It Took 36 Years For This Archaeologist To Make The Most Accurate Model Of Ancient Rome
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While the city of Rome has changed dramatically throughout history, many remains of the famous historical monuments are still there to remind us of the glorious Ancient Rome. However, there’s a way to see how the most important city for over 1000 years looked like in the past.
More info: flickr.com | museociviltaromana.it
The Museum of the Roman Civilization which situated in Rome’s Esposizione Universale Roma district and stores one of the most impressive scale models of the city ever created.
It is known as the Plastico di Roma Imperiale, the plaster architecture model which depicts the city of Rome in the 4th century AD at the time of Constantine I.
The intricate model of the historical city was created by an Italian archaeologist Italo Gismondi. It was derived from the Forma Urbis Romae. The model is at a 1:250 scale and is made of plaster. Gismondi began working on it in 1935, and it took him more than 35 years to finish it.
That’s over three and a half times as long as it took to build the Colosseum. Today, the model is known as one of the most important references of Ancient Rome.
The model was commissioned by Mussolini to commemorate the birth of Augustus (63 BC). The choice to reconstruct the Ancient Rome of the 4th century was chosen not by accident. The reason behind it is that the city, during the time of Constantine (AD 306-337), reached its greatest size.
Gismondi had to use maps for this recreation and managed to match the empire’s scale on a ratio of one to one. Gismondi’s work is so detail-oriented that every part of the model lines up perfectly with the map.
The enormous, more than 17 meters long, model gives us the accurate visualization of the ancient city. It also allows people to test their knowledge of historic landmarks.
Can you spot the Colosseum? Or the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline? Take a look at the photos of this detailed model and share which places you recognize in the comments below.
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This kind of dedication is truly inspiring.
The elevated aquaduct is cool.
Thanks. I was wondering what that was. I couldn't see the point of a wall with big gaps in it, but an aquaduct makes sense.
"The enormous, more than 200 meters long, model gives us the accurate visualization of the ancient city." I think this is a bad translation. It may be 200 square meters in area, but there is no way it is 200 meters long.
It actually is 16 × 16 meters.
Yeah, a person or something else to give a sense of scale would help. Perhaps a giant cat terrorising ancient Rome. Looks prettier than it does nowadays
Yes, wouldn't that be roughly 2 football fields long?
This is an amazing work of total dedication over a working lifetime. It’s difficult to even imagine doing one project for that long.
The people who lived then could never know what the city looked like from the air! We are so privileged these days.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
What about the builders who worked for the aliens. Im sure one of them got a ride in the fkying ssucer
" ... a sprawling 1:250 scale model displays the glory of ancient Rome. Known as the Plastico di Roma Imperiale" "The immense scope and detail of the Plastico, which measures 55 feet by 55 feet, has also been useful for filmmakers, including Ridley Scott, who included a few shots in his 2000 film, The Gladiator." (https://mymodernmet.com/scale-model-ancient-rome/) Now, 55 feet is about 16,75 meters and that makes this a huge model of Rome indeed but that ain't no 200 meters! However, maybe it is indeed some 20 meters long at some point.
Wow!!!! This is just incredible!!!! And 36 years! What a gift he/she gives history buffs too! I hope it ends up going, and the post may have said, but here is hoping it ends up in a museum or something for all who see it to enjoy.
Applause and hats-off!
I could stare at this model for hours!!
It's crazy how advance their architecture was.
It's even more amazing when you realize that many of these buildings are still in pretty good shape today, considering that they are more than 2000 years old. I used to live in Siena, Italy. The building I was living in was much older than the US. ;)
We always think of the passage of time as a progression. We think that, with the passage of time, our cities and societies can only get better. Rome is an example of how we can regress. A city to rival its might would not emerge for generations after its fall. It is important to remember this so that future generations do not look at models of our cities and think about what could have been if only we had not repeated the mistakes of Rome.
PERFECTION,AMAZING.
What even?!?!
This comment has been deleted.
Ancient Rome is fantastic
My worst thought wss how easily something that took so much time and effort could be destroyed... just by a clumsy tourist or something :0
I'd love to see this become an open-world action game.
This Museum has been closed for renovations since 1985. Ah, Rome will always be Rome.
FANTASTIC, Where in Rome is it displayed ?
feels like i want to live in there
This is really advanced for cities so long back
Well... It's Rome! :)
before or after Nero
I thought this is from GoT at first...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
How do we know how accurate it is? They've not dug up all of Rome and they don't have complete maps etc. Hmmm.
It was derived from the Forma Urbis Romae, which is a map made at in the third century BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forma_Urbis_Romae
The guy spent is life studying the city. And bear in mind that archeologists in Italy are anything but hacks. They know their stuff. So if the guy claims that it's the most accurate model of ancient Rome, I tend to believe him.
This kind of dedication is truly inspiring.
The elevated aquaduct is cool.
Thanks. I was wondering what that was. I couldn't see the point of a wall with big gaps in it, but an aquaduct makes sense.
"The enormous, more than 200 meters long, model gives us the accurate visualization of the ancient city." I think this is a bad translation. It may be 200 square meters in area, but there is no way it is 200 meters long.
It actually is 16 × 16 meters.
Yeah, a person or something else to give a sense of scale would help. Perhaps a giant cat terrorising ancient Rome. Looks prettier than it does nowadays
Yes, wouldn't that be roughly 2 football fields long?
This is an amazing work of total dedication over a working lifetime. It’s difficult to even imagine doing one project for that long.
The people who lived then could never know what the city looked like from the air! We are so privileged these days.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
What about the builders who worked for the aliens. Im sure one of them got a ride in the fkying ssucer
" ... a sprawling 1:250 scale model displays the glory of ancient Rome. Known as the Plastico di Roma Imperiale" "The immense scope and detail of the Plastico, which measures 55 feet by 55 feet, has also been useful for filmmakers, including Ridley Scott, who included a few shots in his 2000 film, The Gladiator." (https://mymodernmet.com/scale-model-ancient-rome/) Now, 55 feet is about 16,75 meters and that makes this a huge model of Rome indeed but that ain't no 200 meters! However, maybe it is indeed some 20 meters long at some point.
Wow!!!! This is just incredible!!!! And 36 years! What a gift he/she gives history buffs too! I hope it ends up going, and the post may have said, but here is hoping it ends up in a museum or something for all who see it to enjoy.
Applause and hats-off!
I could stare at this model for hours!!
It's crazy how advance their architecture was.
It's even more amazing when you realize that many of these buildings are still in pretty good shape today, considering that they are more than 2000 years old. I used to live in Siena, Italy. The building I was living in was much older than the US. ;)
We always think of the passage of time as a progression. We think that, with the passage of time, our cities and societies can only get better. Rome is an example of how we can regress. A city to rival its might would not emerge for generations after its fall. It is important to remember this so that future generations do not look at models of our cities and think about what could have been if only we had not repeated the mistakes of Rome.
PERFECTION,AMAZING.
What even?!?!
This comment has been deleted.
Ancient Rome is fantastic
My worst thought wss how easily something that took so much time and effort could be destroyed... just by a clumsy tourist or something :0
I'd love to see this become an open-world action game.
This Museum has been closed for renovations since 1985. Ah, Rome will always be Rome.
FANTASTIC, Where in Rome is it displayed ?
feels like i want to live in there
This is really advanced for cities so long back
Well... It's Rome! :)
before or after Nero
I thought this is from GoT at first...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
How do we know how accurate it is? They've not dug up all of Rome and they don't have complete maps etc. Hmmm.
It was derived from the Forma Urbis Romae, which is a map made at in the third century BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forma_Urbis_Romae
The guy spent is life studying the city. And bear in mind that archeologists in Italy are anything but hacks. They know their stuff. So if the guy claims that it's the most accurate model of ancient Rome, I tend to believe him.