Early Origins of the Forum
Early Roman Hut, Foundation, on Palatine Hill
Traditionally the city of Rome is thought to have developed from a settlement of people living in huts on the Palatine hill. Indeed there is some archaeological evidence attesting to the existence of such huts. For ancient Roman cultural identity, the story of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, living on the Palatine hill remained important. However, there is also evidence of huts being located in what we now know as the forum. This evidence is in the form of analysis of the different strata of ground layers beneath the forum. There are fragments of the materials used to construct the original type of hut that Romans lived in at a layer beneath the existing ground of the Forum, suggesting that in the past there had, in fact, been huts there and that the space may have been used for housing as opposed to public use. However, as Ammerman1 argues, it is likely that these fragments were not due to the general buildup of decay from existing structures, and instead may be evidence that the area was filled in with gravel or debris in order to raise the ground level to provide protection against the flooding of the Tiber River which was common. According to Ammerman, this project may have been undertaken in order to establish the beginnings of a center for public life which would later become the Forum Romanum. The date of this first paving is likely between 575 and 650 B.C.E due to the different types of fragments found in the ground layer1.
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1.Ammerman, Albert J. "On the Origins of the Forum Romanum." American Journal of Archaeology 94, no. 4 (1990): 627-45.