Forum of augustus - site report

The forum of Augustus was built by Emperor Augustus as the second imperial fora in order to provide more room for the law courts and the increasing population. However this fact, asserted by Suetonius in his ‘Life of Augustus’, has no archaeological data to back it up other than his own work.

“However there is no evidence from Suetonius’ account to prove this, it is more likely that the main function of the forum was to deal with the administration of foreign provinces… Senatorial debates on future military commitments and peace treaties occurred here. Triumphant generals dedicated their spoils of war here.” (Unkown; www.geocities.com/calivs/vr/forumaugustum/forum.augustum.html, accessed March 3, 2004)

The forum was built just to the north of the Forum Romanum, adjoining the Forum Iulium on the north east side (see Figure 2-Roman Fora, where ‘B’ is the Forum of Augustus, and ‘A’ is Caesar’s forum). Construction began in 37 BC and took almost 35 years to finish. The Forum was rectangular measuring approximately 125m x 90m and seemed to be based upon the Forum of Caesar, also having a rectangular portico with a temple at the back, and on both the south-east an

“giving himself a glorified and deified ancestry, characteristics, and persona, all suggesting his own worthiness as an Imperator and a potential deity.” (Unknown, www.geocities.com/calivs/vr/forumaugustum/forum.augustum.html, accessed on March 3, 2004)

It also helped us centuries later in the reconstruction of the whole of the city of ancient Rome. As we look upon the ruins we catch a glimpse of our race’s glorified past and know that change is inevitable.

However, these veritable ‘halls of fame’ full of statues of the Summi Viri were not the main attraction in the Forum of Augustus. Its real claim to fame stands in the center of the north-east end and is named the temple of Mars Ultor (or Mars the Avenger). It was not dedicated until 2 B.C., just after the forum had opened to the public. The temple is described as an octastyle temple having eight columns on the front and seven more on each side with a plain back wall. Each of the columns had grandly elaborate Corinthian capitals, considered to be among the finest in Rome. The temple pediment shows, in the center, Mars the god of war to whom Augustus appealed to to help him avenge his predecessor, Caesar’s, death. On his left then is Venus, the supposed founder of the Julian line. Beside Venus sits Romulus, the founder of Rome, on the right, Fortuna and a seated Roma. In each corner we find personifications of the Palatine hill and the river Tiber, two geographical aspects dear to Rome, as one is the lifeblood and the other is where Rome was begun. Inside the temple, the single cella was divided into a nave and two aisles with internal columns, and the ceiling was coffered. The whole temple is raised, and as Augustus loved to cover everything with marble it too had a marble façade. In the middle of the piazza there was a large statue of four horses drawing a chariot with Augustus in it, presumably to some military victory. (Fabbi, http://www.capitolium.org/eng/fori/augusto.htm, accessed March 3, 2004)

d north-west sides there were colonnades. However, attached to the south-east and north-west sides were two large semi-circular apses or exedrae, separated from the rectangular forum space with a row of fo

Some topics in this essay:
Rome Fortuna, Forum Augustus, Forum Caesar, Mars Ultor, Hadrian’s Pantheon, Emperor Augustus, Mars Avenger, Augustus MacKendrick, Summi Viri, Italic Greek, forum augustus, march 3, accessed march, march 3 2004, accessed march 3, 3 2004, temple mars ultor, mars ultor, temple mars, south-east north-west, summi viri, wwwgeocitiescom/calivs/vr/forumaugustum/forumaugustumhtml accessed march, wwwgeocitiescom/calivs/vr/forumaugustum/forumaugustumhtml accessed, aedicular niche,