Basilica Julia: Overall view, showing arches of back wall, facing Temple of Castor and Pollux in background

Date

Circa 1910

A structure that once stood in the Roman Forum. It was a large, ornate, public building used for meetings, law courts and other official business during the early Roman Empire. Its ruins have been excavated. What is left from its classical period are mostly foundations, floors, a small back corner wall with a few arches that are part of both the original building and later Imperial reconstructions and a single column from its first building phase. It was initially dedicated in 46 BC by Julius Caesar, with building costs paid from the spoils of the Gallic War, and was completed by Augustus, who named the building after his adoptive father. The Basilica was again reconstructed by the Emperor Diocletian after the fire of 283 CE.