In the very first years of the II century AD the Roman emperor Trajan gave to his architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, the task of building this enormous complex at the slopes of the Quirinal, in order to support the hill after the excavations needed for the creation of the forum and for hosting offices and shops. Inside the building we’re going to enjoy the shops which were disposed on different levels and were facing the via Biberatica, going down to the floor of the large exedra facing Trajan’s forum. We will also admire the fragments of the fine decorations of the imperial fora, as they came out from archaeological excavations. Going out, we’ll continue our walk in the Monti district, located in the area of the former Suburra. We’ll climb up the salita Del Grillo, so called because of the palace owned by the noble Del Grillo family, that the Roman actor Alberto Sordi made popular in an old Italian movie. We’ll visit the paleochristian church of St. Agatha of the Goths, only proof in Rome of the Arian cult, and, going up the ancient vicus patricius (today via Urbana), we’ll arrive to the basilica of St. Pudentiana, decorated with an amazing mosaic dating from the beginning of the V century BC.
