The Forum in Late Antiquity

The building activity in the Forum in late antiquity was characterized as much by restoration as it was by the construction of entirely new structures. During the Severan dynasty, builders undertook a large renovation of the forum while also constructing new monuments such as the Arch for Septimius Severus, Caracalla and Geta. While the restoration and reconstruction of buildings in the Forum was by no means unusual due to the fact that fires frequently destroyed huge swaths of the city, during late antiquity conservation of the existing monuments became a major focus.  By the 300s C.E most emperors no longer resided in Rome, instead living in the various important cities across the empire. However, this did not mean that the importance of the Roman forum was forgotten. In addition to its continued use to honor emperors, as with the Five Column Monument, during late Antiquity, the Forum became increasingly used by wealthy Roman citizens as a means to display their dedication to their civic duties. After Constantine, when the number of Christian aristocrats of Rome started to increase, dialogue about the line between conservation of history and the need to honor Christianity and its new place of importance in the Empire took place. This was especially true of the Curia, or senate house. The Senate had discussions of whether to keep parts of the original senate house relating to the Roman pagan religion, or whether to include Christian imagery in the decorations of the Curia1.

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1 Gregor Kalas, The Restoration of the Roman Forum in Late Antiquity: Transforming Public Space (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015).