Forum of Paestum
The Forum of Paestum is where Roman civic life replaced Greek civic life, almost literally — the colonists who took control of the city after 273 BCE levelled the old Greek agora, its assembly hall and its hero shrine, and laid out a proper Roman forum in its place. What you walk through today is the palimpsest of that decision: a small Capitoline temple on the north side, the columned Temple of Peace on its podium, a curia, a comitium with its worn steps, a macellum, and a row of tabernae that once sold everything from bread to bronze.
The Greek monuments underneath are gone, but the Roman ones have enough left standing to give the space its original logic — the political buildings to one side, the religious to another, the commercial along the edge.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to spend time at the comitium steps, where the geometry is still legible enough that you can read how a Roman town meeting actually worked. The tabernae to the west are easy to overlook on a first visit — worth a slower look on a second.
The story behind Forum of Paestum
When Rome established a Latin colony at Paestum in 273 BCE, the Greek city of Poseidonia had already been standing for roughly four centuries. The new colonists reorganised the urban centre entirely: the Greek agora, its ekklesiasterion (assembly hall) and the heroon — a shrine likely dedicated to the city's founder — were all demolished to make way for a Roman forum oriented to Roman needs.
The forum that replaced them was built out over the following two centuries. The small temple on the north side dates to around 200 BCE. The Temple of Peace followed between the second and first centuries BCE. The Sanctuary of Fortuna Virilis to the northwest — complete with a large swimming pool — and the macellum on the south side filled in the rest of the civic programme, giving the colony a public square that would have looked recognisably Roman to any traveller arriving from the north.
Good to know
Trains from Salerno take about 35 minutes to Paestum station, directly east of the walls. Your €12 ticket (March–November) covers three days and includes Velia. Arrive by mid-morning to pace the full site — forum, temples, museum — in around two to three hours without rushing.
May through October gives you the most comfortable conditions — daytime temperatures between 22°C and 29°C, with the driest stretch from June to August. November is the wettest month; February mornings can be cold enough (around 7°C at night) that the site feels very different from its summer self, though also very empty.
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What travellers say about Forum of Paestum
The city was founded around 600 BC by the Greeks. It was initially called Poseidonia, in honor of Poseidon or Neptune, god of the sea. From 400 BC, it was occupied by the Lucanian people. In 273, it became a Roman colony and took the name Paestum.
THE FORUM THE FORUM SQUARE: THE HEART OF THE ROMAN CITY. A POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER, IT WAS SURROUNDED BY STORES, COURTS, LUDIC BUILDINGS, MEMORIALS, AND OTHERS. EVERY DAY, THERE WAS A CONSTANT BUSINESS OF PEOPLE WHO CROWDED THIS LARGE OPEN SPACE, THE MOST IMPORTANT MEETING POINT FOR THE ENTIRE CITIZENS. HERE ONE COULD FIND PRIVATE CITIZENS AND MAGISTRATES, SLAVES AND MATRONS, ARTISANS AND PRIESTS; SOME HURRAGED BY, BUSINESS IN THEIR OWN BUSINESS, OTHERS RELAXED. IN THE LARGE RECTANGULAR SQUARE, MEASURING 200 METERS LONG BY 60 METERS WIDE, A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES TOOK PLACE. THE MOST IMPORTANT WERE THE LARGE MARKETS, WHERE A VARIETY OF PRODUCTS WERE SOLD, EVEN FROM FAR AWAY. THE FORUM ALSO HAD AN IMPORTANT POLITICAL FUNCTION: IT WAS THE LOCATION OF THE POLLING CENTERS, WHERE THE PEOPLE VOTED IN ELECTIONS FOR THE HIGHEST OFFICIALS WHO GOVERNED THE CITY. THE FORUM SQUARE: THE HEART OF THE ROMAN CITY. A constant coming and going of people crowded this large open space every day, the most important meeting point for the entire townspeople. Here you could find ordinary citizens and magistrates, slaves and matrons, artisans and priests; some hurriedly engaged in business, others chatting calmly. In the large rectangular square, measuring 200 meters long by 60 meters wide, a wide variety of activities took place. The most important were the large markets, where a vast variety of products were sold.
A unique site, well-maintained and well-kept. A must-see. If you're taking a guide, plan to spend at least 4-5 hours enjoying this wonder.
A very large and very nice forum
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