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Roman Forum: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Roman Forum
In the 7th century BC, workers began digging a massive sewer system called the Cloaca Maxima to drain the marshy valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. Before this engineering feat, the area was a low-lying wetland where stagnant water pooled from surrounding hills. Archaeologists found carbonized wood at depths of 3.60 meters above sea level, proving human activity existed there long before Rome's traditional founding date. Pottery deposits discovered in the Forum and nearby hills show that people occupied these areas during the Final Bronze Age between 1200 and 975 BC. By the end of the 7th century BC, the ground level had risen significantly as builders paved over debris to create a foundation for pebble-paved areas. Thatch-and-timber huts were demolished on the route of the Via Sacra around 625 to 600 BC to make way for rectangular stone buildings. The earliest structures included the site of the Comitium and sanctuaries dedicated to Regia and Vesta. A small rectangular pit known as the Vulcanal sat near an outcrop of tuff carved into the earth. These early votive offerings indicate the area was originally dedicated to religious cults rather than political assembly.
Republican Political Center
The Temple of Saturn received its dedication in 497 BC, marking one of the earliest Forum temples with known construction dates. Nine years later, the Basilica Fulvia opened on the north side of the square in 179 BC to handle commercial and legal affairs. Marcus Porcius Cato introduced the first large basilicas to the Forum in 184 BC, beginning a process of monumentalizing the site. In 133 BC, the Tribune Tiberius Gracchus was lynched by senators within the Forum after his political reforms failed. Cicero delivered his famous speech denouncing Catiline's companions at the Forum in 63 BC before they were led to their deaths at the nearby Tullianum dungeon. Sulla raised the plaza level by almost a meter during his dictatorship in the 80s BC and laid permanent marble paving stones that remained intact for over a millennium. The Tabularium Records Hall rose at the Capitoline Hill end of the Forum in 78 BC under consuls M. Aemilius Lepidus and Q. Lutatius Catulus. By 318 BC, Gaius Maenius added balconies called maeniana so spectators could better view games held in temporary wooden arenas. The Comitium continued as the central location for judicial and political life throughout the Republican period.
When was the Roman Forum originally developed as a sewer system?
Workers began digging the Cloaca Maxima sewer system in the 7th century BC to drain the marshy valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. This engineering feat transformed the low-lying wetland into usable ground for future construction.
What were the earliest structures built within the Roman Forum area?
The earliest structures included the site of the Comitium, sanctuaries dedicated to Regia and Vesta, and a small rectangular pit known as the Vulcanal. These early votive offerings indicate the area was originally dedicated to religious cults rather than political assembly.
Which Roman Emperor completed the final form of the Roman Forum in 29 BC?
Augustus completed the Forum's final form in 29 BC by constructing the Temple of Caesar and the Arch of Augustus at the southeastern end. This project established the definitive layout before later additions like the Arch of Septimius Severus in 203 AD.
How did the Roman Forum function during the Middle Ages after its decline?
During the Middle Ages, the location became designated as Campo Vaccino or cattle field between the Capitoline Hill and the Colosseum. The entire space was surrounded by Christian churches that replaced abandoned temples while rising ground levels resulted from accumulated debris.
When did official excavations of the Roman Forum begin under the Italian government?
Official excavations commenced in 1898 by the Italian government under Minister of Public Instruction Dr. Baccelli. State-funded excavations were led by Dr. Giacomo Boni until his death in 1925, pausing briefly during World War I.
Augustus completed the Forum's final form in 29 BC by constructing the Temple of Caesar and the Arch of Augustus at the southeastern end. The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus closed the central area when it was dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate Parthian victories. Constantine the Great oversaw the completion of the Basilica of Maxentius in 312 AD, which restored much political focus to the Forum until the Western Roman Empire fell nearly two centuries later. Emperor Diocletian refurbished and reorganized the site between 284 and 305 AD, building anew the Temple of Saturn, the Temple of Vesta, and the Curia Julia. Galba, a Roman Emperor, was killed near the Lacus Curtius in the Forum during civil war fighting in 69 AD. Marc Antony delivered his funeral oration for Julius Caesar from the partially completed speaker's platform known as the New Rostra around 44 BC. Public burning of Caesar's body occurred on a site directly across from the Rostra where Octavius later built the Temple to the Deified Caesar. Two years after Caesar's death, Antony publicly displayed the severed head and right hand of Cicero there.
Medieval Decline And Ruin
On the 1st of August 608, the Column of Phocas was erected before the Rostra and dedicated to honor the Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas. This proved to be the last monumental addition made to the Forum before its long decline. The emperor Constans II visited the city in 663 AD and stripped lead roofs from monumental buildings, exposing structures to weather and hastening their deterioration. By the 8th century, the entire space was surrounded by Christian churches that replaced abandoned temples. An anonymous eighth-century Einsiedeln Itinerary reported that the Forum was already falling apart at that time. During the Middle Ages, the location became designated as Campo Vaccino or cattle field between the Capitoline Hill and the Colosseum. In the 13th century, these rearranged medieval structures were torn down and the site became a dumping ground for debris. Rising ground levels resulted from accumulated debris alongside dismantled ancient structures. Strenuous efforts were made to keep the Forum intact during Gothic Wars between Byzantine and Ostrogoth forces over Italia.
Renaissance Quarries And Destruction
Pope Paul III exploited the Forum intensively between 1540 and 1550 to provide stone and marble for building Saint Peter's Basilica. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V held a triumph in Rome in 1536 on his return from conquering Tunis in North Africa. Papal authorities cleared some 200 houses and several churches to prepare the Forum for this procession intended to imitate ancient pageantry. A papal license authorized destruction of Templum Canapare foundations in 1426 for burning into lime with half the quarried stone shared with the Apostolic Camera. Between 1431 and 1462, Pope Eugene IV granted permission to demolish huge travertine walls between Senate House and Forum of Caesar. The Temple of Venus and Roma fell victim to demolition in 1450 while the House of the Vestals was destroyed in 1499 under papal license. Monuments that vanished included remains of the Arch of Augustus, parts of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, and steps of the Temple of Castor and Pollux. Conservators protested vehemently against ruination but applied fruitlessly to Pope Gregory XIII to revoke all licenses for foraging materials.
Archaeological Excavations
Carlo Fea began clearing debris from the Arch of Septimius Severus in 1803, marking the start of systematic clearing efforts. Official excavations commenced in 1898 by the Italian government under Minister of Public Instruction Dr. Baccelli. State-funded excavations were led by Dr. Giacomo Boni until his death in 1925, pausing briefly during World War I. Heavy rains caused structural damage to modern concrete covering holding Black Stone marble together over Lapis Niger in Rome in 2008. Archaeologists working since 2009 discovered a tuff wall near Lapis Niger used to channel water from nearby aquifers. Pottery remains and food scraps around this wall allowed dating of likely construction to the 8th or 9th century BC. In 2020, Italian archaeologists found a sarcophagus and circular altar dating to the 6th century BC. Experts currently disagree whether this is a memorial tomb dedicated to Rome's legendary founder Romulus. The deepest level excavated reached 3.60 meters above sea level revealing layers upon layers of history.
Cultural Depictions In Art
Claude Lorrain painted Campo Vaccino in 1636 showing buildings buried under sediment that had accumulated over centuries. Renowned British artist J.M.W. Turner created Modern Rome , Campo Vaccino in 1839 following his final trip to the city. Giovanni Battista Piranesi produced a set of 135 etchings called Vedute di Roma where the Forum figured significantly. Many features documented in Piranesi's views have now vanished completely from the landscape. Canaletto painted Rome: Ruins of the Forum Looking Towards the Capitol in 1742 showing remains of Temple of Castor and Pollux. Maerten van Heemskerck, Pirro Ligorio, Giovanni Paolo Panini, and Hubert Robert also created notable works depicting the site. From the 17th through 19th century, the Roman Forum served as a sketching destination for many artists and architects studying in Rome. The focus of Northern artists was on current state known locally as Campo Vaccino or cow field due to livestock grazing there.