The convent of Santa Maria Nova was built between 1492 and 1503 CE under the patronage of Pope Alexander VI and stands at the eastern edge of the Forum, which also incorporates parts of the western section of the Temple of Venus and Roma, adjacent to the Via Sacra. In 1908, Giacomo Boni, then director of excavations at the Forum, founded the first Antiquarium—an exhibition space to present archaeological finds—in this very building. The current museum continues that tradition, now reorganized with a modern museological approach that occupies the ground floor of the Renaissance cloister.

The museum’s purpose is both scientific and educational. It seeks to preserve the integrity of the archaeological contexts while making them accessible to the public. The displayed materials, including tombs, pottery, statues, architectural fragments, and inscriptions, are arranged to narrate the stratigraphic sequence of the Forum and demonstrate its long transformation—from early habitation zones and ritual spaces to monumental civic and imperial centers. The Museum of the Roman Forum also functions as a bridge between the ruins visible on-site and the smaller, more delicate finds that cannot remain outdoors. Its integration within the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo allows visitors to move fluidly between the open-air remains of temples, basilicas, and shrines, and the enclosed environment where their associated artifacts are preserved.

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One of the most significant sections of the museum is dedicated to the Early Iron Age burial ground, dated to circa 10th century BCE, discovered in the eastern sector of the Forum near the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. The display includes cremation urns, pit burials, hut-urns, and miniature vessels that illustrate the earliest phases of settlement in the area. These items, presented in illuminated glass cases, reconstruct the funerary customs and material life of the proto-urban communities that predated the foundation of the anceint city of Rome.

Another prominent exhibit features the statues of the Dioscuri—Castor and Pollux—and their horses. These sculptures are emblematic of the Forum’s religious topography, recalling the ancient tradition that the divine twins appeared at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 499 or 496 BCE to announce Rome’s victory. Their cult became firmly rooted in the area near the spring of Juturna (Fonte Iuturna), and the statues displayed in the museum evoke both the mythic and civic aspects of their veneration.

A third key section is devoted to the sacred core of the Forum, encompassing the shrines and structures associated with the cult of Vesta, the Regia, and the Lapis Niger. These displays include votive deposits, ritual vessels, and architectural fragments uncovered in Boni’s excavations and later archaeological campaigns. They reflect the Forum’s dual identity as both the administrative and spiritual heart of the Roman world.

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The museum is of great importance for the history of archaeology. Giacomo Boni’s establishment of the Forum’s Antiquarium in the early twentieth century marked a turning point in archaeological methodology. His work introduced systematic stratigraphic excavation and contextual interpretation, and the current museum continues this intellectual lineage by preserving his spatial organization and scientific rigor. The museum not only displays artifacts but also functions as an archive of excavation history, reflecting the evolution of archaeological practice in Italy.

Archaeologically, the museum provides essential context for understanding the Forum’s chronological development. The open-air ruins often present isolated monuments stripped of their movable elements. Within the museum, however, these elements—ranging from pottery and inscriptions to statuary and funerary assemblages—are reintegrated into their original cultural and stratigraphic settings. This allows scholars and visitors alike to grasp the full historical layering of the Forum: from Iron Age huts to Republican basilicas, Imperial temples, and finally the medieval reuse of the area.

The museum’s location within the former convent of Santa Maria Nova underscores Rome’s continuity as a living city built upon its own past. The Renaissance structure housing the museum sits atop ancient ruins and now shelters the remnants of an even earlier world, forming a tangible palimpsest of urban and cultural history.