ROMAN FORUM

                  The valley of the Forum, nestled between the seven hills of Rome, was in ancient times a marsh. From the end of the seventh century B.C., after the drainage of the marshes, the Roman Forum (Foro Romano) was constructed and this served as the centre of public life in Rome for over a millenium. Over the course of the centuries, the various monuments were constructed: firstly, those structures which served political,

religious and economic purposes and, later, during the second century B.C., the civil buildings or 'basilicas', which functioned as juridical centres. At the end of the Republic era of Ancient Rome, the Forum Romano was inadequate in its functioning as a civil and administrative centre. The various Emperors and their dynasties added only monuments of prestige: The Temple of Vespasian and Titus and that of Antoninus Pio and Faustina dedicated to the memory of the Divine Emperors, the monumental arch of Settimo Severo, built on the extreme west of the square in 203 A.D.

 to celebrate his military victories. The last great addition was made in the first years of the fourth century A.D. under the Emperor Massenzio, a temple dedicated to the memory of his son Romulus. The imposing Basilica on the Velia was restructured at the end of the fourth century A.D. and the last monument to be erected in the Forum was the Column of 608 A.D. in honour of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas.