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It seems to me that it is vain trying to describe here a place like the Forum when a well-known guide such as the “Michelin Rome” devotes ten tight pages to it!
Best thing to do is to walk around, look in all directions, stop here and there to consult the guide book to find out to what corresponds such section of wall, such columns or ruin. I call that "humer l'air antique" sniff the air of the antic Rome.
My favoured walk starts on the height of the Capitole, then descends the staircases towards Via Sacra and joins the Coliseum. The return is even more spectacular with its superb sights on the Capitol with the back of the Vittoriano monument.
What strikes the visitor is the cluttering of this forum by all sorts of constructions. Already during the five centuries of the Roman Republic this place overflowed of administrative, legal, commercial and religious buildings. From this period not much remains.
It is under the Empire that the Forum fills up with temples, basilica, and triumphal arches dedicated to the emperors of which we see now some vestiges. This glorious period stops with the barbarian invasions of the beginning of 5th c. after J-C.
Rome becomes then the city of the Popes and the imperial buildings are transformed into churches. From the 9th century on the buildings on the forum start to collapse or are stripped off their ancient ornaments. The deserted forum becomes a sewage farm and cows feed on the meadows. During the 16th century the old forum is used as career for the construction of other buildings, of which the St-Peter Basilica!
Finally towards 1800 start systematic excavations by Carlo Fea who are continued during two centuries. It is only in the 20th century that the topography of the heart of ancient Rome is reconstituted such as the tourist discovers it today.
TICKETS FOR THE FORO ROMANO + COLLOSSEO + PALATINO at 9 € (full price) have now to be bought at the ticket offices (biglietterie) largo Salara Vecchia or Via di S. Gregorio 30.
Reduced price: 4,50 € for EU citizens between 18 and 24 years.
Free for EU citizens under 18 or more than 65 years.
Open all days from 08.30 till 1 hour before sunset.
From 25/03 - 31/08 that is 19.00 h; in September 19.00 h; October 18.30 h; 28/10 - 15/02 16.30 h; 16/02 - 15/03 17.00 h.
It is certainly sad for those who used to pass here each day but it was not very logical to make people pay for the Palatine or Trajan market and not for the most important monumental area of Rome.
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A good Forum book with the overlay will serve you well. The more you know of the history here - the more you will appreciate all you see and can identify here.
You will be transported back to ancient times here - with a book on the ancient site in hand and ample time to devote. I revisited the Forum and spent the better part of an afternoon comparing what now exists to the overlay describing what was where - when - and for what purpose. I was largely unaware of the people around (luckily, there were very few) and
You may even have an opportunity to see archeologists at work as many sites are very active - no doubt they continue during our lifetime and, in fact, may proceed for centuries to come as new technology is developed.
Photo 4 - The site where Julius Cesar was cremated and the bouquets that, even now, are laid in tribute. Don't miss it when you are there......
Because my travelogues are up to limit, there is now an album for the Forum and I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed developing it. A good Forum book with the overlay will serve you well! Directions: Rome Center
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 The Roman Forum – from the
Capitoline Hill. by Lacristina
A jumble of thoughts the first time I see it. I walk down into it, down the Via Sacra toward the Rostrum. As I touch the stone and the marble around me, thoughts swirling: Julius Caesar might have leaned against this. Cicero's hand might have touched this spot. Marcus Aurelius, Augustus, Scipio, Nero......
Suddenly these people seem very real to me, no longer comic book characters.
I've touched what they touched.
The Forum used to be free, now sadly, you must buy a 10E ticket. (This makes me sad, as I used to walk through the Forum almost every day when in Rome.) The same ticket is good for the Colosseum and Palatine Hill as well. Open every day, from 9 to an hour before sunset. Leave a Comment Address: On Via dei Fori Imperiali, near Via CavourPhone: 06-699-0110Directions: Between the Colosseum, Palatine and Campidoglio
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PLEASE NOTE - ALL ROME FORUM TIPS ARE BEING MOVED TO MY ROME PAGE ROMAN FORUM TRAVALOGUE DO HOPE YOU VISIT - it was a ton of work!! :) You can return and leave your rating here if you like.
The Temple of the Vestal Virgins was home to six Roman women - each became a priestess and attended the eternal flame. These holy women were revered in their time and the only female priests within the roman religious system - given rights and priviliges not even available to the upper class - they even controlled their own finances. Duties included performing rituals in regards to the Goddess Vesta, and baking the sacred salt cake to be used at ceremonies during the year.
There were, however, some drawbacks. If one of the Virgins let the flame go out she faced death. While enjoying many benefits, including a rather luxurious life in the House of Vestal Virgins, punishment for breaking the rules were severe. Breaking the vow of chastity was punished by burial alive. This method was adopted to kill a vestal without shedding her blood. Such executions would take place in the "Evil Fields", or Campus Sceleratus, just outside the Servian Wall. The lover would be flogged to death on the Comitium. While these executions took place several times, it was also an event that wrought various forms of negative omens.
Vesta was the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Hesta, who was the goddess of the hearth. Vesta, however, was worshipped both as the guardian of the domestic hearth and also as the personification of the ceremonial flame. Vesta's chief festival, the Vestalia, was held on 7 June. Directions: Roman Forum
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 The forum viewed from the
Campidoglio. by melissa_bel
If you want to visit the ground, go down the hill and the entrance is on Via dei Fori Imperiali. The entrance is free but if you want a guided tour, it's 3.50 Euros. Leave a Comment Address: Entrances at Via dei Fori Imperiali and Piazza del
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 The Roman Forum by jungles
UCLA has created a very interesting website where you can view reconstructions of all the different buildings in the forum (see link below). If you click on the 'object movie,' it will bring up a 3D reconstruction of the building, which you can tilt and turn to view at any angle you want.
Entry to the forum is free and it is open daily (except on public holidays or when the staff are on strike)
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The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) was the central area of the city around which ancient Rome developed. Here was where commerce, business, prostitution, cult and the administration of justice took place. Space where religious activities were conducted and the communal hearth of the city.
The Roman Forum was designed by the architect Vitruvius with proportions 3:2 (length to width). For centuries, the Forum Romanum was the site of the city's most important public buildings, such as the Arch of Septimius Severus, built in AD203 and the Roman Forum Rostra or platforms for public speeches. The reliefs on the triple arch represented many of Rome's victories over oriental tribes and the Rostra was decorated with prows of warships captured during battles. The Roman Forum became the spectacular showcase of the Roman Empire filled with beautiful statues and architecture.
The main sight of the Forum include the Arch of Titus (Arco di Tito), the Temple of Saturn, Temple of Vesta, and the church of San Luca e Martina. These are all linked by the Sacra Via, the main road through the Forum.
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FORUM REPLY.
The Foro Romano is no more free.
1 Combined ticket for the Foro + Colosseo + Palatine.
See tips on "things to do" Roman Forum:
TICKETS FOR THE FORO ROMANO + COLLOSSEO + PALATINO at 9 € (full price) have now to be bought at the ticket offices (biglietterie) largo Salara Vecchia or Via di S. Gregorio 30.
Reduced price: 4,50 € for EU citizens between 18 and 24 years.
Free for EU citizens under 18 or more than 65 years.
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To the right from Coliseum you’ll find all the ruins and buildings from the Roman Empire, the Forum Romanum. Unfortunately I’m not a big expert on this area, as I’ve only stayed at the big street and watched them from there.
For me, therefore, Coloseum is much bigger and more important to see. But for sure I’ve missed something, and am wrong again… ;)
Forum Romanum was anyway the politic, commercial and religious centre, but has during the years been ravished by wars, fights and invaders.
UPDATE december 2007: Have been going through the Forum a couple of times now, and can't really stand for the text above anymore. :)
Be sure to read about the zone in a guide book before you go there though, and feel free to bring it with you while walking around too! Otherwise you'll miss the big part of it, as you won't know what you're looking at.
Don't forget to look down on the ruins from the Capitolium hill, as it gives you a nice view of the former Roman center. Leave a Comment Directions: Just take to the right when you stand at the big street in front of Coliseum, and you'll be there within 3-5 minutes.
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 Roman Forum by Blatherwick
Much of the forum has been destroyed. Columns and stone blocks are all that remain of some temples. The arch of Titus and the arch of Septimius Severus still stand and are in good shape. Like many other ancient Roman buildings, stone blocks have been removed from the Forum and used to build nearby churches and palaces.
On the left you can see the temple of Antoninus and Faustina which is the best preserved building in the Forum. The Emperor Antonius Pius lost his wife Faustina. After her death the Emperor built a magnificent temple in her honor in 141 AD. This temple was changed in the middle ages into the church of "San Lorenzo in Miranda".
To the right are the three columns that remain of the Temple of Castor and Pollox the was built by the dictator Aulus Postumius Albino in 484 B.C. The three columns belong to the last reconstruction in the time of Augustus (6th century A.D.). Leave a Comment Address: Piazza di Santa Maria NovaPhone: +39/ 06-699- 0100Directions: Metro: Colosseo (blue) The ruins entrance is directly across from that of the Colosseum and may be viewed from the upper decks of the Colosseum.Website: www.capitolium.org
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