Foro di Traiano (Trajan's Forum), Rome

Trajan's Forum was the final Imperial forum to be constructed in ancient Rome. Designed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, it was commissioned by Emperor Trajan using the spoils of war from the conquest of Dacia, which concluded in 106 AD.

Construction began between 105 and 107 AD, and the forum was inaugurated in 112 AD, with Trajan's Column being erected and inaugurated in 113 AD. The creation of this grand complex necessitated extensive excavations, including the removal of a ridge that connected the Quirinal and Capitoline Hills. Over 300,000 cubic meters of soil and rock were excavated and deposited outside the Porta Collina.

The layout of Trajan's Forum comprised a series of open and enclosed spaces. It commenced with a vast piazza lined with porticoes and featuring exedrae on two sides. The primary entrance was situated at the southern end of the piazza, marked by a triumphal arch at the center that commemorated the Dacian Wars. The arch was adorned with friezes and statues depicting Dacian prisoners.

Tall walls constructed from blocks of Peperino tuff entirely clad in marble enclosed the forum on three sides. The western and eastern walls featured exedrae, and outside these exedrae, separated by streets, were concentric-shaped markets. On the northern side of the piazza stood the Basilica Ulpia, and beyond that was a smaller piazza housing a temple dedicated to the deified Trajan. Trajan's successor, Hadrian, added a philosophical school adjacent to the piazza, which included the Temple of Trajan.

In modern times, only a section of the markets and Trajan's Column remain visible. Some of the columns that originally formed the Basilica Ulpia have been re-erected on-site. However, during the construction of the Imperial Forum Road in 1933, a number of these columns were covered, although they can still be seen beneath the arches supporting the road.