Trajan's Forum
To clear the ground, Trajan's crews cut away an entire ridge between the Quirinal and Capitoline hills — over 300,000 cubic meters of soil and rock.
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The last of Rome's imperial fora, its construction overseen by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus and paid for with the spoils of Trajan's conquest of Dacia. At its heart, the 38-metre Trajan's Column still stands where it rose between the forum's two libraries — one Latin, one Greek.
What to look for
- Trajan's Column between the sites of the forum's two libraries, which held Rome's state archives — the acts of the emperors and the edicts of the praetors
- Re-erected columns of the Basilica Ulpia that remained on site, rising from the open forum space once paved entirely in Carrara marble
- Column shafts beneath the arches of the Via dei Fori Imperiali, still visible under the road built in 1933
The forum runs alongside Via dei Fori Imperiali, beside the three-story Trajan's Market built into the cut face of the Quirinal; only a section of the markets and the column now remain.
Trajan's Forum is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.