.
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