Journeys through Ancient Rome - 2 stories and 2 routes

After the huge success of last year, the "Forum of Augustus” returns and the project  for the enhancement of the Imperial Fora area gets bigger with an exciting new stage: “Forum of Caesar” by Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano.

FORO DI AUGUSTO The Forum of Augustus
While spacing on various aspects of the Roman world, the story is still anchored to the site of Augustus, creatively using the remains of the Forum to try to let the stones “speak” for themselves. Besides the faithful reconstruction of the area, with special effects of all kinds, the story focuses on the figure of Augustus, whose giant statue, over 12 meters high, dominated the area next to the temple.
A new period of Roman history started under Augustus: as a matter of fact the imperial age was one of great achievement, within a century Rome ruled over an empire which extended from current England to the borders of the modern Iraq, including most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. These achievements led to the expansion not only of the empire, but also of culture, technologies, legal rules, art. Traces of that past are still visible in all parts of the Empire, with amphitheaters, baths, libraries, temples, roads.
Besides, after Augustus many other emperors left their mark in the Imperial Fora building their own Forum.

Rome at that time had more than one million inhabitants: no city in the world had ever had a population of those proportions; only London in the XIX century reached that size. It was the great metropolis of antiquity: the capital of economics, law, power and entertainment.
The projects "The Forum of Augustus" and " The Forum of Caesar”, promoted by the Assessorato alla Cultura e al Turismo – Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali di Roma, are produced by Zètema Progetto Cultura, conceived and curated by Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano with the historic collaboration of Gaetano Capasso and the scientific guidance  of the Sovrintendenza Capitolina.
The idea behind the new project is to repeat the experience of enhancement of the "Forum of Augustus" and, through the use of cutting-edge technologies, to tell the story of the "Forum of Caesar" starting from stones, fragments and columns . Viewers will be accompanied by the voice of Piero Angela and some amazing videos and reconstructions that show places as they looked like in ancient Rome: a thrilling representation which combines historical and scientific rigor with entertainment.

Through special audio systems with headphones the spectators will listen to music, special effects and the story narrated by Piero Angela in 8 languages (Italian, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Japanese, German and Chinese).
The spectators will be accompanied by the voice of Piero Angela and by some amazing videos and reconstructions that show places as they looked like at the time of Augustus: a thrilling representation which combines historical and scientific rigor with entertainment.

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FORO DI CESARE The Forum of Caesar
The story narrated by Piero Angela, accompanied by reconstructions and videos, starts from the history of the excavations made for the construction of Via dei Fori Imperiali, when an “army” of 1,500 construction workers were mobilized in an unprecedented work: razing to the ground an entire neighborhood and digging out the area until the level of ancient Rome was reached.
Thus the story starts from the remains of the majestic Temple of Venus, built by Julius Caesar after his victory over Pompey, to lead the spectators into the excitement of the daily life in Ancient Rome, when officials, plebeians, militaries, matrons, consuls and senators strolled under the arches of the Forum. Ancient taberne reapper among these colonnades, they were used as offices and shops of the Forum and, among these, of particular interest is the shop of a nummulario, a sort of currency exchange point of the timeThere was also a large public toilet of which there are curious remains.
The visit seeks to evoke the role of the Forum in the life of the Romans but also the figure of Julius Caesar. To accomplish this great work, Caesar had to expropriate and demolish an entire neighborhood,  at the total cost of 100 million gold coins, the equivalent of at least 300 million euros. Caesar also wanted that the new headquarters of the Roman Senate, the Curia, was built right next to his court. A building that still exists and that, through a virtual reconstruction, you can review as it appeared at that time.
In those years, while the power of Rome grew dramatically, the Senate was very weakened and it was in this situation of internal crisis that Caesar was able to get special and perpetual political power. Through the story narrated by Piero Angela spectators will get to know more about this intelligent and ambitious man, idolized by some, hated and feared by others.

The projects "The Forum of Augustus" and " The Forum of Caesar”, promoted by the Assessorato alla Cultura e al Turismo – Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali di Roma, are produced by Zètema Progetto Cultura, conceived and curated by Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano with the historic collaboration of Gaetano Capasso and the scientific guidance  of the Sovrintendenza Capitolina.
The idea behind the new project is to repeat the experience of enhancement of the "Forum of Augustus" and, through the use of cutting-edge technologies, to tell the story of the "Forum of Caesar" starting from stones, fragments and columns . Viewers will be accompanied by the voice of Piero Angela and some amazing videos and reconstructions that show places as they looked like in ancient Rome: a thrilling representation which combines historical and scientific rigor with entertainment.

Through special audio systems with headphones the spectators will listen to music, special effects and the story narrated by Piero Angela in 8 languages (Italian, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Japanese, German and Chinese).
The story narrated by Piero Angela is accompanied by some amazing videos and reconstructions.
To watch the traveling show at the Forum of Caesar, the access will be through the staircase located near the Trajan’s Column.
To reach the Forum of Caesar the public will pass through the Forum of Trajan on a walkway and under the underground tunnel of the Imperial Fora, opened for the first time after the excavations of the last century.
The visit seeks to evoke the role of the Forum in the life of the Romans but also the figure of Julius Caesar.

Promoted by Roma Capitale - Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali

Produced by Zètema Progetto Cultura

Conceived and curated by Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano

Scientific guidance Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali