- Forum Boarium
The Forum Boarium was the
cattle "forum venalium" of AncientRome and the oldest forum that Rome possessed. It was located at a flat place near theTiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine andAventine hills. Here, too, is where the first bridges were built. The Boarium was by the premier port of Rome ("Port Tibernius"), and experienced intense commercial activity.The Forum Boarium was the site of the first gladiatorial contest at Rome which took place in 264 BC as part of aristocratic funerary ritual—a "
munus " or funeral gift for the dead. Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva put on a gladiatorial combat in honor of his deceased father with three pairs of slaves serving as gladiators.The site was also a religious center housing the
Temple of Hercules Victor , theTemple of Portunus , and the massive 6th or5th century BC "Great Altar ofHercules ".Architecture
The Temple of Hercules Victor or "Hercules Olivarius" (Hercules as protector of the olive trade), is a circular
peristyle building dating from the2nd century BC . It consists of acolonnade of corinthian columns arranged in aconcentric ring around the cylindricalcella , resting on atuff foundation. These elements originally supported an architrave and roof which have disappeared. It is the earliest survivingmarble building in Rome.The Temple of Portunus is a rectangular building built between 100 and 80 B. C. It consists of a
tetrastyle portico andcella mounted on a podium reached by a flight of steps. The four Ionic columns of the portico are free-standing, while the six columns on the long sides and four columns at the rear are engaged along the walls of the cella. It is built of tuff andtravertine with astucco surface.At the end of the
Roman Empire , the area became overtaken with shops. Both temples were subsequently converted to Christian churches.Across the street is the church of
Santa Maria in Cosmedin famous for itsBocca della Verità .External links
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Forum_Boarium.html Lacus Curtius:] Forum Boarium
* [http://www.unicaen.fr/rome/visite3.php?langue=anglais&action=maquette&idMonu=28 Virtual Tour and Pictures of Boarium Forum]
* [http://www.dubonpoulet.fr]
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