Picture of the day

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings in the centre of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. It is located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. Archaeological evidence shows that the site was originally a grassy wetland, which was drained in the 7th century BC with the building of the first structures of the Cloaca Maxima sewer system. The earliest structures in the Forum were discovered in two separate locations: the site of the Comitium and the group of sanctuaries of Regia, House of the Vestals and Domus Publica. Further structures were added over the centuries including the Temple of Saturn (497 BC), the Temple of Castor and Pollux (484 BC) and the Basilica Fulvia (179 BC), followed by major work in the 80s BC, in which the plaza was raised and permanent marble paving stones laid. Further significant work was undertaken by Julius Caesar and Augustus, and the reign of Constantine the Great saw the completion of the construction of the Basilica of Maxentius (AD 312), the last significant expansion of the complex. The Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly. This panoramic photograph, taken in 2018 from the Capitoline Museums, shows some of the surviving structures of the Roman Forum, including the Tabularium, the Gemonian stairs, the Tarpeian Rock, and several temples and basilicas.Photograph credit: Wolfgang Moroder