“The Forum of Augustus. 2000 Years Later” Project Brings Lights on the Forum

From Monday 21st April, on the occasion of the 2767th Birthday of Rome, the lights will turn on the Forum of Augustus and “The Forum of Augustus. 2000 Years Later” project, promoted Roma Capitale, Gabinetto del Sindaco, Assessorato alla Cultura, Creatività e Promozione Artistica – Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali and produced by Zètema Progetto Cultura, conceived and curated by Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano with the historic collaboration of Gaetano Capasso.

The project is self-financed through the sale of tickets and will not require any economic intervention by the local public Administration.

A project of great international appeal, that is part of the celebrations for the two thousandth anniversary of the death of Augustus (19 August, 14 AD) and of the enhancement of the Imperial Fora realized with the contribution of the following banks: BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas, UniCredit and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Using the latest technology, the project will illustrate in a forcible manner the archaeological site located along Via dei Fori Imperiali and adjacent to Via Alessandrina starting from on site stones, fragments and columns. Viewers will be accompanied by the voice of Piero Angela and the wonderful archive footage and reconstructions that will show the places as they appeared at the time of Augustus: an exciting depiction and at the same time full of great information, combining historical and scientific rigor.

The event will be repeated every night from 21st April to 21st October 2014 (from Monday to Sunday at 21, 22 and 23,  lasting 40 minutes, for max 200 people) and may be replicated in subsequent years. The story narrated by Piero Angela will be heard through an audio-guide in 5 languages other than Italian (English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Japanese), while music and special effects will be provided by appropriate sound systems with headphones.

The stands designed to accommodate the public and the necessary technical equipment (lights, projectors, computers, etc.) will be provided, in accordance with the Sovrintendenza Capitolina, with the aim to minimize the visual impact on the archaeological area. Arranged in two parallel rows, the stands will be located entirely within the sidewalk area of Via Alessandrina and composed of 7 modules interrupted by a double flight of stairs, for a total height of about 2.60 mt plus 1 meter high parapet. This solution will have less impact on the view from Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Forum of Augustus.

While ranging over various aspects of the Roman world, the story will be centred around the site of Augustus, creatively using the remains of the Forum. In addition to the faithful reconstruction of the area, with all kinds of special effects, the story will focus on the figure of Augustus, whose giant (12 meters high) statue, dominating the area next to the temple. Under Augustus, Rome began a new period of its history: the Imperial age was, indeed, a period of great exansion, and in a century it brought Rome to rule over an empire stretching from current England to Iraq, including most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. This will be an opportunity to show it was not only a question of expansion for the Empire, but also of a great civilization, which also brought culture, technology, legal rules, art. Traces of this past (amphitheatres, baths, libraries, temples, roads) still remain in all parts of the Empire.

After Augustus, moreover, many other emperors left their trace in the Imperial Fora, building their own Forum. Rome at that time had more than one million inhabitants: it was the first city in the world to reach such proportion, London reached it only in the XIX century. It was the great metropolis of antiquity: the capital city of economy, law, power, fun: it was the New York city of its age.