rostra

Welcome to the turbulent, beating heart of the ancient Roman Forum. Amidst this sprawling valley of scattered marble and shattered columns, we direct our attention to a large, raised rectangular platform constructed of brick and…

First, we must address the peculiar name of this platform: the Rostra. In Latin, 'rostrum' simply means a bird's beak. …

The structure we are looking at today is not the original Rostra of the early Republic. The platform underwent a massive relocation and redesign during one of the most turbulent periods in Roman history. …

To stand near the Rostra is to stand on the very site of one of the most consequential speeches in human history. Following the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, 44 BC, the city of Rome was paralyzed by tension. …

As we examine the area immediately adjacent to the Rostra, we encounter several deeply symbolic, smaller monuments that anchored the ideological geography of Rome. Just to the side of the platform, nestled near the Arch of…

Directly on the other side of the Rostra, mirroring the position of the Umbilicus, lie the fragmented remains of another circular monument. Only a piece of its marble base, intricately carved with a palmette design, survives…

Before we conclude our study of the orator's stage, we must cast our gaze slightly across the paving stones toward the Curia, the Senate house. Here, protected by a modern covering, lies an area paved in dark, black marble. …

Our exploration of the Rostra concludes here, in the shadow of the Arch of Septimius Severus. As you look one last time at the bare brick facing and the empty dowel holes where the bronze beaks once gleamed, the overriding…