Editing Roman Forum (section)

===Roman Empire===
[[File: Roman forum sketch up model.png|thumb|Rendering of the Roman Forum as it may have appeared during the Late [[Roman Empire|Empire]]]]
After Julius Caesar's death and the end of the subsequent [[Liberators' civil war|civil war]], Augustus finished his great-uncle's work, giving the Forum its final form. This included the southeastern end of the plaza where he constructed the [[Temple of Caesar]] and the [[Arch of Augustus, Rome|Arch of Augustus]] there (both in 29 BC). The Temple of Caesar was placed between Caesar's funeral pyre and the Regia. The Temple's location and reconstruction of adjacent structures resulted in greater organization akin to the [[Forum of Caesar]].<ref>"Roman Art and Archaeology," Mark Fullerton, p. 118.</ref> The Forum was also witness to the assassination of a Roman Emperor in 69 AD: [[Galba]] had set out from the palace to meet rebels but was so feeble that he had to be carried in a litter. He was immediately met by a troop of his rival [[Otho]]'s cavalry near the ''Lacus Curtius'' in the Forum, where he was killed.

During these early Imperial times, much economic and judicial business transferred away from the Forum to larger and more extravagant structures to the north. After the building of [[Trajan's Forum]] (110 AD), these activities transferred to the [[Basilica Ulpia]].

[[File:Arch Septimius Severus Column Phocas Forum Romanum Rome.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Arch of Septimius Severus]]]]
The white marble [[Arch of Septimius Severus]] was added at the northwest end of the Forum close to the foot of the Capitoline Hill and adjacent to the old, vanishing Comitium. It was dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate the [[Roman-Parthian Wars|Parthian victories]] of Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] and his two sons against Pescennius Niger and is one of the most visible landmarks there today. The arch closed the Forum's central area. Besides the Arch of Augustus, which was also constructed following a Roman victory against the Parthians, it is the only triumphal arch in the Forum.<ref name="Archaeology p. 358">"Roman Art and Archaeology," Mark Fullerton p. 358</ref> The Emperor [[Diocletian]] (r. 284–305) was the last of the great builders of Rome's city infrastructure and he did not omit the Forum from his program. By his day it had become highly cluttered with honorific memorials. He refurbished and reorganized it, building anew the [[Temple of Saturn]], the [[Temple of Vesta]] and the [[Curia Julia]].<ref>Connolly and Dodge, 1998, pp. 250–251.</ref> The latter represents the best-preserved tetrarchic building in Rome. He also reconstructed the rostra at each end of the Forum and added columns.<ref name="Archaeology p. 358"/>

The reign of [[Constantine I|Constantine the Great]] saw the completion of the construction of the [[Basilica of Maxentius]] (312 AD), the last significant expansion of the Forum complex.<ref name="history.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/roman-forum|title=Roman Forum|website=HISTORY|date=25 July 2023 }}</ref> This restored much of the political focus to the Forum until the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] almost two centuries later.