1 Campidoglio
2 Castel Sant'Angelo
3 Colosseum (Colosseo)
4 Palazzo Barberini
5 Pantheon
6 Piazza Navona
7 Roman Forum (Foro Romano)
8 San Clemente
9 Sistine Chapel & Vatican Museums
10 St Peter's (San Pietro)
This was the social, economic and political centre of ancient Rome, where people came to shop, consult lawyers or gossip.
Before entering the Foro or Forum, look down on it from behind the Campidoglio. To your left is the Arch of Septimius Severus, erected in AD 203 to celebrate his victory over the Parthians; behind it, to the right, is the Column of Phocas, AD 608, erected in honour of the Byzantine Emperor, Phocas, in gratitude after he gave the Pantheon to the Pope.
Left of the public entrance to the Forum is the Basilica Aemilia, a place for business; look for traces of the coins that were fused into the floor when the Basilica was burned down in the 5th century. Next to the Basilica, along the Via Sacra (Sacred Way), is the 3rd-century Curia (rebuilt in the 1930s) where the Senate met; the slightly curved platform outside it is the rostrum on which political speeches and orations were made. Opposite the Curia is the 1st-century BC Basilica Julia and to its left is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, with its three beautiful remaining columns. The round building is the Temple of Vesta, where a fire was kept burning continually by the 16 Vestal Virgins who lived in the elegant villa behind it. On the other side of the Forum are the three massive vaults of the 4th-century Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine much studied by Renaissance artists and architects. To its left is the 4th-century AD Temple of Romulus, under which you can see some dank little rooms, thought to be the remains of a much earlier brothel. The Arch of Titus is near the public exit; it was erected in the 1st century AD to celebrate the Emperor's sack of Jerusalem.Address: Via dei Fori Imperiali
Phone: 06 699 0110
Open: Apr-Sep, Mon 9-2, Tue-Sat 9 to sunset; Oct-Mar, Mon-Sat 9-3, Sun 9-1
Bus: 85, 87, 175, 186 to Via dei Fori Imperiali; 81 to Piazza del Colosseo; 44, 46, 60, 81, 94, 95, 710, 719 to Piazza Venezia
Metro: Colosseo
Accessible: Few
Admission: Moderate (includes entrance to Palatino)
Practical: Guided tours available; booking Phone: 06 3908 0730
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