Imperial Fora - Rome, Italy - Ancient Caesar beneath the Vittoriano

The ruins of Caesar’s Forum stretch across the foreground while the monumental Vittoriano rises above them, bringing two very different periods of Roman history into one view.

The Imperial Fora form one of the most important archaeological areas in central Rome, preserving the monumental spaces created by successive Roman rulers between 46 BC and AD 113. In this photograph, the remains of the Forum of Caesar occupy the foreground, with ancient paving, columns, walls and architectural fragments revealing the scale of the first Imperial Forum. Julius Caesar began the complex in 54 BC and inaugurated it in 46 BC as an extension of the older Roman Forum, creating a model that later emperors would follow. Rising dramatically behind the ancient ruins is the Vittoriano, also known as the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II or Altare della Patria. Designed by Giuseppe Sacconi and begun in 1885, the vast white monument commemorates the first king of unified Italy and the Risorgimento. The contrast between Roman antiquity and the monumental architecture of modern Italy makes this view a striking illustration of Rome’s layered history.