Machina. Tecnologia dell’antica Roma

Technology, device, tool, contrivance but also bridge, war machine and war of siege: in a single word MACHINA, in Latin. The educational and scientific exhibition MACHINA. TECNOLOGIA DELL’ANTICA ROMA (MACHINE. TECHNOLOGY OF ANCIENT ROME), hosted by the Museum of Roman Civilization from December 23 to April 5, 2010 aims to describe the vastness of the Roman Empire, which was based on technology and on political organization principles.

The secrets of the machines that have contributed to the construction and maintenance of the Empire will be revealed to the public for the first time .

The exhibition is curated by Rita Correnti Percivalli, who is the president of the Association Piazza Duomo, and is promoted by the Department of Cultural Policy and Communication - Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of the City of Rome and ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome with the support of Fondazione Roma, Lazio Region, Ministry of University and Scientific Research.

After the opening in Rome and other events in Italy, MACHINA. TECNOLOGIA DELL’ANTICA ROMA will go abroad until the end of 2011.

MACHINA. TECNOLOGIA DELL’ANTICA ROMA offers more than 100 examples of technology: archaeological finds, virtual reproductions, machines, mechanisms and scale structures. The exhibition is enriched and completed by 47 casts from the collection of the Museum of Roman Civilization and 32 fragments, including some coming from the municipal Antiquarium.

Through the machines on display, reproduced from scratch by the Florentine craftsman Gabriele Niccolai and based on studies of finds and evidence, you can understand the technological principles of operation and maneuverability. Moreover, a 296 pages catalogue, reproducing all the works and machinery on display, will be published by Palombi Editore, edited by Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio and Marco Galli.

Eleven are the areas explored by the exhibition:

1. Measurement of time and space
2. Building technology
3. Hydraulic technology
4. Military technology
5. Technology in communications and transportation
6. Technology in medicine
7. Metallurgy and carpentry techniques
8. Glass and clay techniques
9. Technology in Agriculture
10. Artistic techniques
11. Technology in musical instruments, entertainment and leisure

We analyze the strategic importance of technology for the development of the Empire, also investigating issues that are outstanding for their contemporary value. From “bridges” – there were plenty of them in ancient Rome – to maps, from the machines for the exploitation of environmental resources - to take advantage of wind and hydraulic energy – to the aqueduct, from the reinforced platband to the turntable.

In addition to the sponsorship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Rome, a great contribution to MACHINA. TECNOLOGIA DELL’ANTICA ROMA was given by the “Sapienza” University of Rome, with a laboratory specifically aimed at the philological reconstruction of the materials examined.