2000id imperial fashion. ° By ANDREW L, SLAYMAN») = Vi, Saas hee) B | Excavation of the imperial forums, lef, is expected to cost the grandest archaeol world. Excavations under way since April 1998 are expos ing 150,000 square feet of the forums built by the emper ors Nena, Trajan, and Augustus, formerly covered by the Via delImpero, built in. 1932 as a parade ground for Mussolin’s. black-shirted The newly exposed forums will be a fitting archaeological centerpicce for Rome’s blockbuster celebration of the year 2000, pro: Gelebrated every 50 years, jubilee years derive from an ancient Jewish custom claimed a jubilee year by the pope s and forgiving debts. Conservative est mates put the number of pilgrims and tourists about to flood Rome at three times the annual number of vistors in recent years. Inaddition to the forums, archaeological projeets include the restoration and reopening of a wing of the Domus Aurea the emperor Nero's extravagant pala and the Museo Nazionale Romano (the national museum of Roman art, closed the drilling of Rome's most deeply buried layers in search of t city; and the restoration of the Colosseum, the Round closed sinee 19 1 of the earliest Temple in the Forum Boarium (the ancient cattle market Pa Hl an estimated $10.5 million and create the grandest archaeo- i logical park in the world, linking the forums of Caesar an ¢ Trajan with the grounds of the Temple of Peace. The vaults = ofthe Via dei Fori Imperial Street of the Imperial Forums), sp above, will be cleared of earth, creating ated above the park. near the Roman Forum), and the Ponte Fabricio (a Roman bridge span ning the Tiber still in use ee $ Bj EXPOSING THE FORUMS ee Te ose By directed by Silvana Rizzo for the Sovrintendenza ai Beni Culturali Superintendency for Cultural Trea sures), is the largest of the jubilee projects costing an estimated $10.5 million, When fi hed, three great n antiquity will ‘once again be joined: the Forum of Caesar, begun in 54 2. by Julius Caesar as an extension of the Roman F ounds of the Temple of Peace, dedicated in a,b. by the emperor Vespasian and decorated with spoils he Jewish War (A.0. 70-71); and the Forum of Trajan, built by the emperor hetween 4.b, 106 and 112, The vaults, supporting the Via dell Impero, now known as the Via dei Fori Imperiali (Street of the Imperial Forums), which eros he Temple of Peace and the comers of Caesar's and Trajan's into an aqueduct-like x way elevated above the vast archaeological park. Visitors will be able to wander through he vaults from forum to forum. Rizzo and her team have excavated the foundations of buildings that Mussolini demolished to make way for the Via del Impero, uncovering smooth, granite column drums from the Temple of Peace, Salvage archaeologists working in advance of Mussolini’ bulldozers in the ¢ have a chance to record the forums’ stra team, working at a more leisurely pace, has n Anenseotoy, Januanr/Fenauary 2000 In thes Befor now and Chry philo W thes wher ing dams Offi vatio enlis but (Golfrom Wi not ely ue too into contemporary buildings. In the process Rizzo has made some startin discoveries. Four circular tombs have been found in the southern part of the Forum of Caesar, dating to the end of the seventh or eatly sixth centuries Bc B ceame from descriptions of authors such as Cicero and Tacitus. Rizzo and her team have studied th remains of Republican residential structures razed to make room for the new monuments. Finally near the porch of the Temple of Peace, a first-cen tury A.D. bronze head of the Greek philosopher Chnsip bus has been unearthed. Chrysippuis’ stoic Rome's educated el What has not been adequately addressed by [i damage from pollution while riskin Officials lament the inadequate funding for preser SHORING UP THE DOMUS AUREA See ae roe ae olden House), built by the mad emperor Nero on. at fire of a.0. 64. The domus was regarded in antiquity as an obscene hills. "Imagine, for the sake of analogy, a private palace in Manhattan covering all of Central Park, Above, exposed columns ofthe Forum of Trajan. Left, the arch ‘of Emperor Septimius Severus, undergoing restoration, was erected in the Roman Forum in a0. 203. wuw.erecheeotogy.org aasonry, and installing ‘opened to groups of danger, cleaning frescoes, stabiliz new lighting. The pavilion has CLEANING THE COLOSSEUM }estoration is also under way at the Colosseum, built between A.b. 70 and 80 by the emperors Vespasian and Titus. The Roman amphitheater in the w Colosseum measures 620 by 512 feet and stands all, It was used for gladiatorial contests into the sixth cen ury, when its brick and conerete vaults began to be appro- priated for housing and workshops. Sometime in the First half ofthe four southern half of the outside wall, and the fallen blocks were used for construction elsewhere in the city nth century, an earthquake destroyed the The current conservation program, paid for by the eetails cleaning the stone, taking down remaining scaf folding, and stabilizing a number of vaults so that visi ean see more of the structure. In addition, accord; superintendent Adi La Reyna art of the ar ra lice will be rebuilt in oak, like the by the superint rence; Gcotan, Archaeal 7 Piers of the Ponte Fabricio, Rome's best preserved ancient bridge, are being restored ‘while Soot is removed. Right, a restorer traces an inscription atthe late-second: or early- first-century a, Round Temple, ‘the oldest marble building in ity, The temple has been oof to protect n capitals from SI — 5 eR incorporated alt by Trajan , 150 rooms of this wvilion are preserved underground in the near the Colosseum. (It was within the b though outs Aree aioe enact bird’s-eye-view fres ent city was found in 1998 Anciiarotocx, May/June 1998, p. 23 Discovered in the late fifteenth century and a tourist lestination ever since, the pavilion was elosed in 1983; th breath of thousands of vistors was causing its 320,000 square feet of frescoes (the largest concentration of crete were falling regularly from the ceiling. For 15 y inadequate funding prevented the superinten work, Money allowed for a system: 2 ARcHAEoLoey, Jamuany/ Feonuany 2000installing broups of lm built fsian and prld, the 157 feet fith een: eappro- the Fist foyed the ls were by th fndency Ihe scat tisitors floor eke ee 2000 Institute in Rome. The project will allow visitors appreciate the Colosseum from the gladiator’s poi of view (minus the risk of death FORTIFYING AN ANCIENT BRIDGE he Ponte Fabricio, the best preserved Romar bridge in is being clea restored, Built in 62 n.c. by Lucius Fabric missioner of roads, the bridge spans one branch of it divides around the Tiberine Island. It is more than 200 feet long, w the Tiber wh twoareh s, and built of stone and concrete faced with travertine, now largely gone. Over the years the Tiber’s current, particularly strong where it narrows passing the island, has damaged the bridge’ piers, ind the stone has aceumulated its fair share of RE-ROOFING A FAMOUS TEMPLE in Rome, owing its preservation at least in patt to its eon: narble building version intoa church during the Middle Ages. Long known as the Temple of Vesta simply because of its shape (her sanctuaries were often round), it is now commonly called the Temple of Hercules Olivarius ‘a monument mentioned ancient historians and in an inscription found nearby. It was designed in Greek style, probably by a Greek hitect, and built of costly Pentelic marble imporced from Greece; some of the columns were later replaced in Luna marble from Italy, presumably after being damaged Work on the Round Temple began in 1996 under the Filetici of the Archaeological and is expected to cost more direction of Maria Grazi Superintendeney of Rom Wuw.archseolosy.org Frescoes lke these ceiling decorations: ‘cover 320,000 squi Aurea pavilion. Closed for 15 years, the remains of Nero's extravagant palace have ‘eopened to small groups of visitors. feet of the Domus than $2.2 million, The First stage of the project involved replacing the old roof with a nes, wooden one to protec the Corinthian capitals of the portico from rain. Thanks to a $180,000 grant from the World Monuments Fund restorers cleaned and repaired the st ne walls of the eel the chamber inside the portico), including a fifteenth: century fresco, The project has since moved to the port co's columns. One capital was rebuilt almost from seratch bjection ho said that the restorers were going oo far. Other missing capital have been replaced with simple octagonal blocks. The WME will also be sponsoring the ‘on which the temple stands. m ANDnEW L. SLAvMAW is a former senior editor of ARCHAEOLOGY. 3