Forum (Roman)
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A forum (Latin: forum, "public place outdoors",[1] pl.: fora; English pl.: either fora or forums) was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls. Many fora were constructed at remote locations along a road by the magistrate responsible for the road, in which case the forum was the only settlement at the site and had its own name, such as Forum Popili or Forum Livi.[2]
The functions of a forum
In addition to its standard function as a marketplace, a forum was a gathering place of great social significance, and often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions and debates, rendezvous, meetings, et cetera. In that case, it supplemented the function of a conciliabulum.
Every municipality (
Other major fora are found in Italy. However, they are not to be confused with the
Fora were a regular part of every Roman province in the Republic and the Empire, with archaeological examples at:
- Forum of Philippi, Greece
- Forum of Thessaloniki, Greece
- Forum of Beirut, Lebanon
- Provincial Forum of Mérida, Spain
- Tarragona, Spain
In new Roman towns the forum was usually located at, or just off, the intersection of the main north–south and east–west streets (the
Typical forum structures
- Basilica
- Roman baths
- Roman temple
- Triumphal arch
- Victory column
Equivalent spaces in other cultures
- Agora
- Civic center
- Internet forum
- Piazza
- Plateia
- Plaza
- Town square
See also
- Amphitheatre
- Circus (building)
- Hippodrome
- Roman theatre (structure)
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
References
- ^ From Proto-Indo-European *dʰworom "enclosure, courtyard", i.e. "something enclosed by a door"; cognate with English door and Old Church Slavonic дворъ dvorŭ "court, courtyard".
- ^ Abbott, Frank Frost; Johnson, Allan Chester (1926). Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 12.
External links
- Media related to Ancient Roman forums at Wikimedia Commons