 The performance space of the Roman circus was normally, despite its name, an oblong rectangle of two linear sections of race track, separated by a median strip running along the length of about two thirds the track, joined at one end with a semicircular section and at the other end with an undivided section of track closed (in most cases) by a distinctive starting gate known as the carceres, thereby creating a circuit for the races.A forum was a central public open space in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, primarily used as a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls.Other large public buildings were often sited at the edges or close by.