Rome - Forum of Trajan

(Local Name: Foro di Traiano) The Forum of the Emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117), the last, largest and best preserved on the Imperial fora, comprised a considerable complex of buildings, including a temple and basilica as well as three monuments erected in honor of the Emperor himself - a triumphal arch, an equestrian statue and a victory column. The markets extended northeast up the Quirinal hill. The forum, designed by Apollodorus of Damascus, was begun in A.D. 107 and completed in 143. During the Middle Ages new buildings were erected in the area of the forum by the Colonna and Caetani families, among them the Torre delle Milizie still to be seen in Via Quattro Novembre, and later the twin churches of Santa Maria di Loreto and the Santissimo Nome di Maria were also built here. In the first half of the present century a wide motor road and a number of smaller streets were laid out in the area. Excavations carried out since 1928 have revealed the layout of the forum. A triumphal arch erected in A.D. 116 gave access to an open rectangular area, in the center of which stood an equestrian statue of the Emperor. At the far end was the Basilica Ulpia, a hall measuring 130x125m/430x410ft. In the present state of the site it is difficult to image a building of these dimensions; and indeed it was no easy matter at the time it was built to find space for it in this crowded part of central Rome. Built on to the rear of the basilica were two libraries, one for Latin and the other for Greek literature, and between the two reared up Trajan's victory column. Beyond this, at the end of the forum (between the two churches dedicated to the Virgin), was a temple of deified Trajan. Only Trajan's column is left to represent this whole complex, much admired in ancient times, dedicated to honoring the Emperor under whom the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent.