Roman Forum of Luni
About
Luna's forum took shape in 177 BCE at the intersection of the cardo and decumanus, and Augustan-age building projects later widened it considerably. The Capitolium closed its north end while a basilica handled courts and commerce nearby. By 117 CE the city drew wealth from Carrara marble quarries just inland, some of which had become imperial property under Augustus. Excavators have since uncovered the forum, theater, and amphitheater.
What happened here
Business starts at first light. The magistrates' tribunal opens, cases are called, and the crowd that gathers to listen is half the point of coming. Money-changers work from tables under the porticoes, weighing coin from a dozen mints against the local rate. Notices are painted on the walls and whitewashed over when they go stale: elections, gladiator shows, a lost slave, a house to let. By the sixth hour the heat empties the open square and the arcades fill instead. Statues of the town's benefactors stand between the columns, and the men who paid for them expect to be greeted by name. Public slaves sweep at dusk. The forum is where a Roman town keeps its records, its gossip and its self-regard in the same place.
Sources
Nearby
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