Discover Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular plaza in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, surrounded by the ruins of the buildings that ran the Roman state. Citizens called it the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum, and the reference work records that as the heart of ancient Rome it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. It draws 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly.

It began as a swamp. Turismo Roma records the site as anciently a marshy area that only from the end of the 7th century BC, with the drainage of the valley, began to take its present form — and then stayed the centre of public life for over a millennium.

The buildings arrived in order of what Rome needed. First those for political, religious and commercial activities; then, in the 2nd century BC, the civil basilicas where the courts sat. The oldest things here are older still: the Regia of the 8th century BC and the Temple of Vesta of the 7th, with the complex of the Vestal Virgins around it. To the north-west, archaic shrines — the Umbilicus Urbis and the Vulcanal — grew into the Comitium, and that is where the Senate, and Republican government itself, began.

Then it was too small. Turismo Roma records that already by the end of the Republic the Forum had become insufficient as the city's administrative and representative centre, and that from then on the emperors added only monuments of prestige — the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, that of Antoninus Pius and Faustina, and the Arch of Septimius Severus, raised at the western end in 203 AD for his victories over the Parthians.

It has a last building and a last monument, and they are three centuries apart. The final great intervention was Maxentius's, in the early 4th century — the Temple to his son Romulus and the Basilica on the Velia. The last monument of all was the Column raised in 608 AD for the Byzantine emperor Phocas.

The hill above is where the word palace comes from. The Palatine holds Iron Age settlement remains belonging to the most ancient nucleus of Rome and the cult of the Magna Mater; between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC it became the residential quarter of the aristocracy, with painted interiors like those in the Casa dei Grifi. Augustus symbolically chose it for his own house, which included the Casa di Livia. After him came the imperial palaces — Domus Tiberiana, Domus Transitoria, Domus Aurea, and finally the Imperial Palace split into Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana. Turismo Roma draws the conclusion: the presence of those palaces meant the toponym Palatium became, in modern languages, a synonym for a residential building.

One practical thing before you go. The Forum and the Palatine are a single archaeological area, and Turismo Roma warns that once you have entered, the same ticket will not let you in a second time. Hours run from 09.00, closing between 16.30 and 19.15 by season.

The Forum is a plan, not a building, and the plan is a sequence of functions outgrowing their rooms. Turismo Roma gives the order: first buildings for political, religious and commercial activities, then in the 2nd century BC the civil basilicas for the courts — long roofed halls, which is why the north side is a run of parallel foundations rather than separate temples.

Its oldest architecture is religious and very small. The Regia of the 8th century BC and the Temple of Vesta of the 7th, with the House of the Vestals around it, all rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome — so what stands is imperial masonry on regal foundations.

The imperial additions are set pieces, not infrastructure. Once the Forum was insufficient as a working centre, the emperors added only monuments of prestige: the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina, and the Arch of Septimius Severus of 203 AD closing the western end.

The biggest structure is the latest. Maxentius's Basilica on the Velia, early 4th century, is the one building here whose vaulting survives at full height — which is why the eastern end of the site is dominated by three coffered bays and everything else reads as foundations.

And the Palatine is a hill rebuilt into a platform. The imperial palaces — Domus Tiberiana, Domus Transitoria, Domus Aurea, then the Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana — stand on terraced brick substructures that turn a slope into usable storeys. Underneath are the Iron Age settlements of the most ancient nucleus of Rome and aristocratic houses with exceptional painted and floor decorations, such as the Casa dei Grifi.

The first act of construction was drainage. Turismo Roma records the Forum as anciently a marshy area which only from the end of the 7th century BC, with the drainage of the valley, began to take its present form. Everything else rests on that.

After that it was built by accumulation, not design. The reference work describes the archaic Comitium being replaced by the larger adjacent Forum, judicial activity moving to the Basilica Aemilia of 179 BC, and then, some 130 years later, Julius Caesar building the Basilica Julia along with the new Curia Julia and refocusing both the judicial offices and the Senate itself. Each rebuild displaced the last.

The decisive constraint was size. Already by the end of the Republican age the Forum was insufficient for its job, so the growth went elsewhere — to Trajan's Forum and the Basilica Ulpia — and what continued to be built here was commemorative.

The last two campaigns are the ones you can still see standing. Maxentius raised the Basilica on the Velia and the Temple to his son Romulus in the early 4th century; Constantine the Great's reign saw the last major expansion.

And then it stopped. The Column for the Byzantine emperor Phocas, 608 AD, is the last monument built in the Forum.

Can I leave and come back? No. Turismo Roma warns that the Forum and the Palatine are one archaeological area and that once you have entered it is no longer possible to enter a second time with the same ticket.

What are the opening hours? From 09.00, closing 17.30 (1–28 March), 19.15 (29 March–30 September), 18.30 (1–24 October) or 16.30 (25 October–28 February). Last entry is 45 to 60 minutes before closing.

When is it closed? 25 December and 1 January.

How much does it cost? Turismo Roma publishes no price for this site and the park's own ticketing hosts are unreachable from here, so this page quotes none. An earlier version said EUR 12 including the Colosseum; that was unsourced and the arrangement has changed. Book online or on 06 21115843.

Where do I go in? The Arch of Titus, the Vignola gate on Via di San Gregorio, Largo della Salara Vecchia or the Mamertine Prison — and note that the gates have no ticket office.

Is any of it free? Not inside the fence. But the view down the length of the Forum from the Capitoline side costs nothing and is the best orientation there is.

How old is it? The valley was drained at the end of the 7th century BC; the Regia is 8th century BC and the Temple of Vesta 7th.

What was the last thing built here? The Column of Phocas, 608 AD.

Why is the Palatine called that? Because of the imperial palaces on it — the toponym Palatium became, in modern languages, a synonym for a residential building.

How long should I allow? Two to three hours, in one go.