The Roman Forum

The oldest and most famous of Rome, the Forum Romanum, lay between three of the seven hills on which Rome was built, the Palatine, the Capitoline and the Esquiline. It was built in the eighth and seventh century B.C. First it was a swamp and therefore there couldn’t be buildings in certain places, but when it was drained by the Cloacta Maxima there could be built on those places. It was a large area and in the early days athletic games were held there. There was a special place in one corner for open-air town meeting, the Comitium, and in another place, a platform for public speakers, the Rostra. The oldest monument found, in the dark-ages there were many buildings stripped of stones to build other buildings with, is the Lapis Niger; the legend tells it’s the grave of Romulus, the founder of the city Rome. Round the forum there were, besides smaller buildings and shops, important buildings such as the senate chamber (Curia), the law courts (Basilica Aemilia), the famous Basilica Julica and temples to the Roman gods. One of those tempels was the Temple of the Deified Julius where the body of the great dictator Julius Caesar was burnt. Great archways led into the forum and there were many statues round it.