\paperw4695 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 The Roman Forum remained as a great Monumental Square, where nine new constructions were erected in the upper part of
the Sacred Way, including the Arch of Titus, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and that of Venus and Rome, and the Basilica begun by Maxentius and completed by Constantine. The monuments in the Forum were kept in a good state of repair up until the ti
me of Theodoric, but then were abandoned and began to fall into ruin. The level of the ground rose by six or seven meters, only the buildings that had been converted into churches remained standing, and towers and fortifications were built on top of the
ruins. The old buildings became inexhaustible sources of construction material. Up until the last century the Roman Forum was an enormous meadow where animals of every kind grazed amidst the ruins of ancient Rome.
