Vanaajakunst
Augustus who attempted, with some success, to impose a degree of order
there. By the Imperial period the large public buildings that crowded around the
central square had reduced the open area to a rectangle of about 130 by 50
meters.[3]
Its long dimension was oriented northwest to southeast and extended from
the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill. The Forum's basilicas
during the Imperial period—the Basilica Aemilia on the north and the Basilica
Julia on the south—defined its long sides and its final form. The Forum proper
included this square, the buildings facing it and, sometimes, an additional area
(the Forum Adjectum) extending southeast as far as the Arch of Titus.[4]
Originally the site of the Forum had been marshy ground, which was
drained by the Tarquins with the Cloaca Maxima
annaabi.ee 
