Light on archeology 2025

Having now become an unmissable and consolidated event, the series of meetings - with free entry - on history, archeology and art at the Argentina Theater, entitled Light on archaeology, also for the 2025 edition is characterized by an in-depth analysis of the themes, from a literary point of view , philosophical, journalistic, which underlines the cultural links between past and present.

This year's themes are "Religion, justice, destiny", which act as a common thread throughout the seven meetings of this XI edition. In fact, at the centre of the conferences we find the public spaces, the political dimension, the mythical universe, and how these alternate with the spaces of memory and identity to bring out how Rome and the classical world are today more than ever custodians of the beauty of ancient world.

We also remember the special event with a preview scheduled for Sunday 10 November at 11.00, dedicated to Julius Caesar and the curtain that closed with his assassination.

PREVIEW 10 November 2024 – free entry with reservations required

Luciano Canfora, University of Bari

Orazio Licandro, University of Catania

Caesar must die

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Brutus (bust)

THE MEETINGS

January 19th

Maurizio Bettini, University of Siena

Cicero, Antigone and “the oxen yokers”

Giovannella Cresci, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Antony at Caesar's funeral: new political communication strategies

Annarosa Mattei, Writer

Christina of Sweden, the myth of royalty and the cult of the ancient

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Tomb of Matilde of Canossa, St. Peter's

January 26th

Giovanni Brizzi, University of Bologna

Imperium. Power in Rome

Paolo Carafa, University of Rome La Sapienza

The city is reborn from the ashes. The face of Rome from Nero to Domitian

Monica Centanni, Iuav University of Venice

Augustus and the rex nemorensis: religious politics and political propaganda

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

Alma-Tadema, Claudius proclaimed emperor (1867)

February 2

Alessandro D'Alessio, Director of the archaeological park of Ostia antica

Spaces of the gods, spaces of men. Forms, functions and landscape(s) in the large Italian terraced sanctuaries

Francesca Rohr, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

The sons of the enemy, new instruments of Augustus' government

Dacia Maraini, Writer

Women of character in the early Christian era

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

Poussin, Et in Arcadia ego

February 16

Ivano Dionigi, University of Bologna

Seneca and the destiny of man

Massimo Osanna, General Director of MIC Museums

The hidden world of Pompeii

Livio Zerbini, University of Ferrara

Caligula: madness in power

Aldo Cazzullo, Journalist and Writer

An enlargement on the relationship between Virgil and Dante

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

Gustave Doré, Dante and Virgil in the ninth circle

March 9

Umberto Roberto, University of Naples, “Federico II”

In defense of a world: Diocletian's strenuous fight for the salvation of the Roman Empire

Lucrezia Spera, University of Rome Tor Vergata

The great imperial construction sites and the birth of Christian Rome

Fabio Pierangeli, University of Rome Tor Vergata

Candor, spirituality, justice. Cues from Pirandello

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

The frescoes of the Oratory of San Silvestro ai Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome

March 23

Massimiliano Ghilardi, Archaeologist, Associate Director of the National Institute of Roman Studies

The Jubilee of 1600 and the rediscovery of early Christian antiquities

Arnaldo Marcone, University of Roma Tre

Julian, a late ancient emperor

Angela Scilimati, Art Historian

Art history contribution: “Because I was sacrilegious and now I am a mystic. Salvador Dalì and the search for immortality through art”

Paolo Di Paolo, Writer

The ideal place to see if everything ends. Vidal, Fellini, eternity in Rome

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

Pietro da Cortona, The Rape of the Sabine Women (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

March 30th

Mariarosaria Barbera, former State Superintendent and Director of the archaeological park of Ostia antica

Women and war violence. A look at the ancient age

Massimo Cacciari, Philosopher, Essayist, Politician

Antigone today

Claudio Strinati, contributions on art history

the Deposition of Rosso Fiorentino in Volterra

Photo: official poster of the event