Museo della Civiltà Romana

The Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome's EUR district presents the ancient world largely through casts, models and reconstructions. Italo Gismondi's model of imperial Rome gives an architectural focus to this broad account of Roman life.

Why it matters

Reproductions bring together evidence whose originals are dispersed among many sites and collections. The museum's approach connects monumental architecture with subjects such as domestic life, work, religion and the army.

What to notice

Gismondi's plaster city model uses a scale of 1:250. Detailed reconstructions of known monuments coexist with representative building types in less well-documented districts. Casts of Trajan's Column reliefs and a reproduction associated with the Res Gestae at Ancyra extend the relationship between buildings, images and texts.

Context and history

The collections developed from the archaeological exhibition of 1911 and the Mostra Augustea della Romanità of 1937. A permanent building was planned for the E42 exposition, but war interrupted construction. Work resumed with municipal support and FIAT financing: an initial group of rooms opened in 1952, followed by the full museum in 1955. Its twin blocks and colonnaded setting form part of EUR's architectural history.