During the Republican Age, when Rome had already become the capitol of an enormous empire that extended from Gallia to Asia Minor, the ancient Forum Romanum became insufficient for the functions of administrative and monumental center of the city. Julius Caesar in the year 54BC was the first to build a new square that was at first considered as a simple enlargement of the Republican Forum. 

The Forum of Caesar was followed by the Forum of Augustus, the Forum Transitorius (built by Domitian and inaugurated byNerva) and lastly the Forum of Trajan, certainly the most magnificent. 

The set of these archeological areas constitute an organic complex from the city-planning viewpoint that has been renamed “Imperial Fora” in the modern times and extends from the Capitol to the Quirinal Hill. 

Between 1924 and 1932 the Imperial Fora were brought to light when the buildings in the area were demolished for the realization of Via dei Fori Imperiali.