Ancient site · Italy · Partial ruin

Trajan's Forum

Foro di Traiano

Trajan's Forum was the last and largest of the Imperial fora in ancient Rome, built for Emperor Trajan and inaugurated in the early 2nd century AD. The complex comprised a vast marble-paved piazza with flanking porticoes and exedrae, the Basilica Ulpia, two libraries, Trajan's Column and an adjoining market complex set against the Quirinal slope.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

First raised

AD 100

Its prime

AD 113

Today

Partial ruin

As it stood in AD 113

What Trajan's Forum looked like in its prime.

A vast rectangular piazza entirely paved in white Carrara marble, flanked by double rows of Corinthian columns and semicircular exedrae; at the north end the monumental Basilica Ulpia rises with multiple rows of granite columns and an atticked façade. Trajan's Column, a 38-metre cylindrical marble drum with a continuous spiralling relief and a statue crowning it, stands in a courtyard between two rectangular library buildings. The eastern edge is buttressed by the multi-storey arcades of Trajan's Market; many surfaces use pavonazzetto, cipollino and peperino faced with marble.

Step inside

7 places to explore in AD 113.

The record describes 7 distinct spots at Trajan's Forum, including 3 interiors: covered portico and semicircular exedra, inside the basilica ulpia — central nave, one of the twin libraries — reading hall. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Southern triumphal-arch approach into the piazzaCentral piazza beside the equestrian statueCovered portico and semicircular exedraInside the Basilica Ulpia — central naveBase of Trajan's Column in the library courtyardOne of the twin libraries — reading hallTerrace of Trajan's Market overlooking the forum

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