A view of the Roman Forum, from the Capitoline Hill, from the Vedute di Roma. The inscription space includes a detailed key, numbering and explaining 15 principle monuments in the view, many of which received dedicated plates of their own in the series. Amongst these are the so-called Temple of Jupiter the Thunderer, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Arch of Titus, and the Colosseum. Archaeologically, this view is important as it shows the Roman Forum before systematic excavations cleared away much of the alluvial silt that had built up there over the last millenium. The plate's title, Campo Vaccino, is in reference to the fact that the disused valley had long been used as a field for grazing cattle. Many of the houses that border the Forum, some of which are built onto the sides of its monuments, have also since been removed. The Roman Forum was the principle social, administrative, and economic heart of the ancient capitol. The Forum valley was originally a flood plain between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, which was drained in Rome's early history. Unlike many of the planned Fora built in the imperial period, the Roman Forum grew organically and as a result, its buildings are an architectural and artistic amalgam of many different eras. The forum was the site of most of Rome's principle public ceremonies, including elections, triumphs, speeches, criminal trials, and even, on rare occasions, executions and public funerals. The Vedute di Roma was Piranesi's most popular and best known series, celebrating the churches, monuments, ruins, bridges, fountains, and public spaces of the city of Rome. The immense popularity of the series meant that they were in constant demand, and Piranesi continued to reissue and add to the series from the 1740s until his death in 1778. The Vedute were particularly popular with British grand tourists, and had a profound effect on the British neoclassical movement. Demand was such that the series was reprinted numerous times after Piranesi's death, including two Paris editions published by his sons, Francesco and Pietro. Hind 40. iii/vi (3rd Rome edition), Wilton-Ely 148, F803, C766.