A forum (Latin forum "public place outdoors",
From PIE *dʰworom "enclosure, courtyard", i.e. "something enclosed by a door"; cognate with Old Church Slavonic дворъ dvorŭ "court, courtyard". plural fora; Englash plural either fora or forums) was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls. Many forums were constructed at remote locations along a road by the magistrate responsible for the road, in which case the forum was the only set...