| All buildings in the Forum, public or private, were dedicated to the gods. And all political decisions had to be made on sanctified ground - from holding elections to passing laws. So it was a group of priests known as the augurs who had the final say over planning decisions. This was the Senate house, but it was also something called a "templum", a sacred space. The augurs would consult the heavens to approve the site and then map it out with holy staffs. It was as if the Houses of Parliament stood on a sacred rectangle. And if the space wasn't sacred, the decisions weren't valid. At the opposite end of the Forum was the Regia. It was the royal residence, originally thought to be the Palace of King Numa and the seat of secular power. But it was also the centre of religious control. |
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