The Roman Forum

By DannyBoy7783 (talk) - Own work (Original text: I (DannyBoy7783 (talk)) created this work entirely by myself.), GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41439106

The Forum was once a cultural center of the Roman Empire. Here, the triumphs ran through the streets to be viewed by the public. Beyond that, the Forum was a site for all sorts of other affairs, ranging from criminal trials to speeches to commercial dealings. The site was in use since the earliest periods of Roman history, some excavations even unearthing pre-Roman artifacts. The Forum itself is in a state of destruction, its once manifold statues, temples, and state buildings reduced to two arches and scattered foundations. Those arches are committed to Titus and Septimius Severus.

To often the sites we visit focus on the grand aspects of the city or civilization, those monuments designed to be seen, while disregarding how people of antiquity lived, where they carried about business, where they gathered. Elements within the Forum certainly were meant for grandeur, but the purpose of the area itself was for carrying out the affairs of day to day life, administration, and religion. Walking where the Romans once did in great volumes would be humbling and enriching experience.