Forum Augusti
Forum Augusta is the second of Rome’s four imperial forums. Octavian Augustus erected it after defeating Caesar’s assassins Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 BC. A blank wall protected the residential quarter behind it. The most important structure of the forum was a temple dedicated to Mars the Avenger. The temple was built of Carrara marble and was similar in plan to the Venus Genetrix temple in Julius Caesar’s forum; in the center was a statue of Mars surrounded by statues of Venus and the deified Caesar. Caesar’s sword and the banners of the defeated Parthians were also kept there.
General Information
The forum served to praise the emperor who restored the old traditions. To this end, statues of Aeneas, carrying his father on his shoulders, and Romulus, according to legend the son of Mars, as well as statues of important men of the republic, were displayed in semicircular niches. The pedestal of each statue displayed information about that person’s life and deeds. In the center of the square in front of the temple was a statue of Augustus on a chariot.
Today, only part of the Forum of Augustus has survived: several columns of the temple and the staircase; a collection of artifacts, as well as part of the semicircular niche from the Forum of Augustus, are in the Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi (House of the Knights of Rhodes). Under Mussolini, the front of the forum was rebuilt into Via dei Fori Imperiali; no archaeological investigations were carried out.
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