Roman Empire buffs, listen up! In 2014, a new piece of an ongoing puzzle about Ancient Rome was discovered. This piece is part of a huge map carved on 150 marble slabs that is sized at a whopping 60 x 43 feet. This is not merely a random picture slab, this is a map of various parts of the city while Septimus Severus ruled. First discovered in 1562, “Forma Urbis Romae,” is made of thousands of marble fragments and this newest piece completes the words “Circus Flaminius.” The map has recently been used for a 3D reconstruction of Rome at its peak of glory, and now we can understand even more about Rome and its layout from a first-person perspective.
The “Superintendency”, a spokesperson for the marble discovery, explains that of all the found pieces, only some have helped create the map’s topography:
“Of these about 200 marble chips have been identified and ideally located on the modern topography. The fragment relates to plate 31 of the map, which is the present-day area of the Ghetto, one of the monumental areas of the ancient city, dominated by the Circus Flaminius, built in 220 BC to host the Plebeian games, and where a number of important public monuments stood.”
With each new day we are learning more about a time and a civilization so far away. And then last month experts made a 3D reconstruction giving a rare glimpse into Rome at the height of its “greatness.” From a first-person perspective you can get a virtual tour through the city and visit famous sites that include the Colosseum and the Pantheon — as they would have looked around 320 AD. Using historic records to recreate forums and streets, academics have been able to provide a more holistic overview of not only what buildings existed but what may have been between the more famous building as well. The idea is: “Come through Rome with us, circa 320 AD!”
The video tour
You can check out the video below and take a brief tour or this 3D reconstruction of Rome, which satisfies more of the curiosity driving the lengthy quest to learn all there is to learn about Ancient Rome — while also seeing 3D modeling and “virtual archaeology” at its finest! What do you think of these new techniques? Discuss in the Rome’s Reconstruction in 3D forum over at 3DPB.com.