Evolution of the Roman Forum

Today, the Roman Forum stands as a reminder of the events past, as proof that the drama and betrayal that shaped the course of Rome’s history were not Shakespearean plays written to amuse, but real actions by real men. Rome’s history is rife with corruption, manipulation, and bloodshed; that history is in part defined by the men who used and defied social and political customs to impose their vision upon the city. Their quest for power was without bounds and their search for uncompromised control was intimately intertwined with the evolving face of the Forum. Amongst the many men who controlled Rome, none more effectively exploited the space and symbolism of the Forum than Gaius Julius Caesar, who began a legacy of change to mark Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire.

The space where the Roman Forum stood was a swampy valley perennially flooded by the Tiber River. Prior to the 6th Century BC, the space was used as a meeting ground, where the separate tribes residing on Rome’s Seven Hills congregated for religious and possibly other activities. The hillsides leading into the valley were used as burial grounds by the tribes, and the valley itself for grazing cattle. In 625 BC, over a century after the city of Rome was founded, the first of three Estruscan kings, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, began building the Cloaca Maxima (“the great drain”) which drained the water from the low-lying area into the Tiber River, an engineering marvel that is still in use in modern Rome. Over the next few decades, public life began migrating into the valley: the Forum was paved, a school was built, and rows of shops were erected to house merchants selling fruit, meat, and other goods, along with bankers and silversmiths. In addition, the first Curia was thought to have been built during the reign of the third king, Tullus Hostilius, where 100 heads of households met to advise the king. This original Forum was built according to religious specifications, with the long edges of the rectangular space facing north-south.

As the population increased, most merchants were moved to specialized Fora, each established specifically for selling cattle, fish, or other products. By the 4th Century BC, only the monetary enterprises still remained in the original Roman Forum. In 509 BC, Rome exiled its last king and established a nominal republic; during the era of the Roman Republic, the Forum rose to prominence as the major legal, political and religious center of Rome. In due course, Julius Caesar’s hand would be seen in shaping the function and look of the Roman Forum, a legacy that would be continued by his successor, Augustus, after his death.
(map of the Forum during Augustus' time)

Under the Republic, the government consisted of various elected magistrates, a Senate of 300 ex-magistrates, and eventually a Plebeian Council, plus other lesser known and less active components. Symbolically, the most prominent building was the Curia, which housed the Senate. Through much of the Republic, the Curia built during the era of the monarchy was used although knowledge about this earlier Curia is scarce, especially on its design. It was located in the northwest corner of the Forum, and was burnt down during the public cremation of Clodius in 52 BC. Caesar redesigned and rebuilt the meeting place, calling it the Curia Julia (left) after his own family, and he shifted the directionality of the building away from the strict north-south orientation. What remains in the Forum today is not Caesar’s Curia Julia; the original was destroyed in the fire of 283 AD, but was rebuilt and restored by various emperors, and eventually turned into a church in 630 AD. Although its original doors have been looted, along with other valuable building materials, the structure has survived surprisingly well. The current building (right) is modest with the original colored marble floor still in place, providing a rare glimpse into the vibrant Roman life.

Outside the Curia would have been an open space, called the Comitium, used for meetings of the various Comitia, the most prominent of which was the Tribal Assembly responsible for passing laws recommended to it by the Senate. The space began as an open square, was converted into an amphitheatre during the Republic, and ominously diminished in size throughout the Empire.

Also important to Roman political life was oratory, and Caesar himself spent many years perfecting this skill both as a prosecutor and a student. The Rostra was the speaker’s platform (“prow”) and was originally located next to the Comitium; the speeches were directed at the Assembly in the adjacent Comitium, or in later times, at the Forum and the Roman populace in general. The front of the platform, which faced the Forum was flat with holes to mount the prows taken from ships Rome captured during naval battles. During Caesar’s reign, the Rostra was moved to a more central location directly facing the Forum, where it still stands today (right). It was here that Mark Antony gave the stirring speech during the Caesar's funeral which so touched his audience that they cremated Caesar’s body on the spot. And during the Empire, a time when few dissidents dared to make incriminating speeches, the Rostra was used for mostly ceremonial purposes, for example when Augustus adopted Tiberius as his son and successor.

Another important place to practice and show off one’s oratorical skills was in the courts, held at scattered locations throughout the Forum. Caesar saw an opportunity to unite these courts, as well as attach his name to a lavish building, and built the Basilica Julia (left), again named after his family. The building was rectangular, two storied, and exactly aligned with the new axis of the Forum. The large open space in the center (right) was divided by curtains into four courts, which attracted enormous crowds. In Roman times, going to the courts was a leisurely and fun activity; one could enjoy great oratory and play games on the basilica steps when speeches became too long-winded. The courts were also a place where young men like Caesar and Cicero rose to prominence for their oratorical and rhetoric skills. The marble faced Basilica Julia would have been seen as a gift to the people, something like the mayor building an entertainment complex with his own money. The purchase no doubt further improved Caesar’s image and idol status with the public. Today, the only remains of the basilica are the rows of foundations that once held the columns.

Politically, the Curia, Comitium, Rostra, and courts represented the foundation of governmental power during the Republic. Caesar had a profound influence on all of these structures and their relations and uses, symbolic of his control over all aspects of government and public perception prior to his assassination. He dismissed regular meetings of the Senate, which was reconvened only at his bidding to confirm his decrees and selections for offices and governmental positions. Caesar increased the number of Senators by 300, as well as the number of quaestors, aediles, and praetors, in order to install men who supported his goals. He acquired the title Perpetual Dictator in 46 BC, and although he feigned disinterest in becoming a monarch, he controlled all aspects of Roman government.

However, the coerced backing of the Senate was not enough for Julius Caesar, for he sought to bridge the gap between mortal and god. Religion was central to all aspects of Roman life, with decisions and actions of both the people and the government guided by ritualistic beliefs. The Romans worshipped a pantheon of gods, each believed to have a very specific realm of control. Much of the eastern end of the Forum was dedicated to religious needs, in addition to temples to various gods scattered throughout the Forum. The most important religious structure in the Forum was the Temple of Vesta, dedicated to the goddess of the hearth. Inside, a fire was always lit, to represent the perpetuity of the Roman empire. The cult of the “sacred fire” was one of the longest-surviving; evidence suggests the maintenance of such a fire was one of the collaborative undertakings amongst the tribes prior to Rome’s founding. On the other end of time, images of the Temple of Vesta appeared on Roman coins even after Rome’s official conversion to Christianity by Constantine. The temple was frequently rebuilt due to fires, but it was always circular in shape, with the doors pointing exactly east (left). Little of the original building survives today, and all that stands is a reconstruction of three of its columns (right).

Religion in Rome was both a matter of the state and of individual citizens. For example, while all Romans kept a fire lit and made food contributions to Vesta, the upkeep of the Temple of Vesta was a responsibility of the Vestal Virgins, who were selected by the Pontifex Maximus, the highest religious official of Rome. The Virgins were girls from wealthy Patrician families selected for their purity and beauty who entered the House of Vestals between the ages of six and ten, and remained in service for thirty years, although many chose to serve longer. The House of Vestals was luxurious and marble-faced, and complete with courtyards, gardens, and the most lavish of decorations (right). The House’s immense size also suggests that it was used as a safety deposit for patrons including Caesar who placed his will in the keep of the Virgins. The Virgins also held enormous power and political clout, and their role in society was nothing short of royalty. They could commute death sentences of the convicted, and it was the Virgins who intervened when Caesar was condemned to death for refusing to marry Sulla’s daughter. In return for their special rights and status, these women followed the strictest of requirements and were subject to severe punishments if duties were not satisfactorily completed. They were required to take a vow of chastity, and were condemned to death by being buried alive if the vow was broken. Their responsibilities included the important task of maintaining the fire in the Temple of Vesta, and guarding the seven emblems of the power and eternity of Rome--mysterious objects kept secret by the Virgins and Pontifex Maximus. All tasks that the Virgins performed were obsessed with purification: the only water they were allowed to use for any purpose (including extinguishing the Temple when it caught on fire) came from a very specific spring near Rome’s southeast gate; they made salt cakes which used flour from the “very first ears of ripened grain, which had been picked on the odd-numbered days in the second week of May by the three Senior Vestals” (Grant 68). There was an annual Festival of Vesta, in which the purification ritual required married women to jump on bales of burning straw mixed with the ashes and blood of calves torn the corpses of thirty-one pregnant cows on April 15. The cult of Vesta was only one of many in Roman society with apparently strange rituals, and soon, imperial cults would come into fashion starting with Caesar's.

The use of religion for power would have been familiar territory for Caesar, who was elected the Pontifex Maximus in 63 BC, and knew exactly the type of arbitrary power a high religious official commanded. Caesar’s father was of the gens Julia, a family that claimed descent from the goddess Venus, a point Caesar emphasized frequently during his career, and he later built a temple to Venus in his own Forum of Caesar. By promoting the idea that he was of divine blood, it became acceptable to market himself as more than a mere mortal. By the end of his reign, statues of himself were made to be placed in various temples, and he stepped away from the usual practices of the day by placing his own image on a coin. Prior to Caesar, only the dead were honored in such a manner. After his death, the three men vying for control, Augustus, Mark Antony, and Lepidus, deified Caesar and commissioned the Temple of Divine Julius Caesar (left) on the spot where his body had been cremated by the mob, and appointed priests to oversee his cult. The Temple was strategically placed in close proximity to the Temple of Vestal and in the religious bloc of the Forum, as if to confirm that he was indeed a god. Caesar's deification set a precedence for Emperors to come, who would all be deified while still alive.

Caesar's rise to power stemmed from his ability to use the social and political machinery of Rome, through control of politics and exploitation of religion. His family lacked the wealth needed to propel him to the consulship, the highest office of the Republic, but Caesar's combination of talents and carefully considered alliances enabled him to achieve more power than any man before him. Power in Rome came from many interconnected sources. Familial ties were crucial—coming from a ‘noble’ family (one with many consuls in the ancestry) gave important political ties and usually the financial means to provide lavish entertainment for the public or to bribe Senators. Family ties through marriage were also used to gain political or financial ground, a method Caesar used numerous times. Military prowess was also important in Roman culture, and in fact, all consuls except Cicero had some type of military leadership before achieving the high office; not only did military wins provide popular support, they also offered means to immediate wealth from the conquered region, in addition to sustained revenue from taxes and slaves. Caesar’s vast success came from using all of the usual avenues to power in synchrony, and all with great skill. His rise was marked by good decisions and the ability to make the correct alliances at every turn. But unlike many who preceded him, Caesar also achieved power by seeking popular support through his social policy and religious influence. As previously mentioned, he redesigned the Forum, with numerous lavish additions, remodels, and a completely new layout. He relieved Rome’s resource problems and appeased his former legions by resettling the homeless along with the soldiers in provincial colonies by giving them land. Within Rome, Caesar provided for his populace with elaborate and long Triumphs to celebrate his victories. A Triumph consisted of a ceremonial parade featuring the triumphant general framed by the spoils of his campaign, followed by days of partying, banquets, and festivities, all funded by the loot of the campaign. One such event was said to have lasted forty days, complete with a giraffe hunt and gladiatorial duels, all in the shade of a silk awning that stretched over the entire Forum. In addition, Caesar fashioned himself as ‘The Father of his Country,’ and asked all citizens to swear allegiance to him as one would a father, which forged a seemingly personal relation with all citizens, and ultimately cemented his acceptability as a god.

Despite his early death at the hands of suspicious Senators, Caesar was able to shape the Roman Forum and consequently immortalize himself and his family's name. The function of the Forum throughout the centuries defined how it looked and who visited the site. It changed from the bustling market during the era of the monarchs, to the central governmental, religious, and social center of the Republic, and finally became a showcase for ever more elaborate statues, inscriptions, and temples during the Roman Empire. The Forum was the heart of Rome, whether its function was practical or not. Sadly, the demise of Rome as the capitol and the decline of the Roman Empire, along with the rise of Christianity led to the deterioration of the Forum. Useful building materials were scavenged by the rising powers of the Renaissance for new construction projects, and by the 1600s, the area where the Roman Forum once stood was known as Campo Vaccino, as depicted by Claude Lorrain (right). The once ornate statues and richly painted building were looted, burned, or simply covered by floods and destroyed by earthquakes. Yet, even though the Forum today is only a mere vestige of its original greatness, it is possible to see its power and meaning for the Ancient Romans.

My interest and intrigue in the Forum lies in its role in the Roman Republican, and the precedence that system set for governments to come. In my research, I was greatly interested in how the US government past and present mirrors the Romans', as well as the contrast between the two systems (although not addressed in this paper). Reading about the Roman Forum, about the power Caesar accumulated through so many means allows and forces me to consider the means to power in today’s society, and brings into question what I hold as ethical means and ends. There was one flaw in my research: I was presented with snapshots of time, and portraits of characters, whose vibrant and devious personalities were reduced to two dimensional facades. When I first stumbled into the Forum while exploring the neighborhood around my temporary apartment, I gasped loudly enough to startle the tourists around me. Here it was: the building I had read about, where so much of Roman policy had been shaped, simply standing before me in its three dimensional splendor. At first, I was surprised by the Curia's large size, somehow at odds with the inch tall versions in my books, but as I saw the rest of the Forum, it became clear that whatever conception I had of the grandeur and size of the Forum did not even come close to the actual Forum. While what stands in the Forum today does is a shadow of what was there two millennia ago, I can feel the essence of ambition of the past Romans—the bright sparks of purpose, realized in the remains of graceful and grand structures of the Forum, now defaced by time, nature, and the common man. And while it is debatable whether that ambition has led to better or worse, standing in the site where so much history has been overlaid makes it possible to connect to the past.


*A word on the graphics: all drawings are imaginative reconstructions from Grant's The Roman Forum; all pictures are my own.


(model of Ancient Rome)


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Works Cited:

Ammerman, Albert. "On the Origins of the Forum Romanum." American Journal of Archaeology 94 (1990): 627-645.
Claridge, Amanda. Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Grant, Michael. Julius Caesar. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969.
Grant, Michael. The Roman Forum. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1970.
Hibbert, Christopher. Rome: The Biography of a City. Penguin Books, 1985.
Lanciani, Rodolfo. The Roman Forum. Leipzig: Frank & Co., 1910.
Macadam, Alta. Blue Guide Rome. London: Somerset Books Company, 2006.
Nahmad, Ezra. The Roman Forum. Florence: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1982.