The ancient Romans were steeped in magical practice and superstition. They had many deities of their own but did not hesitate to adopt deities from other nations, if they thought their powers would serve Rome. They incorporated into their own pantheon gods and goddesses of the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Etruscans, Sabines, and those of various indigenous tribes. Along with the gods, numerous spirits were honored with rites and rituals. Sacrifices were made, including human sacrifices. Magical rites were innumerable; festivals and sacred banquets were packed into the calendar throughout the year.
A major part of Roman religious practice was divination. Circa 300 BCE, a large priestly college was established by either Numa or Romulus, with three priest-augurs (those who read and interpreted the prophetic signs). By the time of Sulla, the number had been increased to fifteen augurs and then, in the time of Julius Cæsar, there were sixteen. The augurs wore a uniform toga, which had scarlet stripes and a purple border, known as the trabea. Since their pronouncements were unchallengeable, the augurs developed great political power. An augur would travel with armies and fleets and would interpret the flight of birds to gain knowledge of coming events before battle was enjoined. When doing a reading, the augur was accompanied by a magistrate who would verify the results. The magistrate was also the one who was officially entitled to ask the deities for signs. Rather than actually trying to see the future, the object was to ascertain whether or not the deities approved or disapproved of the course of action queried.
There was a manual that contained augural ritual and a collection of answers to questions that had previously been given to the college of the senate. The augur always announced his finding with a specific set of words, which were duly recorded by the magistrate. The complexity of interpretation of phenomena grew by degrees until it finally became so complex it was unmanageable, and the Roman college had to be abandoned.
Chaldean astrologers were much sought after in ancient Rome, as were numerologists and soothsayers … Most noble houses had their own astrologers. Dreams and their interpretation were considered especially important. There are many instances on record of prophetic dreams. There was recognition of astral projection; the Romans having a belief that dreams were the souls of individuals visiting one another during sleep. There was also a belief that the spirits of the dead could return to earth through dreams.
Pliny the Elder wrote, “The art of magic … has brought in the arts of astrology and divination. For everyone desires to know what is to come to him and believes that certainty can be gained by consulting the stars.”
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the capital of Italy; the country’s main political and cultural center, as well as an important economic center. Known as the Eternal City, Rome is one of the world’s oldest cities and is rich in historical and cultural monuments. It is the administrative center of the province of Rome and the region of Latium. Located within the city limits is the Vatican, a city-state. Rome is situated on the Roman Campagna, a hilly plain of volcanic origin, and along both banks of the Tiber River, near its confluence with the Tyrrhenian Sea. Monte Mario (139 m) is the highest point in the city.
The climate is Mediterranean, with an average January temperature of 6.8°C and an average July temperature of 25.8°C. Annual precipitation amounts to 508 mm, with about 60 rainy days, chiefly in the fall. In the winter the city experiences the effects of the cold tramontana wind, and in the summer, the hot, dry sirocco. As in antiquity, aqueducts supply the city with water from mountain rivers and lakes. The extremely polluted, silty Tiber is not used for this purpose.
The area of the city proper is 208.7 sq km, and that of the city and its suburbs, 1,507.6 sq km. The administrative structure of Rome is complex. The central, historical part, which is divided into 22 wards, is surrounded by 35 urban sectors. The suburban zone consists of six administrative units.
Rome is Italy’s largest city, with a population of 2.8 million (1973; 3.6 million, including suburbs). Until the 19th century population growth was relatively slow. Rome’s population was 135,000 at the end of the 17th century, 167,000 at the end of the 18th, and 214,000 at the end of the 19th. The city began to grow rapidly after it was proclaimed the capital of the Kingdom of Italy in 1871.
In 1971 there were 998,500 persons in the labor force, of whom 25.5 percent (255,700) worked in construction and industry (including gas and water supply), 15.7 percent (156,700) in trade, 7.9 percent in transportation and communication, 19 percent in the state bureaucracy, and most of the remainder in the service industries. Unemployment amounted to 6.8 percent (68,000).
Administration. Rome is governed by an 80-member council elected by the population for a five-year term. Its functions are limited to approving the city budget and passing decrees on matters of municipal government, such as public transportation and municipal services. The city council elects the mayor (sindaco) and the advisory board (giunta) from among its members. The mayor is considered to be a civil servant. The prefect of the province of Rome and the provincial administrative giunta supervise the city government.
History. Rome is named after Romulus, one of its mythic founders. According to classical tradition, the city was founded in 754/753 B.C., but archaeological findings indicate that there were earlier settlements on the site of Rome, and that their unification in the early sixth century resulted in the emergence of a central area, the Forum. The small city-state of Rome conquered the Apennine Peninsula and later, vast territories beyond. Thus, it became the capital of an enormous Mediterranean power, ancient Rome.
Major political events took place in Rome during the republican and imperial periods. Antiquity’s largest city, classical Rome had between 600,000 and 2 million inhabitants during the imperial period, according to contemporary estimates. In addition to its many temples, palaces, and roads, the city had 11 aqueducts, which are among the most outstanding ancient structures. The first was built in 312 B.C. Part of ancient Rome’s sewer system is still in use.
Rome felt the impact of the crisis in the Roman Empire in the third century A.D. When Constantine I transferred the imperial capital to Constantinople in 330, Rome lost importance as a political center. In the mid-fifth century, Ravenna became the de facto capital of the Western Roman Empire. The city was devastated by the barbarian invasions (the capture and sack of the Eternal City in 410 by the Visigoths led by Alaric I and in 455 by the Vandals). During the war that broke out in 535 between Byzantium and the Ostrogoths, Rome suffered greatly, changing hands several times. In 547 the city’s population was evacuated. The population decreased to 30,000–40,000 in the sixth century, and the city declined economically. In 552, Rome entered a long period of rule by Byzantium. In the 550’s and 560’s, Narses, the Byzantine governor of Italy, adopted measures to clear the channel of the Tiber, restore the port of Rome, and repair public buildings. However, these measures failed to revive the economy.
Under the Lombard domination of the Apennine Peninsula (568-mid-eighth century), Rome remained under Byzantine rule, although the actual administration of the city was taken over by the bishop of Rome (the pope), who appointed city officials. In the eighth century the popes succeeded in obtaining Rome’s virtual independence from Byzantium. The city became the capital of the Papal States in 756. By this time it had acquired significance as Western Europe’s religious and political center. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome. Throughout the Middle Ages the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, who considered themselves the successors of the Roman emperors, fought against the papacy for control of Rome. There was also a struggle for power in Rome among various aristocratic families. In 1084, Robert Guiscard’s troops heavily damaged the city.
Rome took on the appearance of a feudal city in the 11th and 12th centuries, with the construction of churches and the erection of castles by the aristocracy on the site of demolished ancient buildings. The merchants’ and artisans’ districts were next to the Campus Martius. In the 11th century, artisans’ guilds were established in Rome. Handicrafts and trade, however, developed more slowly in Rome than in the economically advanced Italian cities. In the 12th century the merchants and artisans, who had suffered from the arbitrariness of the papal administration and from internecine feudal conflicts, launched a struggle against the pope’s secular authority in Rome and for the establishment of a commune. The Rome uprising of 1143 led to the establishment of a republic headed by Arnold of Brescia. However, urban self-government was abolished by Pope Innocent III (reigned 1198–1216), although, at least in form, a republican government (commune) continued to exist.
Life in medieval Rome was influenced primarily by the city’s status as the center of the Catholic world. Rome had a large clergy, attracted many pilgrims, and served as the site of ceremonies and coronations of emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The transfer of the papal residence to Avignon in 1309 weakened papal authority in Rome. The Curia Romana was temporarily abolished. These events resulted in the strengthening of the strata of merchants and artisans. The townspeople renewed their struggle to limit the privileges of the aristocracy. As a result of a major uprising of the popolo led by Cola di Rienzi, Rome was proclaimed a republic in 1347. Seizing power in the city in 1354, the aristocracy maintained its position through the mid-15th century. (The most powerful feudal families were the Colonna and the Orsini.) The papacy returned to Rome in 1377, but its power over the city was not fully restored until the reign of Sixtus IV (1471–84).
In the mid-15th through the early 16th century, Rome was a major center of the Renaissance, the setting for the work of many humanists, artists, and architects, including Poggio Brac-ciolini, L. B. Alberti, F. Biondo, Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Patronizing literature and the arts and striving to win glory for themselves by commissioning the construction and decoration of palaces and churches, Popes Nicholas V (1447–55), Pius II (1458–64), and Julius II (1503–13) brought artists to the papal court. In May 1527, during the Italian Wars of 1494–1559, the troops of Emperor Charles V sacked Rome. In the 17th century the city went through a period of economic decline, although the Counter-Reformation enhanced its importance as a religious center.
In February 1798, Rome was occupied by the army of the French Directory. An uprising in the city led to the proclamation of a republic. In 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, French troops again seized the city. In 1809, Pope Pius VII’s secular authority was abolished, and Napoleonic France annexed Rome. During the French occupation, which lasted until 1814, a program of construction and architectural improvements was carried out in Rome. At the same time, however, the invaders plundered priceless treasures from museums and art galleries and inflicted suffering on the population through extortion and requisitions.
During the Risorgimento, Rome’s status as the capital of the Papal States and a buttress of feudal and clerical reaction made it a serious obstacle to the unification of Italy. During the Revolution of 1848–49 the city was a center of revolutionary events. In November 1848 an uprising by the popular masses resulted in the de facto overthrow of the secular authority of Pope Pius IX, who fled from the city. On Feb. 9, 1849, Rome was proclaimed a republic. Democratic tendencies in the Italian revolution of 1848–49 were most fully expressed in the Roman Republic of 1849. The Republic was suppressed by the forces of international reaction, especially French interventionists. From 1849 through the 1850’s and 1860’s, the pope’s secular authority in the city rested on the presence of the French garrison. Garibaldi’s detachments failed to liberate the city in 1862 and 1867. The pope’s secular authority in Rome was not eliminated until 1870, when the French garrison was recalled as a result of the defeat of the French Army at Sedan.
In response to an increasingly strong popular movement for Rome’s unification with the united Kingdom of Italy, which had been formed in 1861, Italian troops and a detachment of patriots and followers of Garibaldi entered the city on Sept. 20, 1870. The referendum of Oct. 2, 1870, resulted in the incorporation of Rome into Italy. On Jan. 26, 1871, Rome was proclaimed the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, marking the completion of the creation of an Italian national state. Pope Pius IX’s refusal to accept the new conditions resulted in a prolonged conflict between the papacy and the Italian state (the Roman question).
The concentration in Rome of ancient monuments and masterpieces by Renaissance artists and architects has always attracted artists, writers, and tourists. A. A. Ivanov, S. F. Shche-drin, and N. V. Gogol were among the Russian artists who lived in Rome during the 19th century.
Rome’s population climbed rapidly once the city became the capital of Italy. The number of industrial enterprises increased, and the city became a major transportation junction. In the late 19th century the city became a center for the social and democratic struggle of the working people.
In October 1922, Italian fascists staged the “march on Rome.” Fascist detachments from all over the country entered the city. A coup d’etat resulted in the establishment of a fascist dictatorship (1922–43). Under the Lateran Treaty, Vatican City was established as a city-state within Rome in 1929. On Sept. 8, 1943, after Italy’s capitulation in World War II (1939–45), fascist German troops seized Rome. During the occupation (1943–44), thousands of people were imprisoned, executed, and tortured. The mass murder of Romans in March 1944 in the Ardea caves is a particularly brutal example of fascist German policy. The population fought heroically against the invaders. On June 4, 1944, Anglo-American troops liberated Rome. With the elimination of the monarchy under the referendum of June 2,1940, Rome became the capital of the Republic of Italy.
Rome is one of the most important centers of the working-class and democratic movement in contemporary Italy.
L. M. BRAGINA
Economy. Rome’s advantageous location at the intersection of northern and southern Italy contributed to the development of its importance as a transportation and commercial center and later, to the growth of other economic activities. The city became important as an industrial center relatively late. In industrial output it ranks fourth among Italian cities, after Milan, Turin, and Genoa. Branches of food processing and light industry, represented primarily by small factories and workshops, were the first to develop in Rome. Since 1960 the city has experienced significant industrial expansion. Almost half the capital’s industrial labor force is employed in the food-processing, printing, garment, furniture, paper, textile, footwear, and perfume industries. Rome’s electrical engineering industry manufactures telephone and telegraph equipment, electrical appliances, radio electronics equipment, and major household appliances. Precision instruments, railroad rolling stock, farm machinery, printing equipment, motorcycles, and bicycles are also manufactured in the city. The chemical industry produces pharmaceuticals, synthetic silk, acids, sodium carbonate, and superphosphate. Rome has factories for the production of building materials (cement, glass, and reinforced-concrete goods), as well as a construction industry. The capacity of the city’s thermoelectric power plant is approximately 3 million kilowatts. A traditional handicrafts industry has survived in Rome, producing gold and silver articles, tapestries, wicker furniture, glass and leather goods, and musical instruments. Book-binding is also an important craft.
Rome does not have satellite towns and industrial suburbs. However, many industrial towns in Latium, including Collefer-ro, Frosinone, and Latina, have close economic ties with the capital.
Rome, which attracts more than 10 million tourists a year, is one of the world’s largest centers for tourism. To meet the needs of the tourist trade, there are many hotels, souvenir and curio shops, restaurants, places of entertainment, and clubs, as well as public and private transportation facilities.
Government and administrative institutions are concentrated in the capital city, as well as the executive bodies of Italy’s political parties and mass organizations, the major banks, credit, insurance and commercial institutions, and the offices of national and foreign firms. Also located in Rome are the offices of some international organizations, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Chamber of Commerce.
A major national and international transportation center, Rome is a junction for eight railroad lines, ten highways, and 30 air lines. There are two airports—the Leonardo da Vinci di Fiumicino and the Ciampino. The city is a river port (between Fiumicino and Rome the Tiber is canalized). There are port facilities at San Paolo and the outer harbor of Civitavecchia on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The main forms of municipal transportation are the tram, which does not serve the center of the city, the trolley, and the bus. A metropolitan railway constructed in 1927–38 connects the center of Rome with the grounds of the Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR, an exhibition that was never held) in the southern part of the city and with the seashore (Ostia Lido, or Lido di Roma). The number of automobiles, motorcycles, and motor scooters in Rome (more than 1.3 million in 1970) is approaching the saturation point.
Rome has relatively little green area (approximately 1,700 hectares). There are very few public parks and boulevards. In the Monteverde district of southern Rome and the Parioli district in the north there are gardens, as well as private villas and residences owned by Rome’s aristocracy, bourgeoisie, and high officials. Most of the industrial enterprises are located in the southern and southeastern areas of the capital. The people of Rome have access to several resorts, including the seaside areas of Ostia Lido and Fregene; the Alban Hills, located 20–30 km southeast of the city and known for the small villages of Genza-no, Albano Laziale, Marino, and Frascati, which are surrounded by vineyards; and the Tiburtina Mountains east of the city, famous for the town of Tivoli and the picturesque water-falls on the Aniene River. The capital is surrounded by an important agricultural region, with truck gardens, orchards, vine-yards, olive groves, meat-and-dairy farms, and grain cultivation.
T. A. GALKINA
Architecture. Rome’s architectural monuments, a reflection of the city’s almost 3,000-year history, had a striking effect on the development of its unique, complex appearance. Rome’s distinctive appearance is largely attributable to its picturesque location on hills, a wealth of splendid ruins, majestic palaces and churches from diverse periods, a variety of squares, and many fountains, monuments, and decorative sculptures. Domes and Italian pines create a distinctive cityscape. The rust-colored tufa, dark brick, and reddish-brown stucco facades have a monochromatic appearance that helps the city to blend with its natural surroundings.
The boundaries of the central part of modern Rome coincide with the ancient Aurelian wall (272; partially preserved). Many of the city’s streets are built over ancient Roman roads. To a large extent, the gigantic scale and balanced majesty of the classical monuments predetermined the scale and the monumental character of the buildings of subsequent centuries.
Rising on the Capitoline and Palatine hills, the ancient city of Rome spread to the neighboring hills (the Esquiline, Aventine, Viminal, Caelian, and Quirinal) and to the lowland, up to the bend in the Tiber (the Campus Martius). Later, the city expanded to the right bank of the river (the present-day quarter of Trastevere). The city’s public centers were the Capitoline and the Forum. Begun in the sixth century B.C., the Forum includes the temples of Castor and Pollux (begun in 484 B.C.) and the temples of Antoninus and Faustina (141), the Basilica of Max-entius (c. 315; also known as the Basilica of Constantine), the triumphal arches of Titus (81) and Septimius Severus (203), and the forums of Julius Caesar and the emperors Augustus and Nerva, as well as that of Trajan, with Trajan’s Column (111– 114; architect Apollodorus of Damascus).
Among the most important ancient Roman structures located outside of the forums are the temples of Vesta and of Fortuna Virilis at the Forum Boarium (first century B.C.), the Pantheon, and the Temple of Venus and Rome (135–307); the tombs of Cecilia Metella, Eurysaces (both mid-first century B. C.), Cestius (the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, 12 B.C.), and Hadrian (135–140; converted into the Castel Sant’ Angelo during the Middle Ages); the Marcellian theater (teatro di Marcello, 44 B.C.–13 A.D.); the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum); the Baths of Caracalla (206–217) and the Baths of Diocletian (306; now the Roman National Museum); and the triumphal column of Marcus Aurelius (176–193) and the Arch of Constantine (315). Also among the city’s most important ancient structures are Hadrian’s Bridge (Ponte Sant’ Angelo, 136), the Claudian aqueduct (38–52), and the Via Appia (312 B.C.). The ruins of the House of Livia (first century B.C.), the Flavian palace (first century), and other palaces are located on the Palatine Hill.
In the sixth through ninth centuries the city’s area decreased, and classical monuments deteriorated into ruins. The separate centers of medieval Rome were the Lateran and Vatican residences of the bishop of Rome (later, the pope) and the Capitoline, the site of city government. During the Middle Ages residential areas were concentrated on the bank of the Tiber directly opposite the Vatican, near Christian basilicas and habitable classical buildings and surrounded by vacant plots, gardens, and swamps.
Among Rome’s early Christian monuments are the catacombs of San Sebastiano (with crypt; first through second centuries), Domitilla (first through fourth centuries), and Callistus (second through third centuries). The city’s many early Christian basilicas, which underwent a series of reconstructions until the 18th century, include San Giovanni in Laterano (311–314); San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura (330), which is known for its sixth-century mosaics; Santa Maria Maggiore (third quarter of the fourth century), with mosaics dating from the fifth and 13th centuries; Santi Giovanni e Paolo (c. 400), with frescoes dating from the 12th century; and San Clemente (fourth century), with mosaics and frescoes from the ninth through 12th centuries. Other churches include Santa Maria in Cosmedin, which was rebuilt in the eighth and 12th centuries; Santa Maria in Trastevere, built in 1140 on the site of a fourth-century church and famous for mosaics by P. Cavallini; and Santa Maria d’Aracoe-li, which was rebuilt in 1250. The circular churches of San Ste-fano Rotondo and Santa Maria Antiqua (frescoes, sixth-eighth centuries) date from the sixth century. An outstanding example of the city’s few Gothic structures is the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (begun in 1280; facade, 1453).
From the early 16th century, the popes embellished the city with buildings and architectural ensembles, hoping to revive the greatness of classical Rome. The first Renaissance buildings were constructed near the Vatican and on the opposite bank of the Tiber. The style spread toward the Piazza Navona and the Capitoline. The Belvedere and San Damaso (1503–45; architect Bramante) courtyards and St. Peter’s Basilica (1506–1614; architects Bramante, Michelangelo, G. della Porta, Vignola, and C. Maderno), a splendid structure whose dome became the main architectural accent in Rome’s skyline, are located in the Vatican, which was completely rebuilt during this period. The business center of Renaissance Rome was located in the district of the Ponte Sant’ Angelo, where, in the 1540’s, the triradiate street layout was introduced, with the construction of three streets diverging from the Piazza San Celso.
Among Rome’s Renaissance buildings are the Venezia palace (begun in 1452), which was evidently designed by L. B. Al-berti or B. Rossellino, as well as the Cancelleria (after 1499, architect Bramante), Farnese (1513–89; architects A. de Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, G. della Porta), and Vidoni-Caffa-relli palaces (c. 1515–20; architect Raphael). Renaissance villas include the Farnesina (1509–11; architect B. Peruzzi; frescoes by Raphael and G. Romano) and the Madama (begun in 1517; architects Raphael and A. da Sangallo the Younger). Renaissance churches include San Pietro in Montorio (1480’s; architect B. Pontelli), with the Tempietto in the courtyard (1502; architect Bramante), Santa Maria della Pace (late 15th-early 16th centuries; architects B. Pontelli, Bramante; facade, 1656; architect Pietro da Cortona), Santa Maria dell’ Anima (early 16th century; architects G. da Sangallo and Bramante); and Sant’ Eligio degli Orefici (1509; architect Raphael).
From the second quarter of the 16th century, mannerist tendencies emerged in the architecture of some of Rome’s buildings, including the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (1536; architect B. Peruzzi) and the Villa Giulia (1550–55; architects Vignola, B. Amanati, G. Vasari), which is now a museum. Techniques that anticipated 17th- and 18th-century city planning were characteristic of the architectural ensemble created by Michelangelo on the Capitoline. This new secular center of the city, the construction of which was begun in 1546, revealed the link between the papal capital and classical Rome. The ensemble includes the Palazzo Senatorio, the Palazzo dei Conservatori, the main building of the Capitoline Museum, and the classical statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was placed in the square in 1538.
During the reign of Pope Sixtus V (1585–90) straight streets were built, linking the most important early Christian basilicas and joining the city’s districts into a single system. This network of streets, graced with numerous architectural ensembles, clearly revealed the baroque conception of the city as an organic whole best perceived in a movement that opens successive views of striking architectural settings. Among Rome’s most important baroque architectural ensembles are the Piazza di San Pietro (1657–63; architect L. Bernini), the Piazza Na-vona (17th century), the Piazza di Spagna (mainly built in the early 18th century), and the Piazza del Popolo (16th–17th centuries, completed in 1816–20; architect G. Valadier), with three churches, as well as an ancient Egyptian obelisk at the convergence of a triradiate system of avenues.
Among the city’s monumental examples of baroque architecture are the Villa Borghese (early 17th century; architect G. Vasanzio; now a museum) and numerous palaces, including the Quirinal (begun in 1574; architects F. Ponzio, Maderno, and Bernini), the Lateran (1586–90; architect D. Fontana), the Borghese (1590–1615; architects M. Longhi the Elder and Ponzio), the Barberini (1625–63; architects Maderno, F. Borromini and Bernini), and Falconieri (1639–41; architect Borromini), and the Doria-Pamphili (17th–18th centuries; architect A. del Grande; now a picture gallery), as well as the Palazzo di Monte-citorio (1650–90; architects Bernini and C. Fontana). The city’s baroque churches include the Gesù (1568–84; architect Vignola; facade, 1575; architect della Porta), San Luigi dei Francesi (1518–88; facade, 1589; architect della Porta), Sant’ Andrea della Valle (1591–1663; architects, P. Olivieri, Maderno, and C. Rainaldi), San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634–67; architect Borromini), Sant’ Ivo alla Sapienza (1642–60; architect Borromini), and Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale (1653–58; architect Bernini). Splendid palaces, parks and churches, squares and landscaped grounds that appear unexpectedly, and spatial accents, such as staircases, obelisks, fountains (the Four Rivers and the Trevi), and decorative sculptures, make Rome’s baroque architecture, which dominates the skyline, extraordinarily captivating.
After becoming the capital of Italy, Rome went through a period of particularly intensive growth, during which the eastern and southeastern districts, as well as the Prati district near the Vatican, were developed, primarily through the construction of apartment buildings. Most of Rome’s villas are inside the city limits, with the exception of Hadrian’s Villa (second century) and the Villa d’ Este (1550–72; architect P. Ligorio), both of which are in Tivoli. The parks and gardens surrounding many of the villas have been taken over for public use. In accordance with a general plan issued in 1873, new avenues, such as the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the Via Nazionale, were built, as well as many pompous, eclectic buildings and ensembles, including the monument to Victor Emmanuel II (1885–1911; architect G. Sacconi). The Piazza Colonna became the new center of public life in Rome.
The 1930’s were marked by an attempt to restore Rome’s imperial greatness. Classical monuments were cleaned, and facilities were built for an international exhibition that was never held (the district of the Esposizione Universale di Roma, or EUR). Historically valuable areas, such as the Borgo, were demolished and replaced by new, wide avenues, including Via dei Fori Imperiale and the Via della Conciliazione. During this period the neoclassical style prevailed (the Foro Italico, a sports complex, 1928–34, architect M. Piacentini, and the EUR grounds, begun in 1937, architects Piacentini and G. Pagano).
After World War II, Rome expanded rapidly in all directions. Since the 1930’s, extremely heavy traffic has been a problem on central Rome’s narrow streets and squares, which date from the 16th through 18th centuries. Consequently, the feasibility of building peripheral avenues bypassing the city’s historical districts became an important issue in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The traffic problem has been somewhat alleviated by the Via Olimpica, built for the 1960 Olympic Games to connect the Foro Italico with the EUR, as well as by the eastern and southern segments of the belt highway, several new tunnels, and the construction of a number of two-level intersections. The Olympic Games also prompted the rebuilding of the Foro Italico and the construction of the Olympic village, the Palazzo dello Sport, and the Palazzetto dello Sport (1957; engineer P. L. Nervi, architect A. Vitelozzi). When possible, districts with buildings of historical interest are preserved in their original state, but no attempt is made to restore them. In these districts only individual structures are built, and often an effort is made to design them so that they are completely in harmony with their surroundings (for example, the Termini Station; 1938, 1950, architects F. Mazzoni and E. Montuori; and the British Embassy, 1970, architect B. Spense).
Most new construction projects are located on the outskirts of the city. In the 1960’s and 1970’s the district of the EUR became one of the major business centers of Rome, which is spreading to the southwest. Since the 1930’s, the number of working-class residential areas has increased. Monotonous, lacking sufficient service establishments, and consisting of apartment houses with five to six, seven to eight, and ten to 12 stories, the working-class districts are located primarily on the lowland (the Tuscolano, Don Bosco, and Nomentano districts). Architecturally unusual residential areas for the wealthy have been built in the north and northwest on Parioli and Vigna Clara hills and on Monte Mario. The specific features of the relief have been skillfully used, but development has often been accompanied by the sale of public green areas surrounding old villas.
Rome’s residential districts have poor access to the center of the city and the business and industrial areas. Under the general plan issued in 1964, this problem was to be alleviated by the creation of a “service axis,” a system of highways feeding into the city and linking the EUR with two new public centers planned for the Centocelle and Pietralata districts.
V. F. MARKUZON
Educational, scientific, and cultural institutions. Rome’s institutions of higher learning include the University of Rome, the International University of the Social Sciences (a private institution), the Higher School of Physical Education, the Academy of Fine Arts, the National Academy of Dance, the St. Cecilia Conservatory, and the S. D’Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art, which has a student theater. Located in the city are the National Academy of Lincei, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the National Academy of the Forty. There are other scientific institutions in Rome, including the National Research Council, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Astronomical Observatory, and more than 100 scientific societies, centers, and institutes in various fields of sciences and the arts. Among the city’s major libraries are the Central National Library, the university library, the Angelica Library, the Casa-natense Library, the Library of the National Academy of Lin-cei, and the Vallicelliana Library. Museums include the Roman National Museum (the Museum of the Baths), the Villa Giulia Museum, the Borghese Gallery, the Luigi Pigorini Museum of Prehistory and Ethnology, the National Gallery of Ancient Art, the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Barracco Museum, the National Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions, the Museum of Roman Civilization, the National Museum of Oriental Art, the Museum of Rome, the Capitoline Museum, and the museums of the Vatican.
Among the theaters in Rome as of 1975 were the Teatro dell’ Opera. The Teatro di Roma, a permanent drama company, performs in many theaters, including the Argentina, the Teatro Circo, the Abaco, and the Teatro E. Flaiano. There are other theaters in the city, including the Valle, the Ridotto dell’ Eliseo, the Quirino, the Teatro dell’ Arti, the Rossini, the Goldoni, the Tordinona, and the Teatro delle Muse, in which Italy’s best drama troupes appear. The capital also has a puppet theater and a children’s theater, Al Torchio. In the summer, operas are performed at the Baths of Caracalla, and plays are presented at the Amphiteatro Quercio del Tasso and the Teatro delle Fontane. The St. Cecilia National Academy, which is located in Rome, has two concert halls. Italy’s major film companies, including Carlo Ponti’s, have their headquarters at the Cinecittà, the widely known motion-picture studio.