Built
to compliment the Forum of Julius Caesar, the Form of
Augustus built in celebration over Augustus' victory over
Caesar's murderers. Now only a ruin, the forum was a place
to do business and meet people. No one really knows exactly
when construction on The Forum and its buildings began,
but it is known that the property was privately owned,
and the land had to be purchased from the spoils of war
in Iberia, Germany, Dalmatia and Egypt. The biggest building
in the Forum of Augustus is the Temple to Mars. It is
huge in comparison to everything else, and so it is often
described as “dominating”. Mars is the Roman
god of war, and considering that Rome was almost always
at war Mars was an important god that needed to be given
his fair share of real estate. When the temple was finally
dedicated in the year 2 BCE the building was still unfinished.
Today there isn’t much left of the grand building,
only a set of marble stairs and some columns. |
