The Roman Forum

1970

Storage VAH G

London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

The Forum: a place to meet, shop, make speeches, attend court, watch triumphal processions, gladiatorial bouts, criminal trials and executions; the place where Julius Caesar’s (100-44 BC) body was burned and Mark Antony (83-30 BC) announced the imminent death of his political opponents. Here was the centre of Roman politics, commerce and law. In this image on the far right is the Curia Julia or the Senate meeting house, dating from about 44 BC and named for Julius Caesar. At the back and slightly to the left is the Tabularium, completed in 78 BC, a building that housed the laws, records and archives of ancient Rome. The bottom half of the building is original while the top half dates to the 16th century. On the left are the ruins of the Basilica Julia, one corner of which is delineated by three arches, a building built in the 1st century BC to house civil law courts and a place for government administration.