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Day 16: Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Pictures were taken from the tour bus.
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Columns are part of Trajan's Forum
By the time that Trajen was in power, Roma was a well-developed, bustling city. There was no space for him to build his forum, which by this time was the custom among the emperors. So he had the side of a hill dug out to open some space for his forum.
More information and pictures can be found here.
Author of the page cited here is James E. Packer, a professor of classics at Northwestern University and author of The Forum of Trajan in Rome.
Trajan's Markets
Originally considered among the wonders of the Classical world, Trajan's Markets now show only a hint of their former splendor. Emperor Trajan and his architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, built this visionary new complex of 150 shops and offices (probably used for administrating the corn ration) in the early 2nd century AD. It was the ancient Roman equivalent of the modern shopping center, selling everything from silks and spices imported from the Middle East to fresh fish, fruit and flowers.
Shops opened early and closed about noon. The best ones were decorated with mosaics of the goods they sold. Almost all the shopping was done by men, through women visited the dressmaker and cobbler. The tradespeople were almost all male. In employment records for the period AD 117 to 193, the only female shopkeepers mentioned are three woolsellers, two jewelers, a greengrocer, and a fishwife.
The concave shape of the building was used to bolster the side of the hill that was carved out to make room for the forum and market.
We're on Capitoline Hill with the Meyers.
The Forum Romanum is seen between the buildings and trees.
A Preview of Forum Romanum
We can get into this forum, The Forum Romanum. Let's go down and see what's there.
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