Ancient Route Rome · Free history route

A self-guided history walk in Rome

Follow Rome from Caesar to Augustus

Walk through six places where the Roman Republic unraveled—and see how Caesar and Augustus changed the city around them.

Begin at Largo ArgentinaView the six stops

A Rome walk with a story to follow.

This is more than a checklist of ruins. Start with Caesar’s assassination, then step back into the world of the Republic before following the monuments that introduced Augustus’s new order.

Take it at your own pace

Think of this as a story-led walk, not a strict set of directions. The first stop opens with Caesar’s assassination, then the route steps back to the Republic before moving forward again. Use your preferred map app between the named landmarks. Most of the story works from outside; if you would like to go in, check the official operator before you visit.

The six-stop route

  1. 01Ides of March
  2. 02The Republican system
  3. 03Caesar changes the map
  4. 04The Senate after Caesar
  5. 05Augustus builds the new order
  6. 06The Augustan image
01

Largo di Torre Argentina

Start with the event that makes the route legible: Caesar’s assassination. Behind Temples B and C is a large tuff foundation identified by Rome’s archaeological authority as part of Pompey’s Curia, the meeting hall in Pompey’s monumental complex. Ancient sources place the killing here on 15 March 44 BCE. These are remains of a repeatedly altered urban complex, not an intact room or exact point where Caesar fell.

  • Find it: The sunken archaeological area in Largo di Torre Argentina, centred around Via di San Nicola de’ Cesarini.
  • Look for: Four Republican temple remains; the tuff base behind Temples B and C.
  • Why it matters: Caesar was killed here during a Senate meeting in Pompey’s Curia.
  • Next: Use the Capitoline Hill and Palazzo Senatorio as your next major landmarks—the route now rewinds to the system Caesar left behind.
Open in MapsOfficial source
02

Tabularium

Beneath Palazzo Senatorio, the late-Republican structure traditionally called the Tabularium offers a useful reset. The Capitoline Museums date it to 78 BCE and traditionally interpret it as a state-records building. That interpretation is not settled: scholars dispute both its function and whether “Tabularium” was its correct ancient name. Treat it as a civic monument that puts the Republican system before the men who tested it.

  • Find it: Beneath Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline side of the Forum; Republican masonry is visible along Via di S. Pietro in Carcere.
  • Look for: The massive stone substructure beneath the later palace.
  • Why it matters: It makes the Republic’s institutions and records—not only its famous people—visible.
  • Next: The Forum of Caesar lies immediately in the adjoining Imperial Fora landscape.
Open in MapsOfficial source
03

Forum of Caesar

Work began here in 54 BCE, beside an old Forum struggling to accommodate a Mediterranean power. The Temple of Venus Genetrix was inaugurated in 46 BCE before the complex was complete. The new square answered a civic need, but also attached public space to Caesar’s name and the Julian family’s claimed descent from Venus. Important visible elements reflect later rebuilding, especially under Trajan.

  • Find it: At the western end of the Imperial Fora beside the Capitoline, at Clivo Argentario and along Via dei Fori Imperiali.
  • Look for: The plan of the square and the three re-erected columns of the Temple of Venus Genetrix.
  • Why it matters: Caesar changed Rome’s civic map as well as its politics.
  • Next: The Curia Julia is at the adjoining Roman Forum edge: look for the tall, plain brick Senate house.
Open in MapsOfficial source
04

Curia Julia

This is not where Caesar was killed. Caesar refounded the Senate house during his rebuilding of the Forum area, and Augustus completed the project in 29 BCE. The standing building is not an untouched Augustan original: major restoration under Diocletian after a later fire produced much of the fabric that survives. The Senate endured, but inside a transformed political order.

  • Find it: At the northwestern edge of the Roman Forum.
  • Look for: The standing brick façade, with three large upper windows and a monumental doorway.
  • Why it matters: Caesar’s Senate-house project was completed by Augustus.
  • Next: Remain in the Imperial Fora cluster. The Forum of Augustus is recognizable by the huge rear wall and surviving columns of Mars Ultor.
Open in MapsOfficial source
05

Forum of Augustus

Inaugurated in 2 BCE, this monumental square was dominated by the Temple of Mars Ultor. Its porticoes and exedrae displayed figures associated with Roman victory and the Julian family. For this route, it is the point where Rome’s Republican past becomes part of an explicitly Augustan public landscape.

  • Find it: In the Imperial Fora east/northeast of Caesar’s forum, at Piazza del Grillo 1.
  • Look for: The enormous rear wall, high temple podium, and three surviving columns with architrave from the Temple of Mars Ultor.
  • Why it matters: Victory, ancestry, religion, and public authority are brought into one monumental setting.
  • Next: The compact ancient-centre cluster ends here. Continue to the northern Campus Martius and the modern Ara Pacis museum beside the Tiber.
Open in MapsOfficial source
06

Ara Pacis

The Senate ordered this altar in 13 BCE after Augustus returned from Gaul and Spain; it was dedicated in 9 BCE. Its sculptural programme includes ritual procession, priests, members of Augustus’s family, mythic scenes, and abundant vegetal decoration. The monument seen today was excavated, reconstructed, and relocated from its ancient position.

  • Find it: Museo dell’Ara Pacis on Lungotevere in Augusta at Via Tomacelli, beside Piazza Augusto Imperatore.
  • Look for: The white-and-glass museum enclosure; use its modern setting, relocation, and Campus Martius context as the exterior finale.
  • Why it matters: Ritual, family, and the Augustan settlement are presented together in a public monument.
  • Next: This is the end of the six-stop route.
Open in MapsOfficial source

A route should stay true when access changes.

The historical sequence stands on its own. Before a visit, check the official operator for access, tickets, closures, and accessibility. Those details change; the history should not pretend they do not.

Research notes

This free route is based on institutional archaeology and scholarly interpretation. The historical argument does not depend on current access, tickets, hours, closures, or booking advice; check official operators separately before a visit.