<p>A line of <i>tabernae</i> (shops) preceded by a portico located just N of the Column of Trajan were brought to light during excavations in 1929-34 (Amici); they showed signs of having been destroyed to make way for the construction of the Forum of Trajan (Colini, Richardson). The shops were built of brick with a travertine socle, yet at least one wall rested on <i>opus incertum</i> ruins with the same orientation. These shops are difficult to date (<i>c</i>. 1st c. A.D.), but even if later than A.D. 14, the earlier remains indicate a late-Republican structure of the same orientation and perhaps function (Amici). The <i>tabernae</i> fronted a paved street (with a grade of 3.7% toward the NE), of which a few pavers were recovered (*Pallacinae: Street). Also nearby were traces of an early structure built of tufa; though oriented along the same street, the ruins are too fragmentary to reconstruct.</p>