Ancient Rome and the Modern Italian State
Ideological Placemaking, Archaeology, and Architecture, 1870–1945

Using Rome as a case study, this book examines how architecture and urbanism can be used to construct national identity.

Alessandro Sebastiani (Author)

9781009354103, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 July 2023

350 pages
28 x 19 x 2.5 cm, 0.728 kg

'Alessandro Sebastiani's book deals with the transformation of Rome at the turn of the 20th century in an original and innovative way, especially in the analysis of the passage (and of the elements of continuity despite the diversity of the context) between ideological instances of post-unification liberal Italy and those of the fascist regime.' Riccardo Santangeli Valenzani, Professor of Urban Archaeology and Medieval Archaeology, Roma Tre University

In this book, Alessandro Sebastiani examines how architecture and urbanism can be used to construct national identity. Using Rome as his case study, he explores how the city was transformed to accommodate different political ideologies in the period from 1870 to the end of World War II. After unification, Rome's classical architecture served as a reference point, guiding transformations of the urban fabric that met contemporary needs but also supported the agenda of the newly-formed Italian state. The advent of fascist state in the 1920s ushered in a different order of ideological placemaking. The monuments of ancient Roman were isolated in order to enhance their structural elegance, a scheme that powerfully conveyed political messages in support of Mussolini's regime. Sebastiani's volume offers a new approach to understanding the sophisticated relationships between archeology, urban planning, and politics within the city of Rome. Moreover, it highlights the consequences of suppressing historical evidence from monuments and archaeological sites.

List of figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
Structure of the Book
1. Placemaking: an introduction
2. Ideological placemaking: narratives and agents (1870–1945)
3. Post-unification placemaking (1870–1922)
4. Reclaiming historical identities of four classical monuments
5. The fascist placemaking of four classical monuments (1922–1945)
6. The fascist ideological placemaking: new architecture
7. Afterword
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Urban & municipal planning [RPC], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], European history [HBJD], History of art / art & design styles [AC]