Roman Forum

Largo Romolo e Romo, Via dei Fori Imperiali, tel: (06) 3996 7700.
Transport: Metro Colosseo; bus to Via dei Fori Imperiali or Piazza Venezia.
Opening hours: Daily 09:00-19:00 (Apr-Sep); daily 09:00-15:00 (Oct-Mar).
Admission: Free

The Roman Forum (Foro Romano) is now a heap of marble fragments, columns and floor layouts. A leap of imagination is required to recreate the former marketplace that was the political, commercial and social heart of ancient Rome, and the symbolic centre of an Empire stretching to Greece, Sicily and Carthage. Fire, barbarians and pillaging builders in medieval and Renaissance times contributed to the Forum's present state of disrepair but the Forum was only revealed during the excavation work of the 19th century.

A bird's-eye view is gained from behind Piazza del Campidoglio, and a closer look from along Via Sacra that runs through the heart of the Forum. Among the best preserved and most fascinating monuments are the 203AD triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus - built to celebrate victory over the Parthinians - and the remains of Caesar's rostra, from where his great speeches were declaimed. Another stunning feature is the former atrium of the House of the Vestal Virgins and the adjacent Temple of Vesta, a circular building where the vestal virgins were entrusted in keeping the eternal flame alight.

Roman Forum

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