Trajan’s Forum was the last, largest, and most complex of the imperial fora, a group of five formal public spaces adjacent to the Forum Romanum and the Capitoline hill. Begun by Julius Caesar and Augustus, the fora were augmented by (a) Vespasian’s Forum Pacis (Forum of Peace) of 75, Vespasian’s commemoration of his bringing peace after the chaos that followed Nero’s death; then by the (b) Forum Transitorium, or Forum of Nerva, a narrow space with a Temple of Minerva on a high podium at one end, begun by Vespasian, finished by Domitian, but dedicated by Nerva; and finally by (c) Trajan’s Forum (see Figure 21.2).
The Forum of Trajan was designed by Trajan’s favorite architect and engineer, Apollodorus of Damascus, and dedicated in 113. The Forum served as a location for affairs of government, notably certain law courts and archives. It consists of several parts: a porticoed square with exedrae on the north and south — a deliberate echo of the Forum of Augustus; a basilica; two libraries with Trajan’s Column in between; and a temple to the deified Trajan at the rear. The Market of Trajan lies to the north, built, like one section of the forum, after a partial leveling of the Quirinal hill.
One entered the square through a gate with three openings that resembled a triumphal arch, originally decorated on top with a statue group showing the emperor, fresh from his triumphant campaigns in Dacia riding in a chariot pulled by six horses. In the center of the square stood an equestrian statue of Trajan. Beyond the square lay the Basilica Ulpia, placed transversely, so that its entrances were on the long sides, not the short, in contrast with the typical basilican plan. Inside, this basilica had the expected nave and two side aisles. Unusual, however, was the use of apses at both of the short ends. A statue of Liberty stood in the north apse; here slaves were set free. The south apse may have been devoted to the imperial cult.
Two libraries lay beyond, one devoted to Latin works, the other to Greek. Between them stood the remarkable Column of Trajan, and beyond, the Temple to the Divine Trajan.
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