Historians in the Forum1

The paper aims to re-evaluate the nature of the Forum, to interrogate its cultural history and shifting meaning against the familiarity which leads to taking it for granted. All its functions and characteristics, even as meeting place, open space, or public domain, let alone its specific political, legal, social or economic vocations, were period-specific and liable to debate and contestation. Some examples are presented: the Forum in the revolution of the age of Ap. Claudius Caecus; its place in the reconstruction of early Roman history; its role in remembering the Hannibalic and post-Hannibalic periods; and its adaptation to the changing metropolitan role of Rome as the city’s dominion grew and altered through the late Republic into the imperial period. Finally, the title theme, addressed throughout, concerns the way in which, through this labile and controversial identity, the Forum was woven into the practice and content of Roman memory and historiography

Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History

• A luxury food market or control mechanism in a complex Roman economy

  Open Access•Adeline Hoffelinck•Journal of Roman Archaeology•2026

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