Download
1 / 12
E N D
The Forum of Caesar consisted of a porticoed square with the background wall closed by a temple. This plan became the starting pattern used for building all later Imperial Forums. Unlike the Roman Forum, it was a one-unit design: one oblong square (160 x 75 metres) with double portico on three sides with a temple at the centre of the background wall. The temple was dedicated to Venus, Eneas' mother and an ancestor of the gens Iulia. The center of the square featured the Equestrian Statue of Caesar. This strictly axial and centralizing plant was centred on the temple and the apse with the statue of worship inside it. The Forum of Caesar The temple was officially opened on 26th September 46 b.C.; a lot of artworks were gathered inside, such as 2 paintings by Byzantine painter Timomacus which Caesar had bought for 80 talents, six collections of engraved gems and an armour full of gems taken in Britannia. There were also a statue of Caesar and one of Cleopatra.
Forum of Augustus It was certainly inspired by the Forum of Caesar, of which it took some cues, such as the porticoed square plan with the temple on one side and the statue of the founder at the centre. Every element constantly aims at exhalting the gens Iulia, with the summi viri series ideally ending with the central group of the quadriga of Augustus. Right against the far wall of the Forum leant the temple (40 x 30 m) dedicated to Mars the Avenger. It stood on a podium about 3.5m high, lined with marble blocks and featuring Corinthian octostyle façade and sides which terminated on the wall with a pilaster strip. The colonnade and the outer walls of the cella were made of Carrara marble. The architectural order of the temple has set what was to become a canon for the whole evolution of Ancient Roman decorative architecture. A sculpture of Augustus on his triumphal quadriga (4-horse chariot) was supposed to be at the centre of the square.
Forum of Augustus Standing a few steps higher than the square plan, the Corinthian colonnades of the porticoes featured ancient yellow marble shafts. It was surmounted by an attic with caryatids, which are copies of the classic ones of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis in Athens, alternating with Hellenistic portraits of Amon, Jupiter or other god on shields ("clipei").
Forum of Augustus Hall of the Colossus At the head of the northern portico was a separate hall, screened by two columns with ancient yellow marble shafts which replicated the colours and size of the orders on the façade and the end wall of the porticoes. It was paved with rectangular ancient yellow and pavonazzo marble tiles and the walls were decorated by an order of pilaster strips with pavonazzo marble shafts, between which might have been 2 paintings by the famous Greek painter Apelles which featured Alexander the Great with Castor, Pollux and Victoria. On the podium, in the background of the painted draping, was a gigantic acrolith (ca. 12m tall) which probably represented Augustus' Genius (guardian angel), which was also mentioned by Martial.
The plan of the complex was made according to the space that was left by the pre-existing structures: the square is narrow and oblong, with overhanging columns which decorate the surrounding walls instead of the usual porticoes. The temple of Minerva dominated its west end behind which was a porticoed exedra called "porticus absidata", a monumental semidome-like entrance behind the temple which gave access to the Suburra. The Forum of Nerva It was an oblong square (120 x 45 m), and the narrow space prevented the construction of side porticoes. The surrounding walls were made of marble-lined peperino blocks. As usual, the square was dominated at the very end by a temple dedicated to Minerva. Only the pronaos of the temple hung over the square, while the cella sides were hidden by two sections of the wall: the north one to the left of the temple baffled the bulge of the esedra of the Forum of Augustus that it was leant against, whereas the south one to its right led to an aisle to a trapezoid roofed hall beside the temple, which in its turn led to the "porticus absidata" (see above).
The Forum of Trajan This was a multipurpose complex: Trajan's Chancellor (procurator Fori Divi Traiani), which an inscription found in the Markets bore the name of, had to manage the various activities that were taking place there. The Forma Urbis Severiana tells us that one of the apses of the Basilica Ulpia (the largest one, took its name from his family) had taken over the functions of the Atrium Libertatis, where slave-releasing ceremonies most probably took place. It was certainly a center for various public ceremonies.
The Forum of Trajan The Forum of Trajan (300 x 185 metres) stood parallel to the Forum of Caesar (north-west of it) and perpendicular to that of Augustus, with the basilica some steps higher. All buildings in the Forum of Trajan were covered with marbles and stuccos and decorated with wall sculptures and paintings. The complex includes the following in the following order: an entrance consisting of a square hall with a four-sided portico at the centre; the forum square proper(116 x 95 metres), with a convex entrance decorated by the large equestrian statue of the emperor, which was closer to the entrance side; one semidome-like esedras on each side; the Basilica Ulpia, a porticoed court with the famous Trajan's Column and two libraries, one Greek and the other Latin.
