Work began 94-95 CE, Forum of Trajan inaugurated: 112-113 CE
Description
"Needed commercial space adjacent to the forum was carved out of the Quirinale hillside behind the northeast hemicycle. The buildings of Trajan's markets, a good part of which are extant, were set in a multi-story semicircle with adjoining buildings, reflecting the hemicycle of the forum below and becoming an arcaded complement to it. The markets contained over 150 shops, offices, and a groin-vaulted market hall, all of which could be reached from the forum and from streets on two higher levels. They were built of brick-faced concrete, a contrast to the marble and elaborate ornament of the forum. Durable barrel vaults provided the basic structural module both for the individual shops and for enclosed walkways between them. Trajan's forum and markets show at once the monumentality of great civic constructions and the ingenious adaptation of geometric forms to a fundamentally utilitarian project."
-- Moffett, M., Fazio, M., Wodehouse, L. (2004). A World History of Architecture. Burr Ridge, IL: Mc Graw Hill. pp. 120.
Keywords: Italy, Roma, Rome, commercial structures. Submitted by Aimee Moore for ARCH/LARCH 200: Outlines of Architecture/Landscape Architecture.
