For the first time since it opened, I took the walk on the new pathway through the imperial fora in Rome. From the Roman Forum you can go past the curia (where, at the moment, a portion of the Magna Mater exhibition is on display) and on a raised path through the Forum of Nerva and the Forum of Caesar, under the Via dei Fori Imperiali and into the Forum of Trajan. The perspective from well below street level was fascinating, but it was a lot to take in.

Certainly a highlight for me was the Forum of Nerva. The poet Martial locates book sellers in exactly this area, and provides names for a couple of them (translations courtesy of Shackleton Bailey):

“Look for Secundus, freedman of lettered Lucensis, behind Peace’s entrance and Pallas’ Forum” (libertum docti Lucensis quaere Secundum limina post Pacis Palladiumque forum, 1.2)

“No doubt you often go down to Argiletum. Opposite Caesar’s Forum there’s a shop (contra Caesaris est forum taberna) with its doorposts completely covered by advertisements, so that you can read the entire list of poets at a glance. Look for me there. Ask for Atrectus (that being the name of the shop’s proprietor), and he will hand you from the first or second pigeonhole a Martial, shaved with pumice and smart with purple, for five denarii” (1.117)

With these passages in mind, it was striking to see the “You are here” didactic sign:

Of course, the didactic material doesn’t tell you exactly which ground level you’re standing on, but it was still very helpful to be able to get a sense of the space at this lower level, and I hope the accessible areas expand to include the Temple of Peace. But even as it is now, it’s definitely worth a second visit.