The Museum of Roman Civilization (Italian: ''Museo della Civiltà Romana'') is a museum in the

Esposizione Universale Roma EUR is a residential area and the major business district in Rome, Italy, part of the Municipio IX. The area was originally chosen in the 1930s as the site for the 1942 World's Fair which Benito Mussolini planned to open to celebrate twenty y ...

district of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

devoted to aspects of Ancient Roman Civilization. The museum has been closed for renovation since 2014.

History and general introduction

The museum was designed by the architects Pietro Ascheri, D. Bernardini and Cesare Pascoletti''The Buildings of Europe: Rome'', section 191, Christopher Woodward, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1995, (1939–1941). Its 59 sections illustrate the history of Roman civilization from its origins to the 4th century, with models and reproductions, as well as original material. The premises are shared with a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

. It houses, among other things: * a model of Archaic Rome (Room XVIII) * , a 1:250 scale model of ancient Rome in the age of

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

by Italo Gismondi (Room XXXVII-XXXVIII), derived from the early 3rd-century

Severan The Severan dynasty, sometimes called the Septimian dynasty, ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. It was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus () and Julia Domna, his wife, when Septimius emerged victorious from civil war of 193 - 197, ...

'' Forma Urbis Romae'' as updated by Lanciani and integrated with archeological discoveries. This model is made of

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

. The model was ordered by

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

in 1933 in honor of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

's 2000th birthday, was begun in 1935, and adjusted throughout Gismondi's life until 1971. * examples of late imperial and early Christian art * a complete sequence of casts of the spiral reliefs round Trajan's Column, arranged in horizontal rows at ground level to facilitate reading. * a reconstructed Roman library based on that in the Villa Adriana at Tivoli The museum was closed for renovation in January 2014, and work on the renovation was started in June 2017. As of January 2025, the design has been finalized, and the estimated date of completion is the second quarter of 2026. The official date of reopening, however, has not yet been announced.

Structure

There are three main itineraries through the museum: * Historical sections * Thematic sections * Model of Imperial Rome

Historical sections

*Room V-VI: Roman Legends and Primitive Culture - the origins of Rome *Room VII: The conquest of the Mediterranean *Room VIII: Caesar *Room IX: Augustus ** Lifesize copy of the pronaos of the Monumentum Ancyranum, the Temple of Augustus and Rome, Ankara, Turkey, including the ''

Res Gestae Divi Augusti ''Res Gestae Divi Augusti'' (Eng. ''The Deeds of the Divine Augustus'') is a monumental inscription composed by the first Roman emperor, Augustus, giving a first-person record of his life and accomplishments. The ''Res Gestae'' is especially sig ...

'' inscription ** Scale reconstruction model (1:100) of the Theatre of Marcellus, Rome ** Scale reconstruction model (1:20) of the Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie, France ** Scale reconstruction model (1:200) of the Pont du Gard, Nîmes, France *Room X: The family of Augustus and the Julio-Claudian emperors *Room XI: The Flavian Dynasty *Room XII: Trajan and Hadrian *Room XIII: The emperors from Antoninus Pius to the Severans *Room XIV: The emperors from Macrinus to Justinian *Room XV: Christianity *Room XVI: The army *Room XVIII: Model of archaic Rome

Thematic sections

*Room XXXVI: School *Room XXXIX: Living spaces *Room XLVI: Rights *Room XLVII: Libraries *Room XLVIII: Music *Room XLIX: Literature and science *Room L: Medicine and drugs *Room LI: Trajan's Column *Room LII: Industry and craft *Room LIII: Agriculture, herding and land management *Room LIV: Hunting, fishing and food *Room LV: Commerce and economic life *Room LVI: Art of rome

Model of Imperial Rome

*Room XXXVII-XXXVIII: Model of Imperial Rome (in the age of

)

Appearance in popular culture

is today the most important reference for any serious attempt of reconstruction of the Ancient Rome: it has been used for the "Rome Reborn 1.0" 3D Visualization Project (B. Frischer, Director, University of Virginia; D. Favro, Associate Director, UCLA; D. Abernathy, Director of 3D Modeling, University of Virginia; G. Guidi, Director of 3D Scanning, Politecnico di Milano). Gismondi's model can be seen also in a few shots of

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

''. In the 2015

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' Spectre'', the marble colonnade of the museum doubled as a cemetery after the ''Archconfraternity of the Departed'' confraternity barred the filming of a funeral scene at the Campo Verano cemetery. The colonnade was also featured in the 2024 film ''

Conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

''. The music video of the song "Cruel Summer"

Ace of Base Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group formed in 1987, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn, and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg. They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album, '' Happy Nation'', in 1992. L ...

was also filmed at here in 1998.

References

External links

*
Model of Archaic Rome
* {{authority control Museums in Rome Museums established in 1955 Museums of ancient Rome in Italy Museums of Dacia Rome Q. XXXII Europa 1955 establishments in Italy