Page 95 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

FORUM  93

vanity is a platform and three Via dei Fori Imperiali, as is much
Corinthian columns. The forum of the Forum of Nerva itself.
was enclosed by a double Excavations have unearthed
colonnade that sheltered a row Renaissance stores and taverns,
of stores, but this burned down but only part of the forum can
in AD 80 and was rebuilt by be seen, including the base of
Domitian, and by Trajan. Trajan the temple and two columns
also added the Basilica Argentaria from the original colonnade.
and a heated public lavatory. These support a relief of Minerva
The forum is open by above a frieze of young girls
appointment only, but parts learning to sew and weave.
are visible from above in Via
dei Fori Imperiali.
h Arch of
Constantine
Between Via di San Gregorio and
Piazza del Colosseo. Map 8 F1. @ 75,
17th-century view of the ruined 85, 87, 673, 810. v 3. q Colosseo.
Forum of Nerva
This triumphal arch was
g Forum of Nerva dedicated in AD 315 to celebrate
Constantine’s victory three years
Piazza del Grillo 1 (reached through
Forum of Augustus). Map 5 B5. earlier over his co-emperor,
Tel 06-0608. @ 85, 87, 186, 810. Maxentius. Constantine claimed
Closed to the public but viewable he owed his victory to a vision
from above. of Christ, but there is nothing
Christian about the arch –
The Forum of Nerva in fact, most of the
was begun by his medallions, reliefs,
predecessor, and statues were
Domitian, and scavenged from
completed in AD 97. earlier monuments.
Little more than a There are statues of
long corridor with a Dacian prisoners
19th-century engraving of guards visiting colonnade along the Medallion on the Arch of taken from Trajan’s
prisoners in the Mamertine sides, and a Temple Constantine Forum and reliefs
of Marcus Aurelius,
f Mamertine of Minerva at one including one where he
end, it was also known as the
Prison Forum Transitorium because it distributes bread to the poor.
lay between the Forum of Peace Inside the arch are reliefs
Clivo Argentario 1. Map 5 A5 & 12 F5.
Tel 06-698 961. @ 85, 87, 186, 810. built by the Emperor Vespasian of Trajan’s victory over the
Open 9am–4pm daily (guided tours in AD 70 and the Forum of Dacians. These were probably
by appt only; call in advance for Augustus. Vespasian’s forum is by the artist who worked
details). & almost completely covered by on Trajan’s Column.
Below the 16th-century church
of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami
(St. Joseph of the Carpenters)
is a dank dungeon in which,
according to Christian legend,
St. Peter was imprisoned. He is
said to have caused a spring to
bubble up into the cell and used
the water to baptize his guards.
The prison, also known as
Tullianum, was in an old cistern
with access to the city’s main
sewer (the Cloaca Maxima). The
lower cell was used for executions,
and bodies were thrown into
the sewer. Among the enemies
of Rome executed here was the
Gaulish leader Vercingetorix,
defeated by Julius Caesar in 52 BC. North side of the Arch of Constantine, facing the Colosseum

US_092-093_EW_Rome_US.indd 93 15/03/17 4:19 pm