Rome opens House of the Gryphons and other restricted sites to summer visitors

In attempts to lure more tourists to the archaeological sites of Rome, the Italian government has managed to divert money normally spent on staff bonuses and special projects to security details to monitor public access to sites that have been closed to the public for decades. I just hope they allow people to take time to fully appreciate the remnants of ancient art on display.

[Image - Mural from the triclinium of the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, Roman, 1st century CE, exhibited at the Palazzo Massimo, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome, Italy. Photograph by Mary Harrsch]

When I visited the newly excavated rooms of the Villa of Augustus on the Palatine Hill this spring, I had to stand in a long queue only to be hustled through the viewing area for the rooms, which were sealed off with glass, and denied the opportunity to photograph anything even without a flash. I could not fully appreciate the detail of the frescoes or anything else with such a quick glance. I had intentionally looked for the Egyptian motifs that I had seen discussed on a History Channel presentation but could not readily identify them without more time to examine the frescoes more carefully. I imagine the visitors who came in the height of tourist season would have been given even less time to make the tightly controlled circuit through the remains with queues probably four times as long.

At least I was able to take all the time I wanted to examine and photograph the beautiful garden frescoes that once adorned the subterranean triclinium of the Villa of Livia now displayed in the Palazzo Massimo venue of the Museo Nazionale Romano (see image above left). I had a special low-light camera with me this time so was able to take a number of detail images of the lush foliage, flowers, fruit trees and birds that comprise that stunning work. The totally encompassing painting must have truly soothed the empress' guests with its pastoral calm. I would have loved to have toured the villa itself.

Among the attractions that await visitors is the House of Livia, once the home of the wife of the emperor Augustus. The two-story structure has been closed for more than two decades, but until October it will be open every Tuesday.

Buried under the ruins of the Domus Flavia, built by Nero and Domitian, are the remains of the so-called House of Gryphons, one of the most important residences of Republican Rome. Excavated in 1912, it is virtually unknown outside academic circles. It too is now open on Tuesdays.

Behind its massive original bronze doors, the misnamed Temple of Romulus in the Roman Forum (it was probably the Temple of Jupiter Stator) shows evidence of the gradual merging of pagan religions with the Christian usurper. Like the so-called Oratory of the 40 Martyrs, decorated with eighth-century frescoes of soldiers who perished in frozen waters in Armenia, the temple is now open on Fridays.

[Image - Temple of Romulus in the Forum Romanum. Photo by Mary Harrsch]

One relatively modern attraction is the Loggia Mattei, which dates from the Renaissance, when some aristocratic families colonized the Palatine with landscaped gardens and small villas, often absorbing Roman ruins. Frescoes from a hall dedicated to the cult of Isis, the Egyptian goddess, have been brought here from another site on the Palatine. The loggia, built in the 16th century, was briefly open in 1997, Ms. Tomei said, “but even then we didn’t have enough custodians. Since then it’s fallen into oblivion.”

The ancient frescoes abut the newer loggia, which was painted by the workshop of Baldassare Peruzzi with mythological scenes. The decoration includes 12 roundels with signs of the Zodiac, panels that belong to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. - More: New York Times

Script pending on "Rome" series movie wrapup!

I was browsing Steven Saylor's website today and saw a blurb about Bruno Heller working on a movie script for "Rome" to serve as a decent wrapup of the original HBO miniseries.

[Image: Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo. Courtesy of HBO]

I am ecstatic! Like many "Rome" fans, I couldn't believe HBO made such a monumental mistake when they canceled the series. I guess HBO has come to that realization as well:

"The lavish period drama ran for two seasons on HBO, which co-produced the series with the BBC. With the final season of "The Sopranos" as its lead-in, the first season was solidly rated. But the show's hefty $100 million production cost presented the network with a tough call on the pickup. HBO opted for a second season to help get more value from its initial investment but not a third, effectively canceling the show in summer 2006 before the second season debuted the following January. The "Rome" sets were destroyed, and the actors were released from their contracts, making the network's decision all but irreversible.

But season 2 of "Rome" was a surprise. Although slightly lower rated than the first, the show did much better than HBO expected without its "Sopranos" lead-in (averaging roughly 6.5 million viewers, nearly the same as "True Blood"). Plus it won awards, which is important to a pay network that attracts subscribers by offering premium programming: Post-cancellation, the first season received four Emmy Awards, and then another seven Emmys were heaped upon the final season.

Suddenly "Rome" was a Greek tragedy: a successful show with no future. The broadcast nets quickly snatched up the show's leads for top fall pilots.

HBO executives have since admitted that axing the show probably was a mistake. - More: The Live Feed

Apparently, Heller is considering picking up the story some years later in Palestine.

"Heller would not discuss plot ideas, but the original series outline for "Rome" next called for the hedonistic Roman leaders to deal with the rise of a certain problematic rabbi -- a story line that would have put a new Roman-perspective spin on the Greatest Story Ever Told and potentially bring "Rome" a larger audience." - - More: The Live Feed

I'm not sure this tactic would attract any religious viewers (if that's what Heller means) unless Heller tones down the visceral reality factor in the series. I hope he doesn't do that, though, for the sake of broadening audience appeal. It's the gritty nature of the series that made it stand out from the syrupy visions of the ancient world of many previous sword and sandal flicks. Of course its outstanding production qualities certainly helped as well. It garnered emmys for art direction, cinematography, costumes, hair design (must have been all of those wonderfully outrageous styles and wigs worn by Atia!) and visual effects.

I also found a brief interview on MovieWeb with actor Ray Stevenson who played Pullo in the HBO miniseries indicating the script is nearing completion:

Is the Rome movie still moving ahead?

Ray Stevenson: Apparently so. It is no longer a smoke and mirrors rumor. The script is in full development. As you are probably aware, this is a pretty strange process. We could go into production in a year, or it could be as quick as six months. Who knows? It will happen. At least it is no longer a rumor. From what I have heard, they are nearing the end of script development. We shall see. We shall see.

How excited are you to go back and play Titus all over again.

Ray Stevenson: I can't wait to dust off the cobwebs of old Pullo. The guy is going to come in with a high body count. I love Pullo. I love him to pieces. I had such a great time playing him. And I got to do it in Italy and Rome. He is very special to me. He is a very special part of my history. I was very blessed to get that part. - More: MovieWeb

I'll keep my fingers crossed and my eyes peeled! 2010 looks like its going to be my kind of year with a "Rome" movie sequel, "Agora", a movie about Hypatia starring Rachel Weisz and a Spartacus series on Starz!

Romans capture most slots on 10 most extravagant emperors list

I see that Roman emperors captured six of the 10 slots for Times Online's list of ten most extravagant emperors. I do wish professional journalists would at least get the facts straight, though.

[Image - Bust of Commodus dressed as Hercules in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Photo by Mary Harrsch]

In the brief recap on Caligula, the Times repeated the myth that Caligula made his horse a consul. But classicist Michael Grant disavowed this oft quoted tale:

"Since the beginning of his reign Caligula had spent lavishly on public shows, games, and displays (sometimes even participating in them himself); in the most extravagant of these, he had hundreds of ships tied together to make a temporary floating bridge so that he could ride across the Bay of Naples on horseback. By 39, the public treasury was near bankruptcy. Therefore, at the beginning of the year Caligula revived the treason trials that had become so unpopular under Tiberius; he also began other methods of raising public money, including the auctioning off of public properties left over from shows. Many of these revealed his strange sense of humor (e.g., at one of these auctions a senator fell asleep and Caligula took each of his nods as bids, selling him 13 gladiators for a huge sum). In the words of historian Michael Grant, “Caligula had an irrepressible, bizarre sense of the ridiculous, deliberately designed to shock, but frequently taken by his alarmed subjects too seriously. Notoriously absurd traditions . . . such as the story that he intended to give a consulship to his favorite horse Incitatus no doubt originated from his continual stream of jokes. Probably he remarked that Incitatus would do the job as well as most of the recent incumbents; and meanwhile he ordered silence in the entire neighborhood, to prevent the horse from being disturbed” (The Twelve Caesars, [New York: Scribner, 1975], 113). Some of his jokes were more sadistic, as when he arranged an oratory competition in which all the losers had to erase their wax tablets with their tongues." - More: Vroma.org

The Times also mentioned how Nero was famous for fiddling (playing the lute) while Rome burned - another myth circulated at the time by his political enemies. They also portrayed him as obese. His appearance was certainly bizarre for the head of a militarily-based empire:

“He was of average height, fair-haired, with features that were pretty rather than handsome, weak blue eyes, a fat neck, pot belly, skinny legs, and a body which smelt and was covered with spots. . . . He was so insensitive about his appearance that he used to wear his hair in rows of curls, and when he was on his Greek trip he let it grow down his back. He usually appeared in public in a dressing-gown without a belt, a scarf round his neck, and no shoes.” (Suetonius, Nero 51)

I don't think I would classify him as "pretty" if he looked anything like this digital recreation by Richard Sebring though.

[Image courtesy of The Romans]

The summary for Commodus mentioned that he battled gladiators in the nude in public. I don't think I had ever heard of that before so I checked the Historia Augusta and all I could find there were references to his impropriety, so charged for dressing as a woman:

"Such was his prowess in the slaying of wild beasts, that he once transfixed an elephant with a pole, pierced a gazelle's horn with a spear, and on a thousand occasions dispatched a mighty beast with a single blow. 4 Such was his complete indifference to propriety, that time and again he sat in the theatre or amphitheatre dressed in a woman's garments and drank quite publicly." - Historia Augusta

Commodus had some really nasty dining habits, however:

"It is claimed that he often mixed human excrement with the most expensive foods, and he did not refrain from tasting them, mocking the rest of the company..." - Historia Augusta

and he did not shy away from humiliating his his praetor prefect:

"He pushed into a swimming-pool his praetor prefect Julianus,85 although he was clad in his toga and accompanied by his staff; and he even ordered this same Julianus to dance naked before his concubines, clashing cymbals and making grimaces." - Historia Augusta

Although the Historia Augusta is considered severely biased, the list it provides of Commodus' offenses would certainly place Commodus above Caligula in brutality in my book.

The Times list also includes Hadrian, one of the five "good" emperors, apparently for his lavish construction of his 250-acre villa in Tivoli.

[Image -Bust of the Roman Emperor Hadrian found at Heraklion on Crete 127-128 CE now in the permanent collection of The Louvre. Photo by Mary Harrsch]

However, it should be pointed out that Hadrian did not accumulate his wealth by butchering other wealthy Romans like Commodus. On the contrary, Hadrian was known for his generosity:

Hadrian gave large sums of money to communities and individuals. He allowed the children of proscribed individuals to inherit part of the estate. The Augustan History says he wouldn't take legacies from people he didn't know or from people with sons who could inherit. He wouldn't allow maiestas (treason) charges. He tried in many ways to live unassumingly, like a private citizens. - More: About.com

Hadrian even paid 900,000,000 sesterces in back taxes to the Roman treasury.

"He remitted to private debtors in Rome and in Italy immense sums of money owed to the privy-purse,66 and in the provinces he remitted large amounts of arrears; and he ordered the promissory notes to be burned in the Forum of the Deified Trajan,67 in order that the general sense of security might thereby be increased. 7 He gave orders that the property of condemned persons should not accrue to the privy-purse, p25and in each case deposited the whole amount in the public treasury. 8 He made additional appropriations for the children to whom Trajan had allotted grants of money.68 9 He supplemented the property of senators impoverished through no fault of their own, making the allowance in each case proportionate to the number of children, so that it might be enough for a senatorial career;69 to many, indeed, he paid punctually on the date the amount allotted for their living. 10 Sums of money sufficient to enable men to hold office he bestowed, not on his friends alone, but also on many far and wide, 11 and by his donations he helped a number of women to sustain life. 12 - Historia Augusta

As commander in chief he also ensured that the army was properly equipped and money wasn't squandered on poorly made equipment or tainted supplies:

"...he strove to have an accurate knowledge of the military stores, and the receipts from the provinces he examined with care in order to make good any deficit that might occur in any particular instance. But more than any other emperor he made it a point not to purchase or maintain anything that was not serviceable." - Historia Augusta

So, although Hadrian spent a lot of money on innumerable projects, he apparently spent his own money - not money confiscated from his fellow Romans like Commodus or Caligula. I couldn't find any references to how Hadrian accumulated his wealth. It must have been a combination of inherited wealth and tribute paid by conquered tribes either to Hadrian himself or to Trajan that was then passed on to Hadrian upon his adoption.

Lod mosaic restoration funded by Leon Levy Foundation and private collector

Mosaics are one of the most beautiful and enduring legacies of the Roman Empire so I am always thrilled when one is uncovered, or, in this case, slated for restoration and exhibition.

[Image - A worker for Israel's Antiquities Authority washes a 600- square foot Roman mosaic, circa 300 A.D., after it was unveiled in Lod, central Israel. AP Photo by Sebastian Scheiner.]

Israeli archaeologists unveiled one of the largest and best preserved mosaics ever found in the country Wednesday, for only the second time since it was discovered more than a decade ago.

The 600-square-foot (56 square meter), 1,700-year-old Roman floor mosaic was found in 1996 during an archaeological dig in the town of Lod near Tel Aviv.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority covered the mosaic back up, though, because it lacked funding to properly protect it, said Miriam Avisar, the archaeologist who first unearthed the mosaic.

That changed with a recent $2.5 million joint gift from the Leon Levy Foundation and antiquities collector Shelby White to fund construction of a new center to house the mosaic in Lod. The center is set to open in 2012, said Jacque Neguer, head of art conservation at the Antiquities Authority.

Antiquities Authority workers slowly rolled a thick covering off the massive mosaic Wednesday and began a laborious cleaning process using water and soft sponges. After the cleaning is completed, they'll transport the entire mosaic to Jerusalem for a lengthy preservation process.

The mosaic is made up of more than two million small stones and covered with detailed pictures and geometric shapes.

"The decorative elements are extremely rich and well executed," Neguer said. "We have hunting scenes, lions and giraffes from Africa, and scenes of the sea with ships and fish."

The mosaic is similar to others found in Tunisia and elsewhere in North Africa, Neguer said, indicating the owner or artist may not have been from Israel. - More: Associated Press

I have photographed several hundred Roman mosaics in my travels. Although I am still in the post-production process on a number of images from my most recent trip to Rome in March 2009, you may view others that I have uploaded to Flickr here.

A couple of years ago I attended a fascinating exhibit of North African mosaics at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California. The following books were recommended for further study and I found them quite interesting:

Will Underground Rome Be Visitor Friendly?

I'm glad more of "hidden" Rome is opening to the public - just unfortunate that it didn't happen by the time of my visit in March. I can't help but wonder, though, if these new visitor viewing opportunities are motivated more by commercial interest rather than a desire to share cultural heritage.

[Image: 2nd century CE guardroom. Image courtesy of Times Online]

I was dismayed by the number of "admission" gates that have sprung up all over Rome since my first visit in 2005. Even the Forum Romanum is gated now - the symbolic gathering place for the Res Publica since ancient times. I realize conserving antiquities is expensive but some efforts to milk the tourists have really gotten to the point of ridiculous. The new museum encompassing Trajan's market has but a handful of artifacts on display but commands an admission price equal to that of the Capitoline Museum. I guess they have to pay for the new glass-doored elevator that takes people down to the lower level of the market. But most of the market was visible from the street before and the new visitor viewing areas don't let you get much closer now. I was also disappointed with the Archaeobus. The sound system for the little ear buds was so poor you couldn't hear anything above the road noise. The bus careened through the streets at a speed that made appreciation of the drive a challenge. Buses were scheduled 30 minutes apart which made coordination difficult when tours of the catacombs themselves took 30 minutes, so by the time you emerged you just missed the next bus and had to spend a lot of time waiting. The buses did not stop at each venue. You had to be prepared to buzz the driver if you wished to disembark and, if no one was standing by the bus sign, the buses just roared by. I realize this is how city buses often operate but this method is not visitor friendly for tourists who don't know exactly where to get off or are participating in tours at some of the venues.

When I was in York several years ago, I used the hop-on hop-off bus there and enjoyed the convenience and the friendly conversation of the bus driver who pointed out historical sites along the way. The drivers watched for tourists who appeared to be headed for the bus stop even if they had not yet made it and waited a few minutes. The buses were also about 15 minutes apart so even if you missed one bus you didn't have to stand around too long waiting for the next. The operators of the Archaeobus would do well to discuss service issues with the operators of the hop-on hop-off bus in York.

"Visitors to Rome will soon be able to discover a world of ancient treasures beneath their feet when the city opens dozens of previously unseen underground sites to the public.

They include the Ludus Magnus, the barracks beneath the Colosseum where gladiators assembled before entering the great arena to meet their fate; the well-preserved necropolis of Santa Rosa at the Vatican, with tombs from the 1st to the 5th centuries, and pagan temples.

Tourists can also explore the frescoed 2nd century Temple of Mithras, the pagan cult, beneath the 17th Century Palazzo Barberini, which houses one of Rome’s foremost art collections.

Francesco Marcolini, the head of Zetema, the cultural foundation in charge of the project, said that next year 15 more underground sites would be added, including a Jewish necropolis in the grounds of Villa Torlonia, formerly the Rome residence of Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator.- More: Times Online

Roman Antiquities Centerpiece of Musée des Antiquités Nationales

When I was in Paris last summer, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Greek, Roman, and Etruscan galleries at the Louvre. As a photographer, I was glad I wasn't having to dodge the crowds of visitors I encountered upstairs in the gallery containing the Mona Lisa. I was able to take my time and captured some excellent shots of the beautiful antiquities displayed there. I didn't really stop to wonder why so few visitors loitered in those spacious halls.

"It’s one of the best collections in the world and hardly anyone comes,” said Ludovic Laugier, a curator at the Louvre. “I want to stop people and say, ‘Look, look at what you’re missing!’"

Now, I find that I, too, missed an entire museum dedicated to Roman artifacts of ancient Lutetia (Paris). I thought I had covered most of the major museums in Paris. I may have to plan a return trip after all!

[Image - Fibula with cameo Roman 7th century C.E., gold, garnets, glass, cameo Charnay (Saône-et-Loire). Courtesy of Musée des Antiquités Nationales]

The Musée des Antiquités Nationales (Place Charles de Gaulle, St.-Germain-en-Laye; 33-1-3910-1300; http://www.musee-antiquitesnationales.fr) is even less frequented. The museum, originally a chateau rebuilt by Francis I in the 16th century, was founded in the 1860s by Napoleon III, a history and archaeology buff who was obsessed with ancient Rome.

On display are a multitude of objects from Roman daily life: agricultural and carpentry tools, cooking pots and utensils, gold jewelry, sewing needles, surgical instruments, hunting lances, coins, musical instruments and playing dice. For a woman’s toilette, I found hand mirrors, perfume bottles, tweezers, a scraper to wipe off sweat, even an applicator for face powder in the shape of a human finger.

Patrick Périn, the museum’s director, showed me his favorite statue: a crude, grim-faced Mercury, carved not in fine marble, but in limestone. “He is the ugliest thing, a typical Gaul, in rough Gallic dress, not a Roman,” Mr. Périn said. “But look at his kind face. I love him.” - More: NY Times

CT scans reveal Roman Mass Production Techniques

New research shows that, like so many other things in our world, mass production techniques like assembly lines were used thousands of years before Henry Ford by the ingenious Romans! Only time will tell if the manufacturing process was invented in Rome or adapted from a culture conquered by the Romans.

I have a little miniature replica of a jointed Roman doll that I purchased on my last visit to the Getty Villa. I have seen other Roman dolls in other museum collections and notice that they all have very similar faces. I wonder if the Romans had their own version of Mattel as well?

[Image: Roman ivory doll; Photo courtesy Dr. Barbara F. McManus, VRoma.org]

German scientists disclosed Friday new evidence that the ancient Romans used mass-production methods to make metalwares at lesser cost, just like modern factories do. A close study of a 28-centimetre-tall bronze figure of the god Mercury made in the 2nd century AD, found on a dig at Obernburg, showed it was hollow - an indication of cost cutting - and that its legs were made separately, indicating some kind of assembly line to exploit economies of scale. Technical University of Munich scientists at the FRM-II research nuclear reactor in Garching near Munich blasted the statue with neutrons to reveal metal joins that are invisible to X-rays. - More: EarthTimes