The Roman Forum

    The Forum is the assembly of buildings at the core of ancient Rome, from the time of Augustus.

    The foreground is occupied by a paved square with monuments to famous people. The temple to the Divine Julius, dedicated in 29 BC to the deified Caesar (the first case of political deification in Rome), built in a Hellenistic style, is located in the background on the left; to the right is the temple of Vesta and the house of the Vestal Virgins, guardians of the everlasting flame (the only priestesses in Rome); further to the right is the temple of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux (Greek gods whose cult was brought to Rome in the 5th century BC) dedicated in 6 AD Here the office of weights and measures was situated. The podiums of the temples of Caesar and the Dioscuri were often used as orators' platforms and it is in this part of the Forum that the meetings of the comitia took place. On the far right is the Basilica Julia built by Caesar in 54 BC Its long facade, 300 feet, occupies the entire south side of the Forum.