Forum Boarium
An area located on the bank of the Tiber River that is believed to have once held a cattle or meat market
The Forum Boarium (forum=“market,” boarium=“cattle'') was one of the markets of ancient Rome, and was situated between the Tiber river and the Capitoline and Aventine hills. The Forum Boarium stretched from the Velabrum to the Tiber, and from the valley of the circus Maximus to the pons Sublicius (the earliest known bridge in Rome). According to Varro writing in the first century BCE, the district was named Forum Boarium for the cattle-market that originally operated there (Patterson, 2015), but other sources claim it was given the name for the large bronze statue of a bull that was put in the Forum Boarium after it was taken from Aegina in 210 BCE (Frischer, 2008). Regardless of how it was named, the area was a commercial hub throughout the Roman period and even before it, as Greek pottery has been found at the site going back to the 8th century BCE (Patterson, 2015). The Forum Boarium also had commercial value outside of cattle and goods exchange, as the first gladiatorial games in Rome are said to have been held there. The Forum Boarium was also a central point for the city, as it had main roads leading out of it stretching throughout the city and beyond including the Via Flaminia and Via Salaria (Platner & Ashby, 1929). Over time the large space came to accomodate more and more buildings used for commercial and religious purposes, including a number of aedes (temples) and templa (shrines); notably the Temple of Hercules Victor (Aedis Herculis Victoris), the Temple of Hercules Pompeianus (Aedis Herculis Pompeianis), the Temple of Portunus (Aedis Portuni), and the Temple of Mater Matuta (Aedis Matris Matutae). Like much of Rome, the Forum Boarium was frequently devastated by fires throughout its history, coupled with flooding issues from the Tiber (Platner & Ashby, 1929).
Bibliography
Latin Dictionary Entries
Forum - Perseus Digital Library
Boarius - Perseus Digital Library
Jay Brodzeller, 2022