Editing Roman Forum (section)

==Description==
[[File:A_handbook_of_Rome_and_the_Campagna_(1899)_(14579302047).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Plan of the Forum]]

Unlike the later imperial fora in Rome—which were self-consciously modelled on the ancient Greek ''[[plateia]]'' (πλατεῖα) public plaza or [[town square]]—the Roman Forum developed gradually, organically, and piecemeal over many centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Watkin, David|author-link=David Watkin (historian)|title=The Roman Forum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGoOoAcg43gC|access-date=6 March 2010|year=2009|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]], Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-03341-2|ref=Watkin69}}, p. 22.</ref> This is the case despite attempts, with some success, to impose some order there, by [[Sulla]], [[Julius Caesar]], [[Augustus]] and others. By the Imperial period, the large public buildings that crowded around the central square had reduced the open area to a rectangle of about 130 by 50 meters.<ref>A more generous estimate, including the surrounding buildings, would be about 200 by 75 meters.</ref>

Its long dimension was oriented northwest to southeast and extended from the foot of the [[Capitoline Hill]] to that of the [[Velian Hill]]. The Forum's [[basilica]]s during the Imperial period—the [[Basilica Aemilia]] on the north and the [[Basilica Julia]] on the south—defined its long sides and its final form. The Forum proper included this square, the buildings facing it and, sometimes, an additional area (the ''Forum Adjectum'') extending southeast as far as the [[Arch of Titus]].<ref>Grant, 1970, p. 43.</ref>

Originally, the site of the Forum had been a [[marsh]]y lake where waters from the surrounding hills drained.<ref name="Stories">{{cite book | title=Stories in Stone from the Roman Forum | author=Lovell, Isabel | year=1904 | pages=8–9}}</ref> This was drained by the [[Tarquinius Priscus|Tarquins]] with the [[Cloaca Maxima]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Livy |title=History |page=1.38.6}}</ref> Because of its location, sediments from both the flooding of the [[Tiber]] and the erosion of the surrounding hills have been raising the level of the Forum floor for centuries. Excavated sequences of remains of paving show that sediment eroded from the surrounding hills was already raising the level in early [[Roman Republic|Republican]] times.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ammerman |first1=Albert |title=On the Origins of the Forum Romanum |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=1990 |volume=94 |issue=4 |page=633|doi=10.2307/505123 |jstor=505123 |s2cid=193074571 }}</ref>

As the ground around buildings rose, residents simply paved over the debris that was too much to remove. Its final [[travertine]] paving, still visible, dates from the reign of [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]]. Excavations in the 19th century revealed one layer on top of another. The deepest level excavated was 3.60 meters [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]]. Archaeological finds show human activity at that level with the discovery of carbonized wood.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

An important function of the Forum, during both Republican and Imperial times, was to serve as the culminating venue for the celebratory military processions known as [[Roman triumph|Triumphs]]. Victorious generals entered the city by the western Triumphal Gate ([[Porta Triumphalis]]) and circumnavigated the Palatine Hill (counterclockwise) before proceeding from the [[Velian Hill]] down the [[Via Sacra]] and into the Forum.<ref name="GrantOp">Grant, 1970, p. 16.</ref>

From here, they would mount the Capitoline Rise (''[[Clivus Capitolinus]]'') up to the [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus]] on the summit of the Capitol. Lavish public banquets ensued back down on the Forum.<ref name="GrantOp" /> (In addition to the Via Sacra, the Forum was accessed by several storied roads and streets, including the [[Vicus Jugarius]], [[Vicus Tuscus]], [[Argiletum]], and Via Nova.)

{{wide image|Forum romanum 6k (5760x2097).jpg|600px|align-cap=center|The ''{{lang|la|Forum Romanum}}'': view facing north east from above the [[Portico Dii Consentes]]}}