Troia e Roma. Miti, leggende, storie del Mediterraneo antico Troy and Rome: Myths, Legends, and Stories of the Ancient Mediterranean)

The exhibition Troia e Roma. Miti, leggende, storie del Mediterraneo antico (Troy and Rome: Myths, Legends, and Stories of the Ancient Mediterranean) currently open at the Flavian Amphitheater, is one of the largest exhibitions ever dedicated to the ancient city of Troy. It brings the historical complexity of an archaeological site long identified almost exclusively with myth back to the centre of scientific and cultural debate, and highlights its important connection to Rome.

The exhibition features more than 300 artifacts from some of Italy's leading museums and from Troy, many of which are being displayed in Italy for the first time. Thanks to the central role of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, over 220 works are on loan from 19 Turkish museums, 50 of which have never before been seen by the Italian public. The exhibition, introduced by a monumental replica of the Trojan Horse, allows visitors to compare the archaeological evidence essential to understanding the historical and mythical heritage of Troy with materials documenting the dissemination and reworking of the myth of Aeneas up until the founding of Rome. The result is a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the cultural and historical events of Troy and Rome, ideally reconnecting the threads of myth, legend, and historical reality in a unified narrative spanning three millennia of Anatolian and Italic civilization. The exhibition unfolds along a dual path, literary and archaeological, providing a critical and comparative reading of the sources available today.

The exhibition opens with a broad section dedicated to the historical, archaeological, and topographical reconstruction of the site of Troy, featuring a significant collection of artifacts from Turkish museums. This section also offers a unique overview of the Hittite world and the diverse cultural realities of Anatolia between the third and second millennia BCE. The second section is dedicated to the Trojan War, told from the perspective of the Trojans, with particular attention to the conflict's protagonists and key events. Ample space is given to the figure of Homer and the theme of the epic tradition, analyzed in its philological, historical, and anthropological aspects. The section concludes with the fall of the city – Ilioupersis - and the beginning of the diaspora centered on Aeneas. The third section delves into Aeneas's journey, reconstructed based on literary traditions - from Stesichorus to Virgil - and archaeological documentation. Particular emphasis is placed on Italian contexts, highlighting sites in southern Italy, Sicily, and Lazio associated with the Trojan hero's passage. The section also includes a reconstruction of Lazio between the 12th and 9th centuries BC, offering interpretative tools for historically contextualizing the myth. The fourth section is dedicated to the myth of Romulus and the founding of Rome, analyzing key traditions and presenting significant artifacts and figurative testimonies. It reconstructs the framework of archaic Rome and explores the process by which the Romans developed their Trojan origins, a central element in the construction of the city's political and ideological identity. The section concludes with a focus on the Augustan age, Virgil, and the canonization of the saga of Aeneas. Through the narrative of emblematic figures such as Paris, Helen, Priam, Hecuba, Cassandra, Hector, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, Patroclus, Aeneas, Lavinia, Ascanius, and Romulus, the exhibition offers a journey into the shared memory of the Mediterranean, highlighting the relevance of myths and stories that continue to form a bridge between past and present.

Promoted as part of the Mattei Plan for Africa and the Mediterranean, the exhibition therefore represents an important cultural diplomacy initiative aimed at strengthening relations between Italy and Turkey, promoting their historical and archaeological heritage as a tool for dialogue, sustainable development, and socioeconomic growth.

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