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Roman Forum
2,700 years. That's how long the sewer beneath your feet has been working - the Cloaca Maxima still drains water into the Tiber today. And honestly? It's probably in better shape than some modern plumbing I've seen around Rome. Standing at the heart of what was once THE power center of the ancient world, you're looking at the spot where Julius Caesar's body was cremated in 44 BC - right over there where the Temple of Caesar's altar stands. He was the FIRST Roman ever officially declared a god by the Senate. The eight massive columns you see? That's the Temple of Saturn, which once guarded Rome's entire treasury - actual gold and silver stored right here in the Forum. Here's what most tourists miss: that unassuming stone near the Arch of Septimius Severus? That's the umbilicus urbis - the actual CENTER of ancient Rome. Every single distance in the empire was measured from THIS spot. When Romans said all roads lead to Rome, they literally meant right here, where you're standing.
Did You Know?
- The Roman Forum was originally a swampy, marshy valley between two of Rome’s main hills, the Palatine and Capitoline. Its transformation into the bustling heart of the city only became possible after the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, one of the world’s earliest sewage systems, which drained the area and allowed for the development of a vibrant public space.
- One of the Forum’s most dramatic moments occurred in 44 BC, when Marc Antony delivered his famous funeral oration for Julius Caesar from the New Rostra, a speaker’s platform, and Caesar’s body was publicly burned nearby. This site later became the Temple of the Deified Caesar, built by Octavian (Augustus), and the Rostra became infamous again when Marc Antony displayed the severed head and right hand of his enemy Cicero there.
- Families visiting today can walk the Via Sacra, the ancient ‘Sacred Way’ that runs through the Forum, and imagine the grand processions, victorious generals, and everyday Romans who once walked the same path. Kids might be fascinated to learn that the Forum was not just for politics—it was also a lively marketplace, a place for gladiator fights, and even the site of dramatic public trials, making it the ultimate ‘downtown’ of ancient Rome where almost everything important happened.