Trajan's Market

This multi-level brick complex, built into the slope of the Quirinal Hill in the early second century, is often described as an ancient forerunner of the shopping arcade, though it likely housed administrative offices as well as commercial spaces. Its curved facade, vaulted halls, and stepped streets survive in striking condition, offering a rare sense of how a Roman commercial quarter was organised. Today the ruins incorporate the Museum of the Imperial Forums, which displays sculpture and fragments recovered nearby.