Civis Civitas Civilitas: Roman Plaster Models at Trajan's Markets

The exhibition 'Civis Civitas Civilitas' opened at Trajan's Markets in Rome, running until September 6, 2020. It uses plaster models created in the 1930s for the bimillennium of Augustus's birth, previously displayed at the Museum of Roman Civilization until its closure in 2014. While the museum undergoes renovation, some restored models are exhibited at Trajan's Markets with views of the Roman Forum and Piazza Venezia. The show explores seven themes: public spaces, water in city decor, spectacle, triumph, honor and passage, commerce, individual/family/state memory, and infrastructure. Models include Roman monuments like the Forum of Augustus, Colosseum, Hadrian's Mausoleum, and the Arches of Titus and Constantine, as well as reproductions from Europe and the Mediterranean basin, such as the Forum of Pompeii, the Curia of Sabratha in Libya, the Baths of Trier in Germany, the Temple of Minerva in Tebessa (Algeria), the Tomb of the Julii in Saint-Rémy (France), and the Market of Dougga in Tunisia. Superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce stated that the Roman model aimed to create community spirit even among foreigners in a context of high mobility. A short guide and a photographic atlas of the restored models are forthcoming. Additional models will be restored, and a final section will be installed on Via Biberatica adjacent to the Markets for the Natale di Roma in April 2020.