Forum

forum, market and meeting place in ancient Roman towns in Italy and later in the provinces, corresponding to the Greek agora. By extension the word forum often indicates the meeting itself in modern usage. The forum was usually square or rectangular in shape and had, among other buildings, a basilica with shops, the public treasury, the curia, and a prison; under Greek influence colonnades were introduced.

The old Roman Forum extended into a marshy valley from Capitoline Hill along the Palatine Hill. When, much later, the Basilica of Constantine was added it reached almost to the Colosseum. The valley between the hills was crossed by a small stream emptying into the Tiber, which drained the area and was canalized underground (probably in the 6th cent. B.C.) to become the great sewer, the Cloaca Maxima (a portion of which still exists). At the south end of the Forum was the house of the vestal virgins and nearby the temple of Vesta. West of the temple, as an entrance to the Forum proper, was the Arch of Augustus, having on one side the temple of deified Julius Caesar and on the other that of Castor and Pollux. Behind it was a building, now the Church of Santa Maria Antiqua, with fine 8th-century frescoes. Along the southwest side of the Forum was the Basilica Julia, and along its northeast side were the Basilica Aemilia and the curia, where the senate met. The Forum was closed to the northwest by the Arch of Septimius Severus and by the rostra (platforms adorned with beaks of captured vessels), from which tribunes, consuls, and orators made their speeches. Beyond them, toward Capitoline Hill, were temples, among them the Temple of Concord and the temple of Saturn, housing the treasury.

In imperial times the old Forum became inadequate; the emperors built new forums to the northeast, from the Basilica of Constantine to the valley between the Capitoline and Quirinal. On the southeast were the Forum of Vespasian with the Temple of Peace surrounded by a colonnade; next the Forum of Nerva; then that of Augustus with the temple of Mars. Southwest was the smaller Forum of Julius Caesar, a colonnade enclosing the temple of Venus. Beyond the Forum of Augustus was the Forum of Trajan, a vast colonnaded square; then the Basilica Ulpia; then the two libraries with, between them, the Column of Trajan, which is still standing. The temple of Trajan closed the Emperors' Forums to the northwest.

In the 4th cent., the decay of the old Forum began; earthquakes, fires, and the barbarian invasions completed its destruction. In the Middle Ages materials from the forums were used to build new monuments throughout the city. Only in the 19th and 20th cent. were systematic excavations made to bring to light what was left. The forums are now, with the Palatine and Colosseum, an imposing complex of ruins, testifying to the magnificence of ancient Rome.

Bibliography

See M. Grant, The Roman Forum (1970).

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forum

Trajan's Forum, Rome, designed by Apollodorus of Damascus, early 2nd century AD; one of the …

(credit: Fototeca Unione, Rome)

In ancient Roman cities, a centrally located open area surrounded by public buildings and colonnades and serving as a multipurpose public gathering place. The forum was an adaptation of the Greek agora and acropolis. In Rome the forum Romanum referred to the flat and formerly marshy space between the Palatine and Capitoline hills. In the Roman republic, this was the site of public meetings, law courts, and gladiatorial games and was lined with shops and open-air markets. Under the Roman empire, when the forum evolved into a center for religious and secular ceremonies and spectacles, it held many of Rome's most imposing temples, basilicas, and monuments. New forums were built, some devoted to judicial or administrative affairs and some to trade. The aesthetic harmony of Trajan's Forum (2nd century AD), with its complex of buildings and courtyards and its tiers of shops, influenced many subsequent town planners.

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forum

1. (in South Africa) a pressure group of leaders or representatives, esp Black leaders or representatives

2. (in ancient Italy) an open space, usually rectangular in shape, serving as a city's marketplace and centre of public business

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forum [′fȯr·əm]

(computer science)

newsgroup

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forum

forum of Trajan, Rome, circa 110 A.D.

A Roman public square surrounded by monumental buildings, usually including a basilica and a temple; the center of civic life. A forum sometimes was purely commercial in aspect.

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(messaging)

forum - (Plural "fora" or "forums") Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in BBS (e.g. GEnie, CI$), a mailing list, or a Usenet newsgroup (see network, the). A forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit postings for all to read and discussion ensues. Contrast real-time chat or point-to-point personal e-mail.

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Forum 

in the cities of Ancient Rome, the main city square, which functioned as the marketplace and the center of political life. In Rome itself, there were several forums that served only as marketplaces. Forums usually contained the temples of the patron gods of the city, basilicas for legal proceedings and other purposes, and buildings for senate or city government meetings. The squares were surrounded by porticoes and decorated with statues. In the imperial period the number of forums increased, and the forum in Rome gradually became a complex ceremonial ensemble dedicated to the military glory of the emperor Trajan.

In a figurative sense, a forum is an assembly or public meeting.