Forum Iulium

Forum of Julius Caesar and Temple of Venus Genetrix, dedicated first by Caesar in 46 B.C., but completed and rededicated by Octavian in 44 B.C. (Dio Cass. 43.22.2, 45.6.4; RG 20: forum Iulium). The forum consisted of an open square bound on three sides by colonnades, and on its short NW end by the Temple of Venus Genetrix (index no. 110a). It lay north of the *Forum Romanum, on land acquired from private owners at heavy expense (Cic., Att. 4.16.8; Pliny, NH 36.103; Suet., Iul. 26.2). On its SW side, a row of shops and offices located behind the colonnade was built into the foot of the *Arx (as underground rooms, their characteristic outline does not appear on our map), and sufficient space for the temple at the short NW end of the forum was gained by partially excavating the saddle which connected the Arx and *Quirinal. In the Augustan era, buildings surrounded the Forum Iulium on all sides: the *Curia, Chalcidicum (see below), *Atrium Libertatis, *“Clivus Argentarius”, *Argiletum, and *Forum Augusti all bordered Caesar’s monument. The Augustan state of the Forum Iulium had been obscured by significant alterations to the complex carried out by later emperors, and our understanding is further limited by the partial excavation of the forum area. However, recent studies allow for a reasonable restoration of its Augustan phase (Morselli and Tortorici, Amici), though the N side of the forum and its juncture with the *Forum Augusti must remain hypothetical. The Augustan Chalcidicum is known to have been adjacent to the *Curia Iulia (RG 19: Curiam et continens ei Chalcidicum) and has been identified with the E portico of the Forum Iulium (Morselli and Tortorici 231). This double portico is an Augustan addition which served as a monumental entrance to the open plaza of the forum proper. However, its identification as the Chalcidicum is not without dispute, since numismatic evidence suggests this monument may have enhanced the approach to the *Curia Iulia rather than the Forum Iulium (for a fuller discussion of this point, s.v. *Curia Iulia).