Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > 'Framing' Romanità
View graph of relations

'Framing' Romanità: The Celebrations for the Bimillenario Augusteo and the Augusteo–Ara Pacis Project

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published

Standard

'Framing' Romanità: The Celebrations for the Bimillenario Augusteo and the Augusteo–Ara Pacis Project. / Kallis, Aristotle.
In: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 46, No. 4, 10.2011, p. 809-831.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

APA

Vancouver

Kallis A. 'Framing' Romanità: The Celebrations for the Bimillenario Augusteo and the Augusteo–Ara Pacis Project. Journal of Contemporary History. 2011 Oct;46(4):809-831. doi: 10.1177/0022009411413407

Author

Bibtex

@article{83ae717376374459988ae9f2d101b399,
title = "'Framing' Romanit{\`a}: The Celebrations for the Bimillenario Augusteo and the Augusteo–Ara Pacis Project",
abstract = "In the early 1930s the fascist authorities took the decision to celebrate the 2000-year anniversary of Augustus{\textquoteright} birth, scheduled for 1937–8. The celebrations constituted the pinnacle of fascism{\textquoteright}s identification with romanit{\`a} and underlined Mussolini's growing tendency to identify with an 'imperial' imagery. They also constituted a crucial landmark in the regime's effort to portray Rome as the sacred centre of a new universal political religion. In this article I focus on the two landmark architectural-urbanistic projects in the context of the Bimillenario that were eventually fused into one: the reconfiguration of Augustus{\textquoteright} Mausoleum and its surrounding zone; and the excavation and reconstruction of the Ara Pacis Roman temple. The extravagant programme of architectural-urbanistic interventions in an area of profound archaeological importance inside the historic centre of Rome provides a case-study for assessing the regime{\textquoteright}s growing tendency to use architecture and conspicuous, lavish urban planning as acts of 'framing' the past in new 'sacred' locations where space and time interpenetrated. Through projects such as the Augusteo-Ara Pacis the fascist regime aimed to transform the {\textquoteleft}framed{\textquoteright} relics of the Roman palimpsest into 'sacred' access points of a new, decidedly futural and universal temporality.",
keywords = "fascism, archaeology, architecture, modernism , urban planning, Mussolini",
author = "Aristotle Kallis",
year = "2011",
month = oct,
doi = "10.1177/0022009411413407",
language = "English",
volume = "46",
pages = "809--831",
journal = "Journal of Contemporary History",
issn = "1461-7250",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - 'Framing' Romanità

T2 - The Celebrations for the Bimillenario Augusteo and the Augusteo–Ara Pacis Project

AU - Kallis, Aristotle

PY - 2011/10

Y1 - 2011/10

N2 - In the early 1930s the fascist authorities took the decision to celebrate the 2000-year anniversary of Augustus’ birth, scheduled for 1937–8. The celebrations constituted the pinnacle of fascism’s identification with romanità and underlined Mussolini's growing tendency to identify with an 'imperial' imagery. They also constituted a crucial landmark in the regime's effort to portray Rome as the sacred centre of a new universal political religion. In this article I focus on the two landmark architectural-urbanistic projects in the context of the Bimillenario that were eventually fused into one: the reconfiguration of Augustus’ Mausoleum and its surrounding zone; and the excavation and reconstruction of the Ara Pacis Roman temple. The extravagant programme of architectural-urbanistic interventions in an area of profound archaeological importance inside the historic centre of Rome provides a case-study for assessing the regime’s growing tendency to use architecture and conspicuous, lavish urban planning as acts of 'framing' the past in new 'sacred' locations where space and time interpenetrated. Through projects such as the Augusteo-Ara Pacis the fascist regime aimed to transform the ‘framed’ relics of the Roman palimpsest into 'sacred' access points of a new, decidedly futural and universal temporality.

AB - In the early 1930s the fascist authorities took the decision to celebrate the 2000-year anniversary of Augustus’ birth, scheduled for 1937–8. The celebrations constituted the pinnacle of fascism’s identification with romanità and underlined Mussolini's growing tendency to identify with an 'imperial' imagery. They also constituted a crucial landmark in the regime's effort to portray Rome as the sacred centre of a new universal political religion. In this article I focus on the two landmark architectural-urbanistic projects in the context of the Bimillenario that were eventually fused into one: the reconfiguration of Augustus’ Mausoleum and its surrounding zone; and the excavation and reconstruction of the Ara Pacis Roman temple. The extravagant programme of architectural-urbanistic interventions in an area of profound archaeological importance inside the historic centre of Rome provides a case-study for assessing the regime’s growing tendency to use architecture and conspicuous, lavish urban planning as acts of 'framing' the past in new 'sacred' locations where space and time interpenetrated. Through projects such as the Augusteo-Ara Pacis the fascist regime aimed to transform the ‘framed’ relics of the Roman palimpsest into 'sacred' access points of a new, decidedly futural and universal temporality.

KW - fascism

KW - archaeology

KW - architecture

KW - modernism

KW - urban planning

KW - Mussolini

U2 - 10.1177/0022009411413407

DO - 10.1177/0022009411413407

M3 - Journal article

VL - 46

SP - 809

EP - 831

JO - Journal of Contemporary History

JF - Journal of Contemporary History

SN - 1461-7250

IS - 4

ER -