The Forum and The Via Sacra

I actually did not go into the Forum.  I had planned on doing it but the entrance, near the Colloseum turned out to be "exit only" and the actual entrance was very far away, on the north side of the ruins and I just wasn't feeling like walking all that way, and paying all that money (it cost , which is pretty expensive, relative to Italy), just to walk back down through a whole bunch of un-shaded ruins that I could sort of see from the outside.  Quite a few people did enter through that exit gate, because there were no guards or ticket collectors, but I decided that I wasn't willing to do that.  It didn't seem honest, even if it was fairly harmless. Besides, I was tired of having Italians yell at me, and I didn't want any of them to start up again, with an actual reason.

This is the map to all of the archeological/historical areas around the forum.  If you click on it, it should open up a larger version of the picture so that you can see what all of the places are.  You should note, however, that while the "You are Here" dot and the "Do not Enter" dot into the forum are fairly far apart on the map, this sign is actually attached to the gates around the archeological dig, accompanied by "Do Not Enter" warnings.  So who knows how accurate this is, scale wise.  (The picture on right shows the gate.)

If you click on this link, it takes you to a website that shows the map of the area and includes the proper labels of each of the buildings.

A picture of the Forum from the northish end, via Wikipedia and people who were less lazy, walking-around-Rome-wise.

My pictures of the Forum are much less impressive.

The pillars and the archway at the back are the Tempio di Venere e Roma (the Temple of Venus and Rome).  The newer looking building at the back, with the tower, is the Antiquarium Forense, a museum and work area for archaeological finds from the area.

On the left, you can see the columns of the Temple of Venus and Rome.  The large brown ruin in the middle is the Basilica of Maxentius or the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine which was, according to Wikipedia, the largest building in Rome at the time, taking building innovations from places like the Diocletian Baths.  The white building at the far back is, I believe, the Museo Sacrario delle Bandiere (Museum Shrine of Flags and Relics of the Armed Forces) which seems super appropriate for the middle of Rome, even though it apparently focuses on WWII military history.

Archo di Tito, or the Arch of Titus.  It commemorates Titus's military
victories, including his sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Some of the archaeological diggings in the Forum area, right next to the Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Rome.

The pillars of the Temple of Venus and Rome in a bunch of trees and bushes.

If you click here, you can watch a short little video on the development of the Roman Forum made by the History Channel.  You have to watch a commercial but I think that it is worth it.

If you go here, you can see a pretty, artsy picture of the forum.