Capitoline and Forum

Ascend the gentle ramp designed by Michelangelo to the top for a grand view of three palaces and later, a classic overview of the Forum. This hilltop is reputed to be the site of Rome’s first settlement, 2,750 years ago, and has been utilized ever since. Our word “capital” is derived from the name of this location, so this is, by definition, the world’s first capital.

Before you continue looking at the Capitoline Hill, consider a detour into the Terrazza Caffarelli, admiring the Capital from one of the most evocative viewpoints in the heart of the Eternal City. To get there, walk up the driveway on the right side of Palazzo dei Conservatori, entering the door midway along the building and take the stairs one level to the toilet, which are kept clean because this is an important municipal building. Then continue up one more level to the café and outdoor terrace which offers sweeping views across the domes and rooflines of central Rome. This is a secret spot that tourists never find so you will have it all to yourself.

This terrace is a perfect place to take photos of the domes of the churches and rooftops in the distance. You will see the dome of the Pantheon, the largest dome of the ancient world, and with sharp eyes you can identify the spiral tower of Sant Ivo, designed by Borromini, and St. Peter’s in the distance. There are many more famous structures you can spot from this terrace. Maybe take advantage of the café and have a shot of espresso and a pastry while there.

Piazza del Campidoglio was redesigned by Michelangelo to include the equestrian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius in the center surrounded by neo-classical facades of the Capitoline Museum and the Palazzo del Senatore with two statues of river gods out front. Early Christians destroyed all the equestrian bronze statues of Roman emperors except this one, which they mistakenly believed was a statue of Constantine, one of their great heroes. Marcus Aurelius on horseback has come down to us as the only equestrian bronze left from the ancient Roman world.

The statue is a copy of the original, which is now protected from the elements on display inside the Capitoline Museum, the world’s oldest museum. This one statue alone would make it worthwhile to pay admission and go into the Museum, but keep in mind that today’s walking tour will take about five more hours, so check your clock and priorities and decide now whether you want to go in. Consider returning in the evening because it is open every night until 8 PM (last admission at 7 PM). Closed on Monday.

See video of Capitoline Museum.

If you are a lover of ancient sculpture you should make a point to visit this Capitoline Museum, where you’ll see many important works including a huge bronze bust of Constantine which would have been on top of a 40-foot-high statue; the original She-wolf with Romulus and Remus, the symbol of Rome; Dying Gaul; Capitoline Venus; Athena; Eros; Cupid and Psyche; Spinario, a young lad pulling a thorn from his foot, and hundreds of other important classical statues.

There are also more recent works, including a large picture gallery, rooms of decorative arts, and several statues by Bernini and Canova. You can walk through underground corridors leading to the vaulted basement of the Tabularium, archives of ancient Rome, which offers a sweeping view across the Forum. Marcus Aurelius on horseback is displayed in a magnificent new gallery with high glass ceiling that brings perfect lighting to a large room that houses several of the most important statues in the collection.

ROMAN FORUM

The Roman Forum is just around the corner. From the Piazza del Campidoglio, walk around the left side of the Palazzo del Senatore, passing a small copy of the bronze Shewolf atop a column on your right, and a public water fountain on your left in case you’re thirsty. It’s that typical fountain spout with a small hole on top that water shoots out of if you hold your finger across the bottom of the spout.

Stop at the railing for a spectacular view looking across the Roman Forum, with the large arch of Septimius Severus in front and the ruins spread out magnificently beyond. You’ll soon be walking through this entire site, but from here you get the grand overview that puts everything in context, providing another chance to snap classic photos.

There is usually a vendor on the staircase selling interesting items including the cheapest set of postcards anywhere in Europe, 20 cards for one euro. Talk him down from the two euro he will first request. Another great item is the small version of a picture book of ancient Rome with overlays showing before and after photos of the ruins using transparent illustrated pages to reveal how they originally looked.

Don’t walk any further down the staircase, which leads to a dead end. Return up to terrace level then walk along the curved descending driveway from which you will get a glimpse through the trees of Trajan’s Forum, across Via dei Fori Imperiali.

Notice the curved brick building which at nearly 2,000 years old was perhaps the world’s first multi-level covered shopping mall. A beautiful brick structure five stories high, Trajan’s Forum had 150 stores and offices arranged in a graceful curved brick structure that still stands. Many little shops of modern Rome are quite similar to these ancestral spaces. This historic site is open now as the Museum of the Imperial Forearms, but to enter you must walk about five blocks around the left side to Via Quattro Novembre. The best view is free, from the street, because inside are empty brick rooms. Our route is taking us in the other direction into the Roman Forum.

Trajan’s Forum and Column are two of the most impressive ruins from antiquity and you can get a good view of it by crossing Via dei Fori Imperiali and walking along the railing. The Roman Empire reached its maximum size at the beginning of the second century under the emperor Trajan after his conquests over Dacia, today’s Romania.

This is celebrated by the spiral relief sculpture that wraps around Trajan’s Column, depicting his victories in a marble scroll that would stretch for 656 feet if it were unfurled. One battle scene follows another like a story board for an epic blockbuster movie. The height of the column represents the height of a hill that was here before the marketplace was constructed, and was then removed by Roman engineers to create level ground for the market. The huge market was built with the gold captured in the wars. Now return to the Via dei Fori Imperiali and enter the Forum.

Here’s a useful tip for getting into the Forum and Colosseum: go to the side entrance of the Forum, mid-way along Via dei Fori Imperiali, which is inconspicuous and does not usually have significant lines, so here you will be able to purchase your ticket and enter within a few minutes. Entrance to the Forum and Colosseum are both included on one unified ticket. This is far better than walking to the main entrance of the Colosseum where most people go first, because there is always a long line that could delay you for an uncomfortable hour or two. Another alternative to beat the line at the Colosseum is to purchase your ticket at their website but this is not necessary considering how easy it is to enter the side gate. This ticket office really comes in handy for other reasons as well: there is a convenient toilet available which is usually not too crowded, and when you enter the site you are conveniently in the central area.

Once you are in the Forum meander through the rubble and try to envision what it was like 2000 years ago when this was the thriving heart of Rome where people gathered for business, gossip, politics, and just hanging out. This site is the forerunner of our modern town centers and shopping malls. The Forum was a combined commercial area, political gathering spot, courthouse, and religious site all in one. Basically, this was downtown Rome. The area had been swampy ground but Romans invented a drainage system which evolved into the Cloaca Maxima, a large underground sewer that dried the land sometime around 500 BC to allow construction of the earliest buildings, and still functions today draining into the Tiber.

These buildings are all in ruins so you have to use your imagination, or that handy illustrated flipbook you purchased from the vendor, to create a picture of what it looked like all those years ago. You could rent the detailed audio tour from the ticket office that will help bring these ancient ruins back to life, although it will slow you down and be a bit distracting. Better yet, don’t worry about studying the fine details of what each clump of rock might mean or putting a functional label on every alignment, column or platform. It is much easier to simply enjoy the scatter of remains, read about the major features listed here in our guide, refer to our map for orientation and just relax – there is no quiz at the end of your visit.

Forum ruins are like broken bones of noble buildings that once stood here in all their grandeur, reduced to stone foundations, a few standing columns, chunks of marble, and scattered rubble. This site was covered over by dirt and garbage and forgotten about during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but in the last century it has been uncovered thanks to major archaeological excavations which have been conducted here – it’s really one of the most important sights that you must see when you’re in Rome. Walk the smooth paving stones of the Via Sacra from one end to the other, covering the half-mile lined with marble fragments.

Upon first entering through the side path, turn right and walk towards the large triumphal arch of Septimius Severus, one of the best-preserved features in the Forum, celebrating the conquests of this powerful emperor who reigned from 193 to 211. In typical brutal style, Severus murdered his brother and fought his way to the top, becoming the first monarch to seize absolute control from the Senate, with help from his army. There was a quick succession of four other emperors preceeding him in the year he took power, a chaotic time. His 20-year reign was an era of continued warfare and expansion of the Roman Empire, with conquests that are celebrated in this triumphal arch. As was customary at the time, many of the statues on the arch were taken from earlier buildings and monuments to be placed here. The large, well preserved brick building next door is called the Curia, ancient home of the Roman Senate, and was reconstructed during earlier archaeological work in the 19th century.

Most of the surface of the Forum today consists of fragmented paving, walls, columns, broken platforms and nondescript chunks of stone, but the archaeologists have ascribed likely functions for many of these sites. For example, look at those many parallel rows of column stumps on the far side at the foot of the Palatine Hill. These were columns that once held up a very large rectangular building called the Basilica Julia, built for Julius Caesar. Basilicas functioned as large, multipurpose buildings with commercial, social and political activities going on. They were not religious structures but a few centuries later when Christianity was legalized, worshipers took over existing basilicas and converted them into churches. Subsequently, this same Basilica floor plan was often used when constructing new Christian churches. Ongoing archaeological studies will continue indefinitely.

Julius Caesar is also represented nearby in the Temple of Divine Julius, where his dead body was brought after his assassination. In a curious twist of mood the society which had just killed him immediately felt some regret and decided to deify him in this small temple, the first Roman to be transformed into a god. Just beyond that you will find the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, which today is just a grassy courtyard with more broken stones surrounded by brick wall fragments, but this is where an ancient flame was miraculously kept constantly burning by those pampered virgins. The best sights are coming right up.

Return to the path where you first entered and walk along the original broad stones of the Via Sacra, the main road through the Forum. You will come to the impressive Temple of Antonini and Faustina, with the original columns of the facade in the front and the Baroque Catholic Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda built behind it. One legend about those grooves at the tops of the columns is that they were incised by ropes or chains Christians had tied around them in unsuccessful attempts to pull down the heathen temple, believe it or not...

Next to this you will see the small, circular Temple of Romulus, named after the son of the Emperor Maxentius and resembling a mini-Pantheon. If you are very lucky you will be able to go inside, but it is only open on Fridays, only during the summer. The temple is from the early fourth century, with its original bronze doors still intact. Surprisingly, the back room leads into a church from the Renaissance, so the Temple of Romulus became an entryway to the church. If you do get inside you will see early Byzantine-style paintings added later to the walls of this pre-Christian Roman temple.

Coming up is the most spectacular and largest sight in the forum, the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius. Continuing along the Via Sacra underneath the trees, turn left up a pathway leading you to this huge brick building with brick arches and roof soaring 115 feet high, covering an area the size of a football field. Originally used as a courthouse and general gathering place, one third of it is amazingly preserved today. Named after two rival leaders of Rome, it was actually built by Maxentius who was then defeated in the pivotal Battle of Milvan Bridge by Constantine, who added his name to the structure. Stand at one end and try to imagine how impressive this room would have been when it was a fully enclosed structure.

The basilica was very possibly the largest room ever built at that time. The huge central room was 83 feet wide and 265 feet long, with the barrel-vaulted ceiling 115 feet above, all of which was not obstructed by any columns or walls – a completely open floor plan. That would be considered a very large room in a modern building, but here it is some kind of engineering miracle considering the entire structure was built with brick and mortar. A huge statue of Constantine, 40 feet high, is believed to have been placed at the far end of this room and the floor and walls were probably covered with a colored marble surface. Later in this afternoon’s walk you will have a chance to enter a similar building that is completely intact, the Baths of Diocletian.

On the other side of the Forum you see the large Palatine Hill which almost looks like a man-made mountain with those brick buttress walls and terraces surrounding most of the hillside. Emperors and high officials had lavish palaces on top which today have been reduced to mere foundation walls. Tunnels and caves were dug into the hill to provide subterranean spaces for these rich and powerful people to spend time during the summer, because it was much cooler in these underground grottoes.

Ruins on top are so fragmentary that it is probably not worth your time to walk up and have a look, even though your ticket includes free admission to the site. If you have the time and are the type who wants to see everything, go right ahead.

Emerging from the Forum, continue left along the path to the Arch of Titus which celebrates the Roman sack of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. The arch features relief sculpture on the inside showing a menorah and other pieces of gold treasures brought back from Jerusalem and the Emperor Titus himself being carried in victory. This was a terrible battle in which the Romans devastated Jerusalem, slaughtered most of the Jews, stole all the treasure from the Temple and brought back many slaves to Rome. This ancient conflict still continues in some ways today with the constant troubles over the Middle East. The Jewish slaves were put to work building the Colosseum, our next major monument just down the pathway as you exit the Forum. Stop halfway along the rough stone pathway to get your best view of the Arch of Titus. On the left side of this pathway above you is a row of columns which are all that remains of the Temple of Venus built by Hadrian, reputed to have been the most beautiful of all temples in the Forum.

Before entering the Colosseum have a good look at the Arch of Constantine on the right, commemorating the great Emperor who legalized Christianity. It’s not really necessary to walk all the way around it, but from this angle you get a very good view. Like the first big arch you saw, the sculptures on this arch were taken from many other monuments and recycled to be placed here.

See a Forum video here.

Next page: Colosseum