Connected both urbanistically and architectonically to the complexes of the Imperial Fora, the Templum Pacis, built by the emperor Vespasian and inaugurated in A.D.75, is also composed of a monumental porticoed piazza, with a temple at its north end. It so closely reproduces the form of the earlier fora that it was sometimes identified in the sources as the Forum Pacis. Its official name, Templum Pacis, qualifies it instead as an area consecrated to the goddess Peace, a divinized personification of a quality typical of the Roman religious mentality. The excavations took place in the western corner of the complex, up to now almost unknown archaeologically. They have brought to light a large portion of this area, which emphasizes its difference from the other imperial fora. Unlike these, it was occupied to a large extent by flowerbeds, separated by six long ornamental canals. As we know from the sources, various masterworks of greek art brought to Rome by Nero for his Domus Aurea were displayed in this space, restored to the enjoyment of the public by Vespasian. The discovery of three statue bases inscribed with the names of Attic artists confirms this tradition. The excavation has also revealed the transformations of the area from the late antique period through the destruction caused by Mussolini’s creation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali in the -30’s. (Riccardo Santangeli Valenzani)