The Forum complex, inaugurated in 112 A.D., was a hymn to the triumph of Emperor Trajan; during his reign, the Roman Empire reached the height of its power and territorial expansion, with a further substantial increase in bureaucratic and judicial activity in the capital: it was therefore necessary to expand the structures intended for the administration of justice and relations with the provinces.
The Forum, with a total length of 300m and a width of 185m, was characterised by an innovative architecture; it included the Basilica Ulpia (a name derived from Marcus Ulpius Trajan), a building intended for the holding of trials, the libraries and the magnificent honorary column.
The complex was completed by Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138) with the construction of a temple dedicated to Trajan and his wife Plotina, which was placed north of the Honorary Column.
You can discover this area with one of our expert guides with the Roman Forum Tour.
The history of the Markets of Trajan
The commercial function, in the past attributed to the complex, had been correlated with Trajan’s concerns about the precarious situation of the city’s water supply: the so-called Markets of Trajan had been interpreted as the end point of a gigantic supply system for the capital, which was also ensured with the construction of Trajan’s harbour at Fiumicino. Rather, the monument was intended to be a kind of ‘multifunctional centre‘, where public activities, especially administrative ones, took place. The distribution of the rooms, their connections and the articulation of the internal routes had to depend on the different functions of the rooms, such as offices or archives, in close connection with the forensic complex.
Today, the Forum of Trajan is home to the Museum of the Imperial Forums. The Museum of the Imperial Fora tells the story of monumental Roman architecture, that of its greatest achievements; in the rooms of the museum some significant finds from the five Forums are presented; there are also two sections dedicated to the Forums of Caesar and Augustus. The museum makes use of a mixed communication system, with traditional panels and videos using multimedia technology, with the aim of presenting the connection between the materials on display, the ancient appearance of the buildings to which they belonged, and the remains of them preserved in the archaeological areas.
What are you waiting for, take a plane, a ferry, a car and come to Rome to visit this marvel of ancient Rome.
