Abstracts

The urbanisation of Rome in the archaic period, 7th-5th century BC, by Nikoline Saur Petersen

The period between the 7th and 5th century BC, the so-called archaic period, was a period of extensive growth, building activities and international reach for the city of Rome. During this period, Rome emerged from being of comparable size and power to its many neighbouring Latin and Etruscan cities, to be the largest and most powerful hub of the entire central Tyrrhenian Italy, with great religious and commercial impact. This talk will attempt to investigate this urban development, which took place in Rome during the archaic period. The archaeological remains will be the starting point of the examination, as these provide the only primary data we have for the archaic period of Rome. The forthcoming excavation on the north-eastern part of the Forum of Caesar in Rome expects to unearth more of these archaic structures and objects that, in combination with the previous findings of archaic material, could contribute to new knowledge on archaic Rome and its urbanisation.

Caesar's forum, Imperial fora, and use of space - long term development, by Line Egelund

Forum Iulium was the first of what came to be known as the Imperial Fora. It remained in use throughout the Imperial period and Late Antiquity - even when new and larger Imperial Fora where built - but was largely forgotten in the Medieval Period. Forum Iulium was a source of inspiration for the emperors who built the later Imperial Fora, and the later Imperial Fora were all placed in close connection to each other, thus making them deeply entangled public spaces. As with Forum Iulium, the use of these Imperial Fora and their spaces all developed greatly from their period of construction, throughout Late Antiquity, and into the Medieval Period. In order to understand the long-term development of use in Forum Iulium, it is therefore important to include and examine the other Imperial Fora and the long-term development visible here from their construction, through the Late Antiquity, and into the Medieval period. In my talk, I will try to address some of this long-term development visible in Caesar's forum as well as the other Imperial Fora, and expand on my ongoing PhD-project.