Rome: Trajan's Forum

We had walked by the cluster of 'other' forums - the Imperial, Augustus', Caesar's and Trajan's - on past visits and it was never clear exactly how they all fit together.  Still it was an impressive sight especially with the large hemicircle that forms Trajan's Markets attached to the entire complex.  A forum is essentially a large piazza with surrounding buildings.  The street Via Dei Fori Imperiali splits these ruins in two with the Roman forum and Caesar's forum on one side and the Imperial, Augustus' and Trajan's on the other.

Caesar's Forum with Temple of Venus pillars off to the right

Now Rome has opened a museum (Museo dei Fiori Imperiali) in the portion that has been known as Trajan's Markets and it does a nice job of showcasing different aspects of each of the forums and helping visitors understand how they fit together.  The best part though, is that you get inside parts of the large hemicircle that form what once housed markets and offices during Trajan's reign. The markets were built first and the basilica and forum was built later.  In ancient Rome a basilica was the hall of justice, it did not have the religious connotation associated with the term today.  Evidently Trajan was one of the 'good' emperors.  He cared about justice and the poor.  Some of the columns of the basilica are still standing because it was later converted into a church.  These conversions saved many structures including the Pantheon.  Taken all together it  made for a smashing afternoon.

Upper level or Markets

View into the area in front of the markets with the open forum and the basilica in the background

Lower level of market area