Forum Romanum
The Forum Romanum was the central public square in ancient Rome and appears nowadays as a picturesque landscape of ruins that lies at the heart of the modern city. But what is it about the Forum Romanum that gives it its significance and makes its digital reconstruction worthwhile? What is a forum? What role does it play in an ancient city? Why has the forum of the city of Rome attracted so much scholarly and public attention since the 19th century? And finally: How does one best navigate through this website in order to experience as much as possible? All these questions will be dealt with in the following section.
Introduction to the Forum Romanum
The Forum Romanum was the central square in ancient Rome. Its ancient history stretches from the 7th/6th century B.C. to Late Antiquity. Only starting in the 6th century A.D. did the square and the surroundings begin to fall into ruin (see...
Historical orientation
For nearly a millennium the Forum Romanum constituted the public and political center of ancient Rome. During this time, the city of Rome witnessed a turbulent history – and it is this history that has also been recorded on the Forum Romanum....
Topographical orientation
The Forum Romanum lies in the valley between two of the famous seven hills of Rome: The Capitoline Hill in the west, where the temple of the highest Roman god – Iupiter Optimus Maximus – once stood, and the Palatine Hill in the east, where...
Exploration of the Forum Romanum
In the Middle Ages, when the Forum Romanum had already lost its function as a political space, many of the buildings and monuments fell into ruin and were gradually buried beneath the ground. However, some were preserved, because they were put to a...
The present-day Forum Romanum
In modern-day Rome the Forum Romanum consists of a picturesque landscape of ruins, one of a number of different attractions that Italy's capital holds in store for tourists. One might enter the ruin site and be gripped by a feeling of awe of walking...