Roman Forum

Where Rome’s emperors lived, and the city began

Go to the Roman Forum and you will see the culmination of imperial bragging, boasting and architectural brilliance.

“I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble,” said Augustus. He kickstarted a trend that would last centuries. Now it’s layer upon layer of history. You can explore them one by one.

Trajan’s Corinthian column celebrating brutal victory over Dacia. Julius Caesar’s temple, built where his murdered body was cremated. The Curia Julia, ancient senate house. The Rostra, where rams from enemy battleships were fixed and where announcements to the plebs were made.

Temples and shrines. Triumphal arches. The Forum shows you the bones of Roman glory. It awakens your imagination.

Roman generals dreamed of “triumphing” through the Forum, all the way down the Via Sacra to the top of the Capitoline Hill. They longed to show their loot and captives, and to parade great columns of their soldiers. The horns would sound, and the crowds would cheer. Flower petals would fall like snow.