The Imperial Forums were an extension to their better-known neighbor, the Roman Forum, the religious, political and business hearth of the city in the ancient Roman Republican Age (509 BC – 46 BC).

When Julius Caesar became Dictator of Rome, in 46 BC, the old Roman Forum was so densely built with honorary monuments, public buildings and temples, that he decided to build a new square, bearing his name at the foot of the Capitoline hill.

His example was followed by Augustus, his adoptive son, by Vespasian, Nerva and, finally, Trajan who built the largest of the five squares.

To build this monumental complex, designed by the genius architect Apollodorus from Damascus, it was necessary to remove a saddle connecting the Quirinal and Capitoline Hills... The height of the mount removed was indicated by the beautiful Column, over 100 ft high, that celebrated the two military campaigns of Trajan against the Dacians in the beginning of the II C. To support the vertical cut of the Quirinal hill,

Apollodorus from Damascus created a five levels structure, known as the “Markets of Trajan”, actually, a multifunctional building, a huge part of which occupied by public offices.

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