Forum Boarium historical timeline

A marsh the Etruscan kings drained, a cattle market where Hercules was said to have killed a giant, and a century of imperial arches added on top.

Chronology

1. Legendary period — Hercules, arriving in the area of the foro Boario with the oxen of Geryon, is robbed of them by the giant Cacus, who lives in a cave on the slopes of the Aventine; after killing him, Hercules is honoured as a god by the ancient inhabitants of the Palatine, the Arcadians, who dedicate to him an altar, the Ara Maxima.
2. 6th century BC — the area, occupied by the marsh of the Velabro, is drained by the Etruscan kings with the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, of which the remains of the arches are still visible.
3. 6th century BC — the establishment of the Porto Tiberino, which extended where the offices of the Anagrafe now stand, is attributed to Servius Tullius.
4. Republican age — the two temples towards the Tiber are built: the first and older, of rectangular plan, dedicated to Portunus, and the second, of circular plan, dedicated to Hercules Victor.
5. AD 98–117 — the warehouses by the river port of the Trajanic age.
6. AD 204 — the Arco degli Argentari, an elegant work of the Severan age.
7. AD 337–361 — the four-fronted arch of Janus, an imposing construction probably of the time of Constantius II.
8. Today — the tufa core of the Ara Maxima is preserved inside the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

• Official website
• Wikipedia