D a r i u s A r y a D i g s

February 3 and 4, 2012 have been really special days.  After the snowfall in 2010, I didn’t think we’d get so lucky with a real dump again so soon.  Sure, it made life a bit tricky with the traffic but living in the center I was able to enjoy our location to the utmost and get around without a real commute.

Never one to shirk viewing ancient Rome, I was able to look out onto Campo de’ Fiori then  pop up to the Gianicolo for a glimpse as the snow came down on the 3rd and then over to the Pantheon, though poorly dressed. Feet and hands numb – took a while to get warmed up and dry.

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Saturday was another matter, as we dug out every pair of snow pants and mittens and hats.  My wife even cleverly reminded us to wrap plastic bags around our double-socked feet inside our boots to keep them dry.  It worked.

We trudged to Largo Argentina,  the Vittoriano, made snowman #1, then up the Campidoglio with views of the centro and Forum- my favorite view in the city, I’d say.

Then, down to the Via Fori Imperiali, snowman #2, a horrific view of  pigeons nestled in holes that riddle the firewall of the Forum of Augustus (!!!), over to a hot chocolate stop at Massenzio, then to the Colosseum, Arch of Constantine.

Finally, to some sledding in the Circus Maximus (the main objective of the walk for my 10 yr old- it’s what kept her going), and to the Forum Boarium, past the Tiber Island, and back home, by Campo de’ Fiori.
Full day, full stop.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring- fever or more sledding?

Posted in archaeology, conservation, Culture, Rome, sponsorship
Tags: Campidoglio, Campo de' Fiori, Circus Maximus, forum, history, Markets of Trajan, Pantheon, sledding, Snow, snowman, Vittoriano

Trick question.

view of the Palatine hill overlooking the Roman Forum

There is no city like Rome in the world– don’t get me started- that offers so much to so many disciplines spanning so many time periods, during which the city was either capital of an empire or center of a major religion. In both cases, both “empires” that form layer upon city to constitute the city’s rich fabric influenced western civilization is so many ways.  What was left behind, from ancient (Testaccio) and medieval garbage dumps (e.g. Montecitorio) to hulking ruinous palatial structures that encompass the entirety of the Palatine hill, in turn covered by Renaissance gardens and vineyards, is a testament to the greatness of Rome.

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Today, beyond the classics and study of the history of art and architecture, what does Rome offer? Plenty- a veritable feast for the eyes of the student of graphic design, media/ communications, journalism (travel, politics, culture), studio art, architecture-landscape-urban design, religious studies, anthropology, geology/ volcanology (think about it, the hills of Rome are the accumulation of ash dumped by volcanic eruptions of times past).  Students that study in Rome  at the American Institute for Roman Culture do not just confront collections and see the sites but also, thanks for AIRC’s vast and varied connections and relationships with city and national authorities (e.g. Ministry of Culture, superintendencies) entry into a world of one-of-a-kind experiences, meeting with experts, seeing their projects, and participating.   That is what we do best; that is why I am here.  A quick example is filming history– a fantastic way to engage culture. Another is writing about Rome, but only after gaining access to a site being inaugurated or speaking with some of the top Italian and foreign journalists that reside here.  That’s the difference, not to mention our ongoing AIRC excavation, conservation project, annual conference in cultural heritage, and video production, all of which create a web of related experiences for students in love with Rome, Italian culture, and engaging the past in the contemporary city.

The list goes on.  What we’ve done in our new programs at the American Institute for Roman Culture is promote and foster experiences in Rome’s rich heritage culture that allow study abroad students dig deeper– engaging the past for their own contemporary endeavors.  In colloquial Latin,  film, journalism, ancient Rome and its art and architecture, or for those with advanced background in classics, pushing the limits on a more in-depth level.  Or even allowing you to roll up your sleeves and excavate with us at Ostia Antica (with limited intervention trenches)- a unique experience, in and of itself, to which we marry a related conservation project at Ostia. (For the project, just see this teaser video.)  Talk about a full circle sustainability project. If archaeology is destruction of the archaeological record (thoroughly documented, of course), what more fulfilling experience for archaeology students than have them finish the season with completing a conservation project for the improvement of Ostia!  And don’t take my word for it; our programs director sums it up best here.

Posted in Rome

What role does video have in cultural heritage preservation?  Quite a lot, I’d have to say.   One thing to keep in mind is that video is a pretty cheap medium (e.g., HD video cameras and a tripod).  So, to get more bang for your buck, a video can say a lot about your heritage project and reach a wider audience than just an academic paper or presentation.  If a picture is worth a 1000 words, what is a good video worth?  Quite a bit more.  You can gain access into the trenches (literally) and explore the ins and outs with the directors, who are contextualizing the issues at hand, finds discovered, and providing a view firsthand of the conservation issues.  This is not just reaching the individual but the mass audience interested in cultural heritage, and it’s that large audience that will have a great impact on the eventual preservation of the site.  And the video is not meant to replace the great scientific work conducted but to enhance it and garner more interest and support in the given project.  Cultural heritage is meant to be seen and experienced, not so easily conveyed with words and photos. (Just see our recent videos for FastiONLINE. )

I was pleased to present on November 26  “Podcasting culture: the role of video in heritage preservation” with my AIRC colleague Alberto Prieto at the recent AUR and BSR-hosted conference “Our Future’s Past“,  a conservation/ cultural heritage conference in Rome, a 3-day conference in Rome.  Among others were colleagues from many disciplines (business, tourism, conservation, archaeology, etc.):  the British School of Rome, most particularly, the Herculaneum Conservation Project, ICCROM (headquarted in Rome), World Monuments Fund, and other individuals, such as Jessica Stewart (Context Rome), Laurie Rush (Dpt. of Defense) who presented at our last year’s Unlisted Conference.

I’ll post a video of our presentation in the coming week!

Posted in archaeology, conservation, Culture, Documentaries, Rome, sponsorship
Tags: british school in Rome, context rome, cultural heritage, documentary, Fastionline, film, herculaneum conservation project, iccrom, video, video documentary, wmf

Time for a look at the 12 Caesars again– one in particular– Caligula, though it’s hard to beat Suetonius’ account and Michael Graves’.  Part of the fascination with this Roman emperor is from previous “classic” films (i.e., Caligula, I Claudius) and part from his somewhat enigmatic (not much remains of his actions in the archaeological record) and outrageous, brief reign (37-41).  I’ve covered Gaius (as he was properly known) before in Ancients Behaving Badly (History Channel- Blink productions), a riff on antiquity’s worst rulers, but there’s so much more to say- and I was glad when NorthSouth Productions contacted me about the two hour special they are producing for History Channel.

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Of course a  good area to start is the Roman Forum– and place dear to my heart- with our past dig– though the true expert on site of the “Domus Gai” (Caligula’s notorious pad) is Henry Hurst of Cambridge University (recently retired) whom I happily ran into a few days ago in Campo de’ Fiori.  Our work (excavation: post aedem Castoris with colleagues from classics departments at Stanford and Oxford) near Hurst’s site did launch AIRC and its eventual study abroad program, and formalized our relationship with the Italian soprintendency and Ministry of Culture.  So we owe a lot to the domicile of Caligula. Our work revealed, in conjunction with Hurst’s study, that the projecting structures under the Domitianic portico of the so-called Augusteum/ library complex did indeed come very close to the back end of the Castors’ temple. Among bonuses to the dig were the remains of 7th century BC housing! Needless to say there are few places in the world with the complexity of the Forum’s stratigraphy!

So, it was a nice production this November- with filming on the Palatine, as well as a full day at Herculaneum, a beautiful setting for discussing antiquity, especially after the conclusion of the Herculaneum Conservation Project.   I was pleased that a fellow local Roman- Katie Parla is also in the production, filming in Pozzuoli. Looks like a great show- due out this spring!

Posted in archaeology, conservation, Documentaries, excavation, Rome, sponsorship
Tags: Caligula, herculaneum, History Channel, Katie Parla