Friends, Tourists, Countrymen, See Where Julius Caesar Was Killed

This may come as a surprise to some, says archaeologist Monica Sesi, who oversees the site.

Visitors “may have a hard time imagining this because Shakespeare’s plays make us think the murder took place at the forum,” she says.

Caesar was actually assassinated in the Clear of Pompeius, a large rectangular chamber where the Roman Senate occasionally met.Later Emperor Augustus declared Hall to have “scleroderma.” Or it was called a “cursed place” and was surrounded by walls.

But Shakespeare “could get away” with some artistic licensing, Cesi laughed.

On the other side of the site, marble ornaments and sculptures that have been hidden away for decades in Roman archaeological vaults are displayed in a long hall below the current street. “Keeping things organized on shelves is one thing, and telling the history of this site through fragments is one thing,” Cesi said.

Irina Lumsden, a data engineer visiting Rome from Melbourne, Australia, said the site was in transit. “It’s amazing, you can feel the ancient atmosphere here. They’ve done a great job of preserving the ruins,” she said.

The area was rediscovered during excavations between 1926 and 1929, when the square was being demolished to make way for new buildings. Archaeologists were unsure which temples they had found, so his four unearthed temples were initially labeled with his four letters at the beginning of the alphabet. These have now been tentatively identified, but are still subject to academic debate. The Temple of Giuturna dates from the mid-3rd century BC, after the goddess of fountains, wells and springs. Fortuna Huius Diai, or present-day Temple of Fate, built in the 2nd century BC. The Temple of Feronia, the goddess of fertility, was built around the end of the 4th century BC. and the Temple of Lares Permarini, dedicated to the patron of seafaring, or nymphs, built in the early 2nd century BC.