FORUM (Lat. for a market-place; con nected with foris, out of doors), the open space i in the centre of a city, in Roman times, where the people assembled, as on common ground, for amusement or the transaction of business. Here elections were held; here were the public buildings, civic and administrative. Included in the forum was the comitium, with its tribunals for the orators who addressed the people. The curia or Senate house stood, with other build ings, on the forum; and between the public edifices stretched lines of shops or tabernce.
In the days of the kings and under the early republic there was but one forum in each city, small or great. In this open space all public business, political and legal, and all mercantile transactions were carried on. Dramatic repre sentations, exhibitions of gladiators, combats of wild beasts and horse races also took place in the forum. The single forum eventually gave place to two forums, one of which was given up to law administration and politics, and the other to mercantile traffic. Eventually, each important commodity has its own forum. There was the forum boarium, cattle market; forum suarium, hog market ; forum olitorium, vegetable market ; and forum piscarium, fish market. The trade shops, as of gold- and silver-smiths, saddlers, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, money-lenders, book sellers, etc., were ranged round these fora, or occupied streets adjacent to them. The temples that edged the forum at Rome. like the mediaeval cathedrals, were sometimes used for secular purposes. Thus, the Senate often held meetings in the Temple of Concord, while the Temple of Saturn was used as state treasury. as • also the depositary of public archives s: the erection of the Tabularium. Then I great many ruins which enable us to g=. idea of the fora of other cities besid•; The fora at Pompeii are as follows: cipal forum; 450 feet from north to sot: its north side was the Temple of Jnpis Basilica, or law court, and the tem:: Apollo; on the west and on the cam macellum (meat market), the curia, the Temple of the Genius of Any and the Scholz or corporation buildinz triangular forum, forum triangular(, a Doric temple to the south, and an Ionic ar at the entrance.
In the open spaces of the forum wen many statues of distinguished men. Eva-. days of the republic it was necessary zr. y the clearing out of such statues, togethr crowds of altars, arches and memorial which blocked up the place.
The forum par excellence was of original Forum Romanum. It was situ':: the hollow between the Palatine. Quirinal hills. The early tribes met - common and neutral ground. Under quins the consolidation of the tribes is by the completely adorned and enclosed ante of the Forum. The Temple of appeared in 497 B.c., that of the Dios 484 a.c., that of Concord in 367 a.c 11-r: courthouse, Basilica Porcia, was not fore 184 B.C. ; three more were built la:r ; it was this increase of buildings that x so much of the vacant space that the fish n hog, vegetable and other markets were cL..i to retire to other quarters of the city.
Julius Caesar was the first to add F,v] forums to those already in existence. Forum Julium was followed by the F:-; Martis of Augustus, sometimes called Augustus. Then came the Forum Pads pasian, the Forum Transitorium of and Nerva, the Forum Trajani of Tal These all lay side by side, north and eas:. the Forum Romanum. The Forum Juli=1 in its centre a temple of Venus patron goddess of the Julian Bens round wn it formed a sort of sacred precinct. The Augustum was dedicated to Mars and in is r situated the Temple of Mars Ultor. tc ing was flanked by two triumphal archt. Caesar had intended that it should cocr rate, with appropriate statues, the enema Roman dominion. The Forum Nerva wai cf; cated to Minerva and contained her temple the main thoroughfare through this distn: the city crossed this forum it was coral known as Forum Transitorium. The MO SI geous architectural group in the imperu was exhibited in the Forum Trajani, whir :i its own special Basilica, like the great It was entered by a triumphal arch, by a double colonnade; an equestrian the emperor stood in the centre, flankr: ' each side by a half circle. The Library. and Temple of Trajan completed the clusv marble structures.