The Layout and purpose of The Roman Forum

Introduction

Roman Forum, also known as Forum Romanum in Latin, was the most significant Forum in ancient Rome. It was located in a flat area between the Capitoline and Palatine hills. In republican times, gladiatorial battles, law courts, and public gatherings took place in the Roman Forum, lined with stores and outdoor markets.

Earlier, many of the city's most impressive temples and monuments were located there. The Forum was the hub of daily life, local government, and the Roman Empire. Emperors and commoners gathered in this main square to worship, shop, socialise, and gossip.

Description

The Forum in Rome is between Capitoline Hill and Palatine Hill. It has significant religious and governmental structures. This neighborhood was as old as the city. Instead of growing according to a specific plan, it began increasing as the city grew, with buildings incorporated here and there. A sizable basilica, or public tower, was at each end of the Forum. The oldest basilica was constructed in 184 BCE, demonstrating what a significant gathering place it was for Roman citizens.

The Forum used to be home to several temples. Priests, peasant farmers, and politicians could all pray or make offerings at this location.

History

Throughout its existence, the Roman Forum underwent numerous reconstructions, allowing different architectural styles from various eras to coexist. Each era's influence is in the buildings' design and construction.

While the Greeks influenced the Romans in many facets of life, including architecture, they also invented their design elements, such as domes, basilicas, triumphal arches, baths, and amphitheaters.

Shakespeare, a well-known author, frequently used Rome as the context for his dramas and other writings. Despite being created in the 7th century B.C.E., this historic attraction has undoubtedly suffered the effects of time.

The Forum also experienced despair as the Roman Empire did. However, even before this, many economic and political activities started happening in more ornate buildings north of the Forum. Some facts about the Roman Forum are −

• In 312 AD, during the reign of Constantine, it underwent its most recent significant expansion, becoming the Basilica of Maxentius.

• But in 410 AD, when the Roman Empire started to fall apart, the historic structures and sites in the Roman Forum were destroyed. The area became neglected and overgrown as the neighborhood deteriorated. It was looted to make way for other, more significant buildings.

• It was shockingly further reduced to a pasture for grazing animals during the Middle Ages, earning the name "Campo Vaccino," or "cattle field," in English. Even though all that is left of this place is a skeleton, it continues to be among the most stunning places on earth.

In Art

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, many architects and artists studying in Rome would sketch in the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum, locally referred to as the "Campo Vaccino" or "cattle field" because of the livestock that grazed there, was the subject of many of the pieces created by Northern artists visiting Rome.

The structures in the Forum were submerged in sediment as depicted in Claude Lorrain's 1636 Campo Vaccino. Following his final visit to the city, renowned British painter J.M.W. Turner created Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino in 1839.

For centuries, visual artists have drawn inspiration from the Roman Forum. Giovanni Battista Piranesi deserves special mention because he produced the Vedute di Roma "Views of Rome", a collection of 135 etchings that prominently featured the Forum. A lot of the features that Piranesi's views described have since disappeared.

Other Fora in Rome

For centuries, the ancient city of Rome's civic, legal, and social centre was the Roman Forum (Forum Romanum), where public buildings, religious structures, and monuments could be found and appreciated. A new series of public spaces, also known as fora, started to be built beginning in the first century B.C.E.

These fora, which eventually numbered five in total and were known as Imperial fora because Roman emperors constructed them during the Roman imperial period, were significant public spaces that relied on the visual impact of monumental art and architecture to support ideological messages.

The fora that were made by the rulers and the most important were-

Forum of Julius Caesar

The first imperial fora complex to be constructed was the Forum of Julius Caesar, also called the Forum Iulium or Forum Caesaris. Caesar's political foe Pompey the Great had dedicated a massive theatre and portico complex inside this Campus Martius in 55 B.C.E., which may have inspired Caesar's desire to build a new forum complex.

Forum of Augustus

The second imperial fora, the Forum of Augustus (also known as the Forum Augustum or Forum Augusti), was established after the Forum of Caesar. Augustus promised to build a temple to Mars at the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C.E. in exchange for assistance in avenging the dead Caesar, but the temple and forum complex would not be devoted until 2 B.C.E. On land that Augustus had acquired, the Forum of Augustus was constructed, adding more space for the meetings of the legal courts.

Conclusion

In the Forum, temples and shrines were constructed throughout the Roman Empire. The Senate first convened at the Forum as the populace grew weary of the King, and it was here that the Republic system of government was established.

The Forum soon included the Senate building, offices for the government, and courts, signifying the significance of the populace in this form of government. The Forum was a hub for meetings, commerce, worship, politics, and social interaction during the Roman Republic and Empire.

FAQs

Q1. Why were the forums considered important?

Ans. The forums were important because the King met his subjects and addressed their grievances. Later, when the Roman republic was founded, they held their meetings there.

Q2. Why were buildings added to the forum?

Ans. The buildings were added to the Forum to enhance their beauty, and the other rulers wanted to assert their importance by adding buildings with their names.

Q3. How is the Roman forum still relevant and remembered?

Ans. The Roman forum fell into ruins, but famous painters reenacted its past glory in paintings and immortalized it, and showed the relevance of this historic site.