semi-rural, with a patchwork of houses and farmland crisscrossed by roads occupying the former plaza of Trajan's Forum. In the late-16th century, the whole area of the Imperial Fora, which by then lay 3-4 meters below ground, was built up during a wave of urban expansion and the area became known as the Alessandrino district.

In 1526 the arch which formed the entrance to the Forum was demolished by the maestri di strade, Rome's Commissioners of Streets, which caused the Conservatore Francesco