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The Museum of Roman Civilization (Italian: Museo della Civiltà Romana) is a museum in the Esposizione Universale Roma district of Rome devoted to aspects of Ancient Roman Civilization.

Quick Facts Established, Location ...
Museum of Roman Civilization
Museo della Civiltà Romana
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Established1952 (1952)
LocationPiazza Giovanni Agnelli 10, 00144 Rome, Italy
Coordinates41°49′55″N 12°28′41″E
TypeArchaeology, Art Museum
Websitewww.museociviltaromana.it
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The museum has been closed for renovation since 2014.

History and general introduction

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The museum from the outside

The museum was designed by the architects Pietro Ascheri, D. Bernardini and Cesare Pascoletti[1] (1939–1941). Its 59 sections[2] 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.

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Model of ancient Rome by Italo Gismondi
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Detail of the model of the Capitoline Hill

It houses, among other things:

The museum was closed for renovation in January 2014.[5] Work on the renovation was started in June 2017;[6] as of January 2024, no date has been announced for the reopening.

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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
  • 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 Constantine I)
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Il Plastico 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's Gladiator.

In the James Bond film Spectre, the marble colonnade of the museum doubled as a cemetery after the Archconfraternity of the Departed[7] confraternity barred the filming of a funeral scene at the Campo Verano cemetery.[8][9] The music video of the song "Cruel Summer" Ace of Base was also filmed at here in 1998.

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References

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