Piazza del Foro (Forum Square)
Piazza del Foro (Forum Square)Piazza del Foro - Brescia BS
In the heart of today's Piazza del Foro (Forum Square), a stone's throw from the Capitolium and Via dei Musei, was the ancient main square of Brixia. A place that for centuries was the centre of the political, social and economic life of the Roman city. Today, amidst open-air excavations and artefacts hidden deep below, the Roman Forum is resurfacing. And talking.
HISTORY
The first traces of a settlement here date back to the Iron Age, as evidenced by the excavations conducted at Palazzo Martinengo Cesaresco Novarino. In Celtic times, under the Cenomani Gauls, the area consisted of a small settlement at the foot of the Cidneo Hill. Nothing hinted at the monumental installation that was to come.
It was only after 196 BC, with the conquest by Rome, that Brixia figured in Roman history. But the real leap came in the 1st century BC, under Augustus: the first republican forum was built, dominated by a temple and surrounded by commercial activities.
In the 1st century AD, Emperor Vespasian completely transformed the area: he built the Capitolium, which replaced the previous temple, erected the civil basilica on the south side, added two long porticoes on the east and west sides, and enlarged the entire space to create a monumental square measuring 120 metres by 40. To the north-east is the Roman theatre. To the west, the baths, built by demolishing an old domus. The forum thus became the beating heart of imperial Brixia, mixing architecture, politics, commerce and entertainment in a single urban plan.
With the end of the Empire and the barbarian invasions, the forum declined in importance. But it didn’t disappear. Over the centuries, new buildings invaded it, covered it, and split it up. Nonetheless, its urbanistic footprint survives, so much so that the current Piazza del Foro still follows its perimeter.
Ph Christian Penocchio
Ph Diana Bovoloni
Ph Christian Penocchio
DESCRIPTION
Thanks to archaeological finds, we can accurately reconstruct the appearance of the forum in Flavian times.
North side: the Capitolium, standing in a spectacular position and connected to the square by wide staircases. Those who entered along the decumanus maximus (today's Via dei Musei) could go up to the temple or down into the square.
South side: the civil basilica, a colonnaded building with three entrances, decorative elements and real grandeur.
Long sides (east and west): two porticoes that housed shops and commercial spaces, set back from the colonnade to create covered passageways. The rediscovered columns, which are tall and sturdy, suggest two-storey buildings once stood here.
An architectural solution still shrouded in mystery allowed the porticoes to span the decumanus and also connect to the temple at the back. It’s thought that between the two staircases leading to the Capitolium, there was probably a landing with two fountains, the remains of which may have been found.
Today you can walk through the ruins of the forum, imagine the Roman square, and admire the remains that are visible between the buildings.
But much of this ancient world still lies underground, in the foundations of the city, ready to tell its story again.
The Roman Forum isn’t just an archaeological site.
It’s the starting point for understanding who we are. And where we come from.
