The ancient Latin city of Gabii was a city-state that was both a neighbour of, and a rival to, Rome in the first millennium BC. Gabii is located in the region of Italy once known as Latium. The site of Gabii was occupied since at least the 10th century BC until its decline in the second and third centuries AD. Major excavations have been carried out on the cemetery of Osteria dell'Osa in Gabii. These tombs have been divided into 14 groups, with each group exhibiting a set of distinctive traditions and each believed to represent a different community which has settled in the area.
Sophisticated virtual technology will be used to project images and colours onto one of ancient Rome's monuments, in this unique event.The Ara Pacis, the emperor Augustus's altar to peace, is being restored to what could have been its original colours for a series of evening openings from February to April.
Ara Pacis will be available to view between 20:00 to 23:00 (last entrance at 22:00) on:
Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February 2010
Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March 2010
Friday 23, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April 2010
An exhibition about one of Italy's best-loved musicians, Fabrizio de André, is on show in the exhibition space under the Ara Pacis. Tickets to an evening view of the Ara Pacis in colour, as well as entrance to the museum, costs EUR9 (reduced tickets are EUR7).
The Ara Pacis Museum in Rome is a striking modern building designed by architect Richard Meier, which has been criticised for its lack of congruity with its historical surroundings.
It houses the Ara Pacis, or "Altar of Peace". The Ara Pacis is a stunning work of Roman art, which was discovered in the 1930s. It was commissioned in 13 BC to celebrate the return of Emperor Augustus from Gaul and Hispania.
The famous monument represents the Augustan golden age of the early empire and was excavated from several metres under Rome's busy main shopping street, via del Corso, during Italy's Fascist era in the 1930s. The fragments were reassembled and finally housed in a wooden structure in piazza Augusto Imperatore.
Submitted by Bija Knowles on Thu, 02/25/2010 - 11:06
Caravaggio was not a man of his time. As gay icon, father of modern painting and enigmatic artistic rebel, he speaks volumes to 21st century audiences visiting his current exhibition in Rome. The realism and drama that he transmitted onto canvas seem surprisingly fresh, while also connecting us with the feel and detail of life in the early 17th century.
But his portraits of youths - again, not typical of the early 1600s - seem to hark back to an era more than 1,000 years before his time. His sensuous appreciation of the male form, which scandalised his 17th century patrons, had more in common with Roman and Greek artistic traditions, which openly celebrated the male beauty, as well as pederastic relationships.
This exhibition puts on display some of the most famous antique bronzes from Rome including the bust of the Capitoline Brutus, from Rome's Capitoline Museums.
Identified as the portrait of Lucius Junius Brutus, the renowned first Roman consul (not to be confused with Brutus the duplicitous friend of Julius Caesar), it now forms the centrepiece of this intimate exhibition.
The bust is the stern portrait of a mature, bearded man and will be on show along side the earliest known drawing of the bust, from a sketchbook belonging to the Dutch painter Maarten van Heemskerck - already held in Berlin's Museum of Prints and Drawings. It will be the first time that both works are presented side by side.
Coins of Marcus Junius Brutus (Julius Caesar’s murderer), bearing the portrait of his legendary ancestor, explain how the head acquired its name in the Renaissance. The Brutus bust played a particularly fascinating role in the French Revolution: as the portrait of an indomitable Republican, who brought about the Roman Republic by ridding the state of the last Etruscan king, the bust served as catalyst and vindication for the execution of Louis XVI, as well as for the increasing radicalization of the Revolution.
Pope St Gregory I was the pope; the Bishop of Rome and thus leader of the Catholic Church, from the 3rd of September 590 until his death on the 12th of March 604. He was the first monk to become pope and was classified as the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers.
Pope Gregory I is well-known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors. Only two popes, Leo I and Gregory I, have been given the popular title of 'the Great'. He served in difficult times of barbarian invasions in Italy and when Rome was faced with famine and epidemics.
Just outside Tower Hill tube station is a statue of who is believed to be the Roman Emperor Trajan. It stands outside one of the last remaining pieces of the London Wall. The wall was built by the Romans to surround and protect Londinium. Trajan was the 13th Roman Emperor who reigned from 98 until his death in 117 AD.
Trajan is best known for his extensive public building programme, which reshaped the city of Rome and left multiple enduring landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column. His major campaigns as emperor were in 106 AD against the Dacians and against the Parthians in 113AD, which increased the Roman territory.
The statue was discovered in a scrap yard by a vicar in Southampton.
Submitted by Bija Knowles on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 10:41
Some 10 miles south-east of Rome, archaeologists have been excavating a site they believe was of great religious importance to the ancient Romans as well as to bronze-age communities. The dig at the sanctuary of Diana and Nemi (also known as Diana Nemorense), overlooking Lake Nemi, has found ceramic pieces dating from the 13th and 12th centuries BC, a stone enclosure and evidence that a large religious complex once existed there.
The archaeologists involved in the excavation, including Filippo Coarelli, a leading expert on ancient Rome and former professor of archaeology at the University of Perugia, believe that the site they've been examining in recent months could even be associated with the legend of the Trojan Aeneas.
Submitted by veigapaula on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 15:22
The ancient Egyptians were well aware of the properties of Frankincense, and used it to treat phlegm, asthma, throat and larynx infections that bleed, and for calming down vomiting. The inhalation of the melted stem relieves both bronchitis and laryngitis. But new research by immunologist Mahmoud Suhail suggests that it may contain properties that could cure cancer. Could the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians be scoured to revolutionise cancer treatment today?
Frankincense is grown in green valleys, on the other side of the Dhofar Mountains that catch India's summer monsoons, making the area a paradise in the Arabian Peninsula. Boswellia sacra was produced there as far back as 7000 BCE, locals say. Almost as long ago, the ancient Egyptians began importing the substance. The journey from what is now Oman to ancient Egypt must have been made millions of times by ancient caravanserai.
Normally as white as a bleached bone, the 
Caravaggio was not a man of his time. As gay icon, father of modern painting and enigmatic artistic rebel, he speaks volumes to 21st century audiences visiting his 
This exhibition puts on display some of the most famous antique bronzes from Rome including the bust of the Capitoline Brutus, from Rome's Capitoline Museums.
Some 10 miles south-east of Rome, archaeologists have been excavating a site they believe was of great religious importance to the ancient Romans as well as to bronze-age communities. The dig at the sanctuary of Diana and Nemi (also known as Diana Nemorense), overlooking Lake Nemi, has found ceramic pieces dating from the 13th and 12th centuries BC, a stone enclosure and evidence that a large religious complex once existed there.
