October 1, 2025

Foro Romano - Continued
The Roman Forum (Foro Romano) lies considerably lower than the present road surface.

This is natural, for as mentioned in the previous issue, the forum was originally a marshland between the hills of ancient Rome, which was reclaimed to create the square.

It was established as a public square (forum) for citizens’ gatherings, trials, commercial activities, and political debates; it also served as a marketplace.

In other words, it was the very core of Rome’s development.

By the way, the modern English word forum is used almost exclusively to mean a “public debate” or “discussion meeting.”

In the early Republican period of the 5th century B.C. the Roman Forum became the center of citizens’ public life and prospered in step with Rome’s expansion.

However, when the Empire was established and the emperors built their own forums, the Roman Forum lost its original role as the hub of democratic politics, and instead came to symbolize Rome’s greatness and glory.

Later, repeated invasions by barbarian tribes brought destruction to the Forum.

During the Middle Ages, it turned into pastureland; the remaining ruins were dismantled, and their materials carried off for new construction.

By the time archaeological excavations began in the 19th century, the very memory that this place had once been the heart of great Rome had been forgotten.

At the western end of the Forum stands the Arch of Septimius Severus.

To its left is a circular brick structure, four meters in diameter, called the “Navel of Rome” (Umbilicus Urbis), which literally marked the very center of the city.

Just below and to the left of the Arch of Septimius Severus lies a long narrow platform known as the Rostra, the speakers’ platform.

In the 1st century B.C., Julius Caesar relocated it to its present site during his renovations of the Forum.

Made of tuff, it stands about three meters high and twelve meters long.

Here, great orators such as Cicero addressed the citizens gathered in the square.

In Roman times, candidates for public office demonstrated their integrity by whitening their togas (a loose garment draped around the body) with chalk, and then sought people’s support by delivering speeches from this platform or by walking through the city.

Wearing a white toga symbolized spotless purity, a claim of worthiness for public office.

These candidates in white were called candidatus, from the Latin candere (“to shine white”).

In modern English, we still call applicants or nominees candidates.

Related words—candle, chandelier, and the Dutch kandelaar (a portable oil lamp)—all share the same etymological root.

Indeed, they all “shine white.”

Interestingly, in medical terminology there is also the name Candida, a genus of fungi.

This name was given because the fungus produces glossy, whitish colonies.

There is even a species called Candida albicans (“white Candida”), which, taken literally, means “a white thing that shines white.”

Truly, an oddly redundant name!

To be continued