Trajan’s Forum: The Hub of Early Roman Society
The Roman Empire can arguably be considered one of the greatest ancient civilizations. From Augustus to Constantine, the Romans brought both new and borrowed ideas into the world. With influence from the Greeks, the Romans established a representative government with the Emperor and the Senate as the main law-making and law-enforcing bodies. The Roman Empire grew prosperous and, with military expeditions, expanded as west as modern day Britain and as east the lands near the Caspian Sea. With the Empire expanding into what is now known as Israel, Christianity spread to Rome and, under Constantine, was established as a legal religion under the Edict of Milan in 313. As the Roman culture was being influenced and changed by all the territories now under the Empire’s rule, the art and architecture being created during this time were also rapidly evolving. Architectural works, especially those of the Imperial period, have grown to define the essence of that which is truly Roman art. The Pantheon, Coliseum and the various Roman fora were built to serve a purpose that was culturally relevant at the time. The Pantheon was built to honor all ancient Roman deities. The Coliseum’s purpose was to act as a center for entertainment. The Roman fora celebrated the victories and lives of those for whom they were commissioned. One such forum is that of the Emperor Trajan (98-117). The largest and the last of the imperial Roman fora, Trajan’s complex includes the Basilica Ulpia, Trajan’s Column, the Greek and Latin Libraries, the Trajan Markets and Trajan’s Temple. Although the Forum of Trajan works to commemorate Trajan’s life accomplishments, it also functioned as a hub for Romans in the aspect of co...
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Hello and welcome to the first episode of a history of the Roman World in 200 objects here at the Royal Ontario Museum. I your host today, Rahman Salehi, will take you on a journey 2000 years back in time, in which the Roman Empire was one of the greatest powers of the Ancient world. The Roman Empire was a very heterogeneous society with various ethnic groups such as the Latin’s, Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Italians, Carthaginians and so forth. However, they all had one thing in common. That is, religion played a very important role in the daily lives of individuals of Rome. Romans believed that gods controlled their lives and, hence, spent a great deal amount of time worshiping deities.
In Rome the buildings were constructed under Roman Empire. The Roman Colosseum was constructed between 69 to 79 CE by the Vespasian emperor, The Circus Maximum was built in the 2nd century B.C by the high emperor, in 31 B.C the fire destroyed it that led Emperor Augustus to rebuild the Circus in 82 AD, Ludus Magnus was a gladiatorial training school in Rome and it was originally built between 81-96AD by Emperor Domitian. The emperor’s theme was large public stone buildings that would bring the people of Rome together and also the emperor was rich and they had manpower. The emperors also patron towards the workers and also to prove that they are the great leaders. The emperors had money, a lot of workers to build the buildings to the Emperor’s satisfaction. The buildings were used by the public as entertainment where they would go and watch all sorts of races & fights.
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