Aquileia won’t be the first major Roman city which I have visited in Europe. I haven’t never heard of the city before, even though it was one of the most important ones in the Roman empire. But here I am now. Aquileia is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list and it seems to be a hidden gem in the field of archeology. Much of the treasures of Aquileia have yet to be dug up and considering how important Aquileia was back then, I can’t imagine what could possibly be found below our feet. For now, I would have to be happy with whatever has already been dug up here.

So far what I have seen here are places which had to be dug up. In particular, the floor mosaics of which are very well preserved here. This time however, I would be seeing something that is not very easy to hide. It is a staple of Roman life – the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum is usually the center of activity in a Roman city or town. With civilization haven’t progressed to the point of having smartphones and game consoles at home, there was little entertainment indoors. This is where the Roman forum comes in. There are all sorts of activities which are held here including ones which aren’t entertainment in nature.

There is a rather large Roman Forum here in Aquileia and it is actually right beside the modern road into the city. Because of the sheer age of this place, some of the places here date back to 200 BC, only the columns of the former Roman Forum remain. They have been reconstructed here like a jigsaw puzzle putting back the columns together. There is a viewing platform off to the side of the columns where visitors can have a look at the columns. This is as close as anyone can get, though to be honest, there is little else to see here apart from these thousand year old columns. Foundations of the former buildings can be seen here but it is difficult to imagine what these structures might have been back then.

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