Journeys through Ancient Rome

From 22 May to 22 September, Journeys through Ancient Rome – Foro di Cesare returns, the extraordinary multimedia show that tells the millennial story of the fascinating archaeological area in the time of ancient Rome.

Between films and projections: travelling into history

You will be able to enjoy an exciting and informative performance of great historical and scientific rigour and the viewing of films, projections and videomapping that reconstruct the present archaeological area as it was in ancient Rome.

The show, with the possibility of listening to the narration in audio headphones in 8 languages - Italian, English, French, Russian, Spanish, German, Chinese and Japanese - unfolds along an itinerant route in four stages, lasting a total of approximately 50 minutes, including travel time.

The entrance, on Piazza della Madonna di Loreto, is located near Trajan's Column.

A staircase will lead you to the level of the archaeological area where you will be equipped with headphones. In groups, you will then cross the Trajan's Forum via a special footbridge and, through a tunnel that passes under Via dei Fori Imperiali, you will reach the Forum of Caesar with the remains of the Temple of Venus.

You will then continue to the Roman Curia and from there to the exit on Via dei Fori Imperiali, at Largo Corrado Ricci.

Buried secrets: between temples, tabernae and political intrigues

The narrative, accompanied by reconstructions and films, starts from the history of the excavations carried out between 1924 and 1932 for the building of the then Via dell'Impero (today Via dei Fori Imperiali), when a line-up of 1,500 people, including masons, labourers and workers, was mobilised for an unprecedented intervention: razing an entire district to the ground and excavating the entire area to reach the level of ancient Rome.

The narration gets to the heart of the story from the remains of the majestic Temple of Venus, built by Julius Caesar after his victory over Pompey, where you can relive the excitement of what life must have been like in Rome at the time, when officials, plebeians, soldiers, matrons, consuls and senators strolled under the porticoes of the Forum.

Among the remaining colonnades, the ancient tabernae, or offices and shops in the Forum, reappear, including the shop of a nummulario, a kind of exchange office of the time. At that time there was also a large public toilet, the curious remains of which can be seen today.

To build his Forum, Julius Caesar had an entire district expropriated and demolished at a total cost of 100 million aurei, the equivalent of at least 300 million euro. Next to the Forum he built the Curia, the new seat of the Roman Senate, a structure that still exists today and which, through a virtual reconstruction made with projections on its façade, you can see how it looked then, both outside and inside.

In those years, while Rome's power was growing by leaps and bounds, the Senate was greatly weakened, and it was precisely in this situation of internal crisis that Caesar was able to obtain exceptional and perpetual powers.

Thanks to this account, you can learn more about this intelligent and ambitious man, idolised by some, hated and feared by others.

Journeys through Ancient Rome - Foro di Cesare: tickets, Roma Pass and MIC Card

Tickets can be pre-purchased online at www.viaggioneifori.it or directly on site and at Tourist Infopoints located in various parts of the city.

Roma MIC Card holders are entitled to a reduced entrance fee.

The show is also part of the Roma Pass circuit.

The project, promoted by Roma Capitale, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, produced and organised by Zètema Progetto Cultura, benefits from the conception and curation of the unforgettable Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano, and from the Direzione Scientifica della Sovrintendenza Capitolina itself.

The programme may be subject to variations