The Imperial Fora are a series of five monumental squares built over a century and a half, between 46 BC and 113 AD, in the heart of the city of Rome by Julius Caesar and the emperors Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva, and Trajan.
The Roman Forum, known as Forum Magnum, the old Republican square, is not part of this complex. Its first layout dates back to the royal era (6th century BC) and for centuries it was the political, religious, and economic center of the city, without ever having a unified character. The archaeological area is enclosed between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, the Colosseum, and Via dei Fori Imperiali.

In ancient times, the Forum was a marshy area. Only from the end of the 7th century BC, after the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, one of the world's first sewer systems, was the area reclaimed and the rectangular square built at a central point of the city, where many important roads converged. The most important of these was the Via Sacra, which ran from the slopes of the Capitoline Hill to the Arch of Titus and is still perfectly visible today.

By the end of the Republican period, Rome had become the capital of a vast empire, and the ancient Roman Forum was too small to serve the city's administrative and commercial functions. Thus, first Julius Caesar, in 54 BC, and later other emperors expanded the square and enriched the area with new buildings. Sulla built the Tabularium, and around the square he built the Roman Forum. Four basilicas for the administration of justice and business: Porcia, Aemilia, Sempronia, and Opimia. The only one that survives is the Basilica Aemilia, while Porcia and Sempronia were replaced by the Basilica Julia, built by order of Caesar.

In 630, Pope Honorius I transformed the Basilica Julia into a church, dedicating it to Saint Hadrian but retaining its original role as a hall for senatorial assemblies, which it retained until 1143, when the Senate moved to the Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill, built on the ruins of the Tabularium.
The Emperor Titus erected the Temple of Vespasian, while Antoninus Pius built the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, which was incorporated into the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda in the Middle Ages. Between 202 and 203, the monumental Arch of Septimius Severus was erected, dedicated by the Senate to the emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, to celebrate the victory over the Parthians.

The Imperial Fora are a series of five monumental squares built over a century and a half, between 46 BC and 113 AD, in the heart of the city of Rome by Julius Caesar and the emperors Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva, and Trajan.
The Roman Forum, known as Forum Magnum, the old Republican square, is not part of this complex. Its first layout dates back to the royal era (6th century BC) and for centuries it was the political, religious, and economic center of the city, without ever having a unified character. The archaeological area is enclosed between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, the Colosseum, and Via dei Fori Imperiali.

In ancient times, the Forum was a marshy area. Only from the end of the 7th century BC, after the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, one of the world's first sewer systems, was the area reclaimed and the rectangular square built at a central point of the city, where many important roads converged. The most important of these was the Via Sacra, which ran from the slopes of the Capitoline Hill to the Arch of Titus and is still perfectly visible today.

By the end of the Republican period, Rome had become the capital of a vast empire, and the ancient Roman Forum was too small to serve the city's administrative and commercial functions. Thus, first Julius Caesar, in 54 BC, and later other emperors expanded the square and enriched the area with new buildings. Sulla built the Tabularium, and around the square he built the Roman Forum. Four basilicas for the administration of justice and business: Porcia, Aemilia, Sempronia, and Opimia. The only one that survives is the Basilica Aemilia, while Porcia and Sempronia were replaced by the Basilica Julia, built by order of Caesar.

In 630, Pope Honorius I transformed the Basilica Julia into a church, dedicating it to Saint Hadrian but retaining its original role as a hall for senatorial assemblies, which it retained until 1143, when the Senate moved to the Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill, built on the ruins of the Tabularium.

The Emperor Titus erected the Temple of Vespasian, while Antoninus Pius built the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, which was incorporated into the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda in the Middle Ages. Between 202 and 203, the monumental Arch of Septimius Severus was erected, dedicated by the Senate to the emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, to celebrate the victory over the Parthians.
The last monument erected in the Forum dates back to 608: the Column of Phocas, erected by order of the Roman Senate in honor of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas.

The Imperial Palaces of the Palatine Hill.
The Imperial Palaces of Rome mainly occupy the Palatine Hill, which overlooks the Roman Forum. It is an imposing complex of buildings that visibly expresses the power and wealth of the emperors from Augustus (whose residence, among the best preserved, is still visible) to Constantine. The imperial palaces are composed of two structures: the public one (the Domus Flavia, built mostly by Domitian), open to citizens and foreigners, where the pomp and power of the emperor was manifested, and the private one where the emperor lived (the Domus Augustana), later known as the Palatium, from which the name "palace" derives. the name of the hill.

The Palatine Hill also housed the temple of Magna Mater or Cybele (Aedes Matris Magnae), an ancient Anatolian deity. A statue of the goddess and the inscription on the right side of the façade: M(ater) D(eum) M(agna) I(daea) were discovered.
Furthermore, the Palatine Hill preserves the remains of Iron Age settlements, dating back to the most ancient nucleus of the city of Rome.