Remains of the Basilica Aemilia in the Forum Romanum, July 2012

Erected in 179 BC by the censors Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (after whom the basilica is named) and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, completely rebuilt over two decades and dedicated in 34 BC, restored after a fire by Augustus in 14 BC, and then again in AD 22 on its two-hundredth anniversary, the Basilica Aemilia was considered by Pliny to be one of the most beautiful buildings in Rome. It was a place for business and, in the porticus of Gaius and Lucius (the grandsons of Augustus) fronting the Forum, there were the Tabernae Novae (New Shops). On the colored marble floor one still can see the stains of bronze coins.

Text from: penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/romanfo...