The Fori Imperiali (the Imperial Forums, the series of five public squares built by successive emperors between 46 BC and 113 AD as extensions of the original Roman Forum) are the most historically significant archaeological zone in Rome after the Forum-Palatine complex itself, and simultaneously the most imperfectly accessible: approximately 40% of the Imperial Forums lie buried beneath Via dei Fori Imperiali, the road that Mussolini had driven through the archaeological zone in 1932 to create a straight processional axis between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum for his military parades. The Fascist road severed the archaeological continuity of the forum complex, destroyed sections of the Forum of Caesar, the Forum of Augustus, and the Forum of Trajan that had been visible and partially excavated before 1932, and created the specific situation where the visitor walking along Via dei Fori Imperiali is walking over ancient Rome without being able to access it from below.
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The Five Imperial Forums
Forum of Caesar (46 BC)
The Forum of Caesar (the first of the Imperial Forums, built by Julius Caesar with the spoils of the Gallic Wars) lies partially visible on the south side of Via dei Fori Imperiali: three surviving columns of the Temple of Venus Genetrix (the patron goddess of the Julian family, whom Caesar claimed as his divine ancestor) mark the surviving portion. The majority of the Forum of Caesar is beneath the road. The specific Caesar-forum archaeological irony: the building is 46 BC, the road that buried half of it is 1932 AD, a 1,978-year gap between construction and partial destruction that is, even by Roman standards, a specific compression of historical time.
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The Forum of Augustus (built by the Emperor Augustus to fulfill a vow made before the Battle of Philippi, 42 BC, the battle that avenged the assassination of Julius Caesar) has the most dramatic surviving presence of the five forums: the massive tufo fire wall that Augustus built on the north side of his forum to protect it from fires in the working-class Subura neighborhood is still 30 meters tall and running for 50 meters along Via dei Fori Imperiali. Behind the wall (accessible from the forum excavation area): the podium of the Temple of Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger, the god Augustus vowed to honor if he won at Philippi), with four surviving Corinthian columns of exceptional quality. The Forum of Augustus archaeological area is open for visits as part of the Fori Imperiali park.
Trajan's Forum and Column (113 AD)
Trajan's Forum (the largest and most lavishly appointed of the Imperial Forums, paid for with the spoils of the Dacian Wars) was the last and most ambitious addition to the forum complex. Its centerpiece: Trajan's Column (the 30-meter-high marble column with its continuous spiral narrative frieze depicting the two Dacian campaigns of 98-102 and 105-106 AD. 2,500 figures carved in 155 scenes spiraling from base to summit). The column survives complete (it was later used as a reliquary by the medieval Church, which preserved it from quarrying). The Forum of Trajan itself is largely buried beneath medieval and modern buildings, with excavation ongoing.
Q&A: Fori Imperiali Rome
Is the Imperial Forums archaeological park worth the entrance fee?
Yes, the Fori Imperiali park (accessible at €18 combined with the Roman Forum and Palatine, or separately for the above-ground sections) provides access to the excavated sections of the Forum of Augustus, the Market of Trajan (the Mercati di Traiano, the 6-story commercial complex built on the slope above the forum, one of the best-preserved Roman commercial buildings in existence, now a museum at Via IV Novembre 94), and the guided excavation tours that go below street level into the partially excavated sections under Via dei Fori Imperiali. The Mercati di Traiano specifically is the most undervisited major Roman monument and the most physically evocative, walking through the vaulted corridors of a 2nd-century AD commercial center that has only recently been opened to the public is a different quality of encounter than the open-air forum experience.
