Foro di Cesare

Commissioned by Julius Caesar and dedicated in 46 BC, this forum centered on a temple to Venus Genetrix, the goddess Caesar claimed as his family's mythical ancestor, and set the precedent that later emperors would follow with their own adjoining fora. Relatively modest ruins survive compared to the scale implied by its historical importance, with a handful of standing columns marking where the temple once stood. Free to view from Via dei Fori Imperiali, it's typically taken in as part of a walk past the string of Imperial Fora rather than visited on its own. It suits visitors tracing the full arc of Rome's forum-building emperors.