1. Forum

The Latin word forum means an open-air space. By extension, the term means the administrative, religious and mercantile centre of the Roman city. In terms of meaning and function, it corresponds to the Greek Agora. In the Imperial years the forum was designed according to the strictest principles of axiality and symmetry as a large peristyle complex, while temples, basilicas, shops, public buildings and honorary monuments completed it. It was usually in the centre of the city, at the intersection of the main roads cardo and decumanus. It was modelled on the Forum Romanum, the Agora of the Republican period of Rome, which was at the foot of the Capitol and was going to be one of the most important centres of the economic and political life of the empire.¹

The forum became the typical building complex of all Roman cities and colonies. Large cities usually had several forums and, as a result, the commercial, administrative, political and religious activities were carried out in separate complexes. Moreover, the forums were not built necessarily in the centre of the city, but in an equally advantageous position, near central road arteries, gates or the harbour.


2. The Function and the Parts of Roman Forums

The complexes of Roman Forums in the Imperial period included a central open-air square, usually paved, which was surrounded with lavishly built stoas. As a result, it was a closed and fully controlled area. Around the square there were separate buildings or building complexes intended to serve the various functions of the place. More specifically, temples, shops (tabernae), administrative and assembly buildings, such as basilicas, odea and curiae, archives, speaker’s podiums, monuments intended for political propaganda, such as triumphal and honorary arches, as well as buildings of a utilitarian character, such as baths and nymphaea, were among the separate architectural structures of a Roman forum and formed an impressive architectural ensemble.

As the centre of public life, the Forum concentrated all public services in its premises, while various notices were hung there in order to inform the citizens about public matters. Moreover, as the administrative and commercial centre of the city visited by both citizens and foreigners the forum was a place where the members of the local elite paraded and competed with each other. Notable citizens and important persons of the Roman world funded the construction of monumental buildings in the Forum, such as temples, altars, arches, nymphaea and even sundials. Furthermore, the Forum square was the suitable place for the erection of statues of emperors, notable figures of public life and local aristocrats. Furthermore, the local history of each city often emerges from both the archaeological remains and finds of the Forum.²

3. The Forum in Vitruvius

The Roman architect Vitruvius (De Architectura I.VII, V.Ι-ΙΙ) describes the position and details of the architectural design of the Roman Forum. According to him, the place selected for the foundation should be near the harbour, in case of a coastal city, or in the centre of the city in case of an inland city. In contrast to the functional character of the Greek Agora, Vitruvius refers to the forum as the place where public events and gladiatorial games took place. The intercolumnar spaces of the colonnades that surrounded the square were quite wide, while properly arranged balconies were built on the upper floor in order to accommodate the spectators and provide an uninterrupted view. The size of the Forum should be proportional to the population of the city. He also says that the stoas accommodated money changers. According to Vitruvius, the shape of the Roman forum should be oblong, while the ratio of length to width should be 3:2, unlike the Greek Agora, which was square. Basilicas should adjoin the forum, just like the treasure (aerarium), the prison (carcer) and the city hall (curia), whose accurate analogies were given by the architect and aimed to distinguish the particular building in the surrounding structured area.³ Although the information provided by the work of Vitruvius is valuable, the conclusions about the architectural synthesis and typology of Roman Forums are mainly based on the study of the preserved remains of the complexes of this type.

4. Architectural Design and Typology

The architectural remains of Republican and Imperial Forums prove that the typical characteristics provided by Vitruvius were not always applicable. On the contrary, the various complexes varied with regard to their architectural design and their ground plan. The most typical characteristic of the early Forums of the Republican period was their oblong shape. Their architecture combined elements of the Hellenistic and the Italian tradition.⁴ More specifically, the Hellenistic enclosing colonnades was combined with the Italic fondness for axiality and balanced groupings. The expanding peribolus and the emphasis given on a dominant structure in the entire synthesis, most commonly a temple, are the important features which differentiate the roman forums from the Hellenistic agoras.⁵

During the Imperial period, although the forum-design was influenced by the established schemes , it evolved and adapted to the tendencies and needs of the new era. The Forum served political purposes and expressed the power of the state through its architecture. Monumental complexes of Forums are built in the framework of ambitious projects carried out in the cities of the empire. Their common characteristics are the strict arrangement and the symmetry of the architectural ensemble as well as the axiality and frontality of the individual buildings of the complex. Roman Forums may be classified into the following types, according to their general ground plan and the buildings dominating in the cohesive architectural ensemble:

Α. Peristyle Forums with a continuous enclosure, whose square was surrounded by colonnades. It was intended mainly for commercial activities. Their architectural design, inspired by the Hellenistic prototypes, actually comes from the Ionian Agora.⁶ Thus, the particular type was developed in the eastern provinces of the empire and mainly in mainland Greece and Asia Minor, the most typical examples being those of the Roman Agora in Athens and the Commercial Agora of Εphesus.

Β. Roman Forums, whose rectangular square was defined by stoas on the three sides, while the one of the narrow sides was closed by a temple,⁷which dominated the open space at the front. To the so called “temple-forum” type belong the imperial forums of Rome and it is found mainly in the cities of western provinces, while in the eastern part of the empire it influenced mainly the architectural design of sanctuaries, such as the Serapeion of Ephesus.⁸

C. The so-called forum-basilica, whose main characteristic was the presence of a basilica on one of the long sides. It was a type adopted in the Early Imperial years.

D. Forums combining the latter two types (B,C), as the narrow sides were defined by a basilica and a temple. The design of this particular type emphasized the perfect symmetry and the central axis. Complexes of this type of Forum were particularly spread in the provinces of Galatia, Spain and North Africa.⁹

5. Roman Forums in Asia Minor

Although the cities of Asia Minor lost their autonomy in the Imperial period, the agora continued to be the centre of civic life for the local citizens. Besides, political activity did not cease, but was just limited to local issues. Most Hellenistic Agoras were transformed into closed colonnaded courts. Alterations added a ‘Romanised’ character to them and responded to the new spirit of architecture and Agora-planning. On the other hand, it has been disputed that this growing tendency was inspired by Roman influences. Nevertheless, it was interpreted as the natural development of the architectural type of Ionian Agora, where regularity, symmetry, architectural unity and uniform design were its main characteristics.¹⁰ Monumental examples of Hellenistic Agoras modified and embellished during the Imperial period are the Public Agora of Ephesus¹¹ (1^st c. AD) and the Αgora of Aspendus (2^nd/3^rd c. AD).¹² At the same time, new peristyle complexes were built in order to serve mainly commercial activities, as it happened with the Commercial Agora of Ephesus (late 1^st c. AD). It is not always possible to divide the Agoras into civil and commercial ones. However, in any case and regardless of the functional character of the complexes, their architecture adopts the Hellenistic models, according to which the separate buildings are not considered autonomous elements but are incorporated harmoniously in the entire ensemble, while the stoas become organic parts contributing to the architectural unity.
It should be also pointed out that the Roman creation and aesthetics influenced the design of the Agoras in Asia Minor, as the latter combined Roman inspirations and types with forms and elements of the Greek architecture. The result is the creation of monumental complexes characterised by lavish architectural and relief decoration, which display the prestige and the wealth of the cities. Monumental stoas, basilicas, nymphaea, odea, impressive gates and temples of the imperial cult¹³ adorn the imperial forums of Asia Minor. Among the most impressive examples are the Agoras in Sagalassos,¹⁴Μiletus¹⁵ and Ιassos.¹⁶ They were Hellenistic building complexes, which were updated in the Roman period and adapted to the new aesthetic and functional standards. As regards the newly built forums, one of the most brilliant of them is the so-called south Agora of Aphrodisias (late 1^st c. BC),¹⁷ while the Agora of Cremna should be mentioned as well. The complex was in the centre of the city and was one of the most ambitious building projects carried out in the years of Emperor Hadrian (117 -138 AD). It was a square forum (with a side 57 m long) with Doric stoas. Its northern side was closed by a monumental three-aisled basilica with three arched gates, which provided access to the complex.¹⁸ The Αgora of Smyrna was equally important. It is dated to the mid-2^nd century AD and included a rectangular square (130 m wide) and two-storey stoas, while the one of the long sides was closed by an impressive oblong basilica (160 × 27 m).¹⁹

6. Macellum

The macellum was a particular type of Agora, mainly used as a food market where meat, fish and various dainties were sold at retail. It was a public complex of buildings , which included a central courtyard, usually quadratic or rectangular or even circular in shape, and was completed with porticoes. At the centre of the structure there was a tholos or a fountain. According to its general ground plan, there are two architectural types of macellum:
1) macella with a centre-oriented ground plan, in which the architectural interest is focused on the central courtyard, around which porticoes and shops were arranged.
2) axially oriented macella, in which particular emphasis is given on the axial and perfect symmetry of the ground plan. Both types appeared already from the Republican period in Italy, where they became popular in the Imperial period. The remains of about 80 macella have been preserved, which conclusively prove the Romanisation of the Mediterranean. Most examples have been traced in North Africa. There are few macella preserved in the eastern provinces and dating in the 2^nd century AD. The most important of them are in Asia Minor and in particular in Aezani, Perge, Side and Sagalassos,²⁰ where the specific building type was incorporated into the local tradition of the peristyle Hellenistic Agoras, thus acquiring a local character.²¹