The Colosseum
"As long as the Colosseum, there will Rome when the Colosseum falls, Rome will also fall, but when Rome falls, the world will fall"

The Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Imperial Forums
Tourist information Time of entry
  • 9.00 - 16.30: Until to 29 February 2024
    Last admission: 15.30


    Closed: 25th December and 1st January


    The entrance ticket to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill is the same as for the Colosseum, but without the need to book the entrance time.


    To better organize the visit, therefore, it will be necessary to book the entrance time to the Colosseum and decide whether to visit the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, with the four SUPER sites, before or after the visit to the Colosseum.


    The ordinary ticket also includes the visit to the slopes of the Palatine while the Full Experience ticket also includes Santa Maria Antiqua, the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs, the Temple of Romulus, the House of Augustus, the Rampa of Domitian and the Curia Iulia (on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays)


    Otherwise the special ticket Forum Pass allows the complete visit to the Roman Forum, Palatine and Imperial Forums and is valid for 30 days from purchase date.




    The Roman ForumThe Roman Forum is the archaeological area between Piazza Venezia and the Coliseum, and crossed by the Via dei Fori Imperiali; continuing seamlessly on the Palatine and the Capitol, along with the area of Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, is the largest and most important archaeological site in the world.
    Originally occupied by marshes, the Forum area was reclaimed by one of the first urban works of ancient Rome: the Cloaca Maxima, a large water drainage system, so in the end there was nothing left but a pond, the lacus Curtius, which it must then be marked by a small monument, because now completely disappeared.


    In the Forum are gathering virtually all the major public and sacred buildings of the Roman Republic: by some of the oldest Roman temples such as Saturn or sanctuaries of the Dioscuri at different churches like the Basilica Julia and the Basilica Emilia, the oldest, It founded in the second century. C. and whose remains are now to the right as you enter from the entrance on Via dei Fori Imperiali.

    The Curia
    Climbing the Via Sacra towards the Capitol, on the right, there is an other building of great importance, the Curia , that was the place of meeting of the Senate, the center of power of the Roman Republic. Right in front of this building there is the Comice, ie the square where the meetings were held before that, until the age of Caesar, It took place in the Campus Martius.
    The Comice is delimited, in the direction of the Capitol, from the wonderful Arch of Septimius Severus , built in the early years the third century A.D. to depict the important victories of that emperor against the Parthians, who lived in ancient Persia.
    Beyond the Arch of Septimius Severus, almost leaning against the foot of the Capitol, there are the remains of other important buildings, as the Temple of Concord , built by Furio Camillo in 367 BC to celebrate the agreement between patricians and plebeians, the Temple of Vespasian  and Temple of Saturn , one of the oldest and most revered temples of Rome, home also of the Aerarium Saturns cash, ie  state treasury.
    The square of the Forum is a large open space occupied only by a few remains, among which the Column of Phocas, the last monument was erected area, in honor of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas, in 608 A.D. The short side on the side of the Capitol is occupied by the stands of the Rostra, where the speakers spoke to the crowd assembled in the Comitium.  The forum takes its name from the fact that it was decorated in 338 BC with beaks, namely spurs, placed on the prows of ships  The Romans captured at Anzio.
    The tribune of the Rostra is one of the most significant places in the political life of the Roman Republic: here were exposed to the people's heads citizens who were over the lists of those sentenced to death for political reasons including, in 43 BC, also Cicero's head.



    On the short side of the square hole is closed by the base of the temple dedicated to Caesar and the crankcase remains of one of the arches dedicated to Augustus. On the long side on the side of the Palatine, however, are the remains of the Basilica Julia. Just behind the Arch of Augustus to the Temple of Vesta and, behind him, the House of the Vestal Virgins, that the priestesses of the temple. Opposed to it is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, in front of which stood the Director, one of the oldest buildings around the Roman Forum.
    Going back to the Capitol, you meet on the left what is commonly called the Temple of the Divine Romulus and, therefore, the beautiful ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius , building built in the early 4th century A.D. The area of the Forum ends, on the side towards the Colosseum, from the Arch of Titus, built in the time of Domitian to commemorate the victories of Vespasian and Titus over the Jews. Famous is the representation of Tito's triumph, with the legionaries who carry on their shoulders the menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum symbolizing the treasures contained in the Temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed in A.D. 70, will not be rebuilt.


    The Palatine HillBetween the valley of the Forum and the Circus Maximus, it is the most important of the seven hills of Rome, where, according to tradition, Romulus drew the furrow within which Roma background.

    Between the late 9th and early 7th century. B.C. the Latins, descended from the hills of Alba Longa, they settled on the Palatine to defend and control the passage of the Tiber Tiber Island, a natural bridgehead between the Etruscans, who occupied the right bank, and the Latins and the Sabines, on the left bank. When the city expanded, the valley at the foot of the hill, which at the time housed a necropolis, was incorporated into the urban system and turned in the Forum, the center of the political and administrative life.
    With the enlargement of the primitive settlement on the nearby hills and the emergence of a larger city, Romulean the city was destroyed and the Palatine Hill, as well as hosting several temples, was chosen because of its central location and healthy for private residences of the rich patricians of republican age.
    Augusto, who was born there on the hill, turned it into the seat of the imperial palaces, becoming erect a house of ample proportions. His successors built even more sumptuous palaces.


    The Forum of CaesarThe Forum of Caesar was the first of the Imperial Forums built in Rome, inaugurated by Julius Caesar on 26 September 46 BC and completed by Augustus after the death of the dictator, which took place on 15 March 44 BC.
    The actual works began around 51 BC, and in 48 BC, with the victory of the battle of Farsalo, the dedication of the temple to Venere Genitrice was decided, to which the dictator had made a vow before of the battle. The term "Parent" alludes to the mythical descent of the dictator from Aeneas, son of the Goddess, but also refers to the creator aspect of the divinity linked to the spring blossoming of nature.
    The Piazza del Foro was made up of a rectangle developed in a longitudinal direction, surrounded on three sides by a double portico raised on three steps. In the square there were numerous statues, including the colossal statue of Tiberius, dedicated to him by various cities of Asia Minor as thanks for the aid after the earthquakes of 17 and 23 AD. and, in the center of the square, the equestrian statue of Caesar, on a mare with the front legs in the shape of human feet like the famous horse of Alexander the Great.
    The Temple of Venere Genitrice closed the square scenically, on the short side to the north-west, of which today the three columns soaring on via dei Fori Imperiali remain, near the slope leading to the Capitol.
    The temple was erected on a podium covered in marble which was accessed via stairways placed on the sides and was surrounded by a colonnaded portico with 9 columns on the sides and 8 on the front.
    The excavation of the Forum of Caesar, in 1930, involved the demolition of the houses of a neighborhood built in the Renaissance between the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia, opening the Via dei Fori Imperiali in 1932 and highlighting only half of the complex towards the Campidoglio while the area towards the Forum of Nerva was brought to light with the excavations of 2000 .


    Fori Imperiali archaeological areaThe archaeological area of the Imperial Forums is the complex of ruins that extends close to the Roman Forum along the homonymous via dei Fori Imperiali, between the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia.
    In addition to the imposing Trajan"s column, it includes the area of the Trajan"s Markets, the Forum of Augustus and, on the other side of the road, the Forum of Caesar and the Forum of Nerva.
    The tour starts from the Trajan"s Column, crosses part of the Trajan"s Forum and then, passing under Via dei Fori Imperiali, arrives at the Forum of Caesar and the Forum of Nerva.


    Trajan's Markets and Imperial Forum MuseumThe Markets of Trajan were built for the Emperor Trajan by the legendary architect Apollodorus of Damascus around 107-110 AD and the markets are considered the world’s first great shopping mall complex with some 150 shops and administrative offices.
    Inside the Museum of the Imperial Forum the visitors can see the intricate network of fora that made up the ancient city.
    Opening hours
    The museum is open every day from 9.30 to 19.30, with last admission at 18.30
    from 9.30 to 14.00 (last admission at 13.00) on 24 and 31 December
    Closed on January 1st, May 1st and December 25th.


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