A Forum Venalium was a food market in Ancient Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 during the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 and Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. These mercantile forums were extensions of the Roman Forum

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...

 and contained numerous buildings and monuments erected under the Republic and the Empire.

In Politics Aristotle

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...

 proposed that a city should have both a free square in which "no mechanic or farmer or anyone else like that may be admitted unless summoned by the authorities" and a marketplace "where buying and selling are done ... in a separate place, conveniently situated for all goods sent up from the sea and brought in from the country."

The Roman Forum was originally used for athletic games and trading purposes of all kinds; however, the forum became a political and banking center where bankers and brokers had their offices. The Forum Civilium

Forum Civilium

A Forum Civilium was a judicial center in Ancient Rome during the Roman Empire. These judicial forums were extensions of the Roman Forum which had become congested with commercial and civic activity....

 (judicial) and Forum Venalium (mercantile) came into existence under the empire because of the growth of the city and the increase in provincial business. Maenius, one of the Censors

Censor (ancient Rome)

The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....

, was chiefly instrumental in bringing about these changes.

The smaller Fora Venalia that specialized by type of produce were started along the Tiber

Tiber

The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...

, near Port Tibernius, with the Suarium at the foot of the Quirinal Hill

Quirinal Hill

The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian Head of State, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian President.- History :It was...

 towards the Campus Martius

Campus Martius

The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome...

. The Boarium Forum for cattle, Forum Cuppedinis for delicatessen, Forum Holitorium

Forum Holitorium

The Forum Holitorium was the market for vegetables, herbs and oil forum venalium of early ancient Rome, by the Tiber at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine hills...

 (cabbage market) for vegetables, Forum Suarium

Forum Suarium

The Forum Suarium was the pork forum venalium of early Ancient Rome during the empire, mentioned first in two inscriptions of about 200 AD. This market was near the barracks of the cohortes urbanae in the northern part of the campus Martius, probably close to the present Via di Propaganda, and its...

 for pork, Forum Piscarium

Forum Piscarium

The Forum Piscarium was the fish forum venalium of ancient Rome, north of the Roman Forum, between the Sacra Via and the Argiletum. It was burned in 210 BC and rebuilt the next year. In 179 it was incorporated in the general Macellum, built by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior in the same region.This forum...

 for fish, Pistorium Forum

Pistorium Forum

The Forum Pistorium was the bread forum venalium of early Ancient Rome....

 for bread, and Forum Vinarium

Forum Vinarium

The Forum Vinarium was the wine forum venalium of early Ancient Rome, it was located in the area now of the quartiere Testaccio, between Aventine Hill and the Tiber....

 for wine.

The Roman Forum, and the Forums of Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 and Augustus were Fora Civilia.