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5 Novembre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 7 minuto di lettura

BEHIND THE FASCISM | Scipio the African, the clay giant

During the Fascist period, theatre and in particular cinema, had to adapt to a new mentality, that of the mass regime. One of the most important examples is certainly the production of Scipio the African. The blockbuster film of 1936-1937, directed by Carmine Gallone, exalted the imperial power of Rome identified with that of Fascism and superimposed the figure of Mussolini victorious over the Ethiopians on that of the Roman general.

Poster of Scipio the African (1936-1937)

Carmine Gallone, a cosmopolitan director

Carmine Gallone was defined by critics as a “cosmopolitan director” for his productions abroad, carried out between 1926 and 1935. He made hundreds of silent and sound films. He had great mastery of technical innovations such as feature films, sound, playback in opera films, the introduction of colour and style changes from realist to historical films.

The plot of Scipio the African

Scipio the African reconstructed the events of the Second Punic War, from the departure of Scipio for Africa in 207 BC to the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. The consul Scipio, adored by the Roman people, obtains control of the province of Sicily from the Senate and prepares the military campaign against the Carthaginian army. Veterans of the Battle of Cannae join the departing troops as large numbers of volunteers flock from all over. Meanwhile, Hannibal is stuck in the Bruttium due to lack of food, so his troops plunder villages and crops. The soldiers break into the villa of Velia, a Roman noble and take her prisoner together with her fiancé Arunte and the servants. In Cirta, Sofonisba, the daughter of Hasdrubal, pushes her husband Syphax to ally with the Carthaginians. Scipio, after having besieged Utica and defeated the army of Hasdrubal and Syphax, prepares to face Hannibal, who leaves Italy to defend Carthage. Velia and Arunte manage to escape and reach Scipio’s camp. The two generals face off, Scipio on a white horse, Hannibal on a black one. Elephants hinder Roman soldiers, but the union of cavalry and infantry guarantees victory. Hannibal escapes along with a few other survivors while Scipio, having thus avenged the Battle of Cannae, returns to Rome, where he is celebrated with a night party.

The critics’ opinion

The making of Scipio the African was done in ten months of work and cost about eight million lire. It constituted the greatest organizational effort made by the film industry for the use of masses, for the splendour of the interiors and for the impressive reconstructions. Despite this, it was considered by the critics of the time a total failure for several reasons: it represented an opera film both for its dramaturgical construction and extras (such as the choir) and for its music and theatrical acting; there was no collaboration between the various, indeed too many, assistant directors; others pointed the finger at the production and not the director, considered only a coordinator. The interpretation of Annibale Ninchi in the role of Scipio was considered negative, not loved by the crowd, not very charismatic. He could not bring the strong and daring figure of the Roman leader onto the screen, unlike the character of Hannibal played by Camillo Pilotto. The bad interpretation of the figure of Scipio consequently accentuated the melodramatic character of the film. The difference with the American blockbusters, which were based on strict rules and divisions of tasks supervised by the producer, was clear. Hard enough judgments on Scipio the African were also found in modern criticism. Carlo Lizzani wrote:

Scipio the African is the classic clay giant who would like to glorify impossible relationships between fascism and Roman times. The film is as redundant as it is provincial and painful is Mussolini’s illusion of resembling the Caesars.

Scipio the African (1937). Carlo Nicchi, Fosco Giachetti, Francesca Bragiotti

A political project

The film, wanted by Mussolini, had to be a productive and spectacular challenge, in competition with American cinema, and it was an opportunity to highlight the conquest of Ethiopia and the colonial empire created by the Duce. Scipio was not supposed to be just a film, but a blockbuster capable of being superior to all the other films shot up to that moment. The Scipio project was simply a political project, it was not created for the show and Gallone, naively, accepted advice and suggestions from everyone, especially from those who saw the world of cinema and, in general, of the show only as a propaganda medium for political consensus. This explained the reason why Mussolini chose Gallone as his own director: a director with experience, especially foreign, able to adapt to any circumstance and above all politically compliant.

Mussolini as Scipio the African

Scipio the African was a film made to celebrate the glories of ancient and new Rome and two important personalities: Scipio and Mussolini who, despite the chronological gap, had accomplished the same feat. While Scipio had defeated one of the greatest powers of his time, Mussolini had used advanced technologies to destroy a backward army, from that point of view. After the successful African feat, fascism presented itself as a new imperial power. A power that had changed the fate of Italy, which from a backward country became an economic and military power. The African feat pleased the masses, because in those subaltern regions they would find the job and land they had long sought. Africa was seen as a long-dreamed myth and achieved only thanks to Benito Mussolini. The African victory raised nationalist morale, but on the historical level there were negative outcomes with regard to international relations. Italy was moving away from Western democracies, getting closer and closer to Hitler’s Nazi Germany; the Second World War will sweep away the memory of the colonial conquests, which were immediately compared to the conquests of the Roman Empire. Scipio was considered a film that united the Italians and spurred political consensus towards Fascism and the Duce.

27 October 1937. The audience waiting to watch the film in front of the Barberini Theatre in Rome

The contrast between Roman and Carthaginian society

The creation of Scipio the African inevitably led to the launch of the figure of the Roman leader and, consequently, Mussolini became the main protagonist. The figure of the Duce was charged with a mystical halo, almost a divine light. The film inserted within it a considerable amount of symbols and also put Roman society in contrast with the Carthaginian one: the Romans were presented as a model of discipline, while the Carthaginians as hateful people who did not respect the truce and were ferocious with women. Carthaginian society was devoid of moral principles and dominated only by the god of money, as England was considered in the time of Mussolini. On the contrary, Roman society, after Scipio’s seizure of power, was compact and constructive, based on popular consensus. Scipio like Mussolini, was considered a predestined, a natural leader who had a privileged relationship with the people.

A bogus classicism

Scipio was a failure on several fronts. The film represented the end of the film made for the masses trend and Garrone, despite his long and satisfying career, will remain forever labelled as the director of Scipio the African. Scipio’s production shows how the myth of ancient Rome was widely used by fascist propaganda and how it was modified and shaped according to Mussolini’s ideas only. A use of the past, however, that risked reducing history to a myth, leading to a bogus classicism, emptied of content and reduced to a simple celebratory aesthetic.

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English Version

4 Novembre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 4 minuto di lettura

ARCHAEOLOGY | The archaeological area of Fiesole – Florence

The excavations in the archaeological area of Fiesole include a Roman theatre, the baths, an Etruscan-Roman temple and an archaeological museum, which houses finds dating from the third century BC to the second century BC

The archaeological area, bordered to the north by the Etruscan walls, preserves traces of Fiesole history: on the Etruscan temple of the 4th century BC, the Romans, after having conquered the city in the 1st century BC, built another temple and enriched the area with theatre and baths. Near the sacred area of the temple, a necropolis show the subsequent use of the area.

Roman Theatre

Built between the beginning of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD, it was the first building in the area to arouse interest and to be excavated: its ruins must have always been visible, if in the Middle Ages and in the following centuries the place was indicated by the villagers as “Buca delle Fate”, as evidence of some suggestive stories telling the Fairies of Fiesole, symbol of a happy time, had hidden themselves in dark cavities underground, in order not to see the horrible havoc that the Florentines made after having conquered the city in 1125.

In 1809 the Prussian Baron Friedman von Shellersheim, digging in search of precious objects, claimed to have found two rich sets in the ancient layouts of the theatre, but the news remains difficult to verify. The excavations for bringing the theatre to the light were systematically resumed in 1870 and ended between 1882 and 1900, with the reconstruction of the left side of the steps (cavea), also in view of public use.

The building had a large semicircular cavea, partly carved into the rock of the hill, and four main entrances (vomitoria), which gave access to the covered crypta gallery, which was to support a portico or another order of seats, of which, however, no traces remain. The cavea was divided into four sectors by means of narrow stairs, which allowed the public to take place more easily. Below is the orchestra and, opposite, the space dedicated to the theatrical representation; a wall with a central niche (the pulpitum) frontally delimited the stage (proscenium), behind which stood three doored stage front (the scaena frons), of which no architectural layouts remain, but only the foundation and some marble decorations.

The Roman Baths

Behind the theatre there are the ruins of the baths, dating back to Sulla’s times (1st century BC), restored and enlarged in the Hadrian period. They were discovered in 1891, when, finally, it was possible to let three arches operating that have always been visible: they, in fact, constituted the terrace of the baths towards the valley.

The baths are located along the walls and consist of the three classic rooms of the calidarium, tepidarium and frigidarium, plus other tubs and rooms. A rectangular pool and two basins (one of which immersed) were used for public baths: on their bottom many amphorae were found, used to purify the water, collecting the impurities that went to the bottom.

There are the remains of rooms for water heating and the production of steam, which was distributed in the various rooms by means of lead or terracotta pipes. In the calidarium, characterized by the cocciopesto floor, boiling water arrived, while in the tepidarium (consisting of three basins) lukewarm water was collected and, finally, in the frigidarium there was cold water; the frigidarium is divided by an arched layout (which has been rebuilt) which has a semicircular shape and is located next to the latrines. Perhaps there was also a cryptorticus that separated the basins. Some of the layouts were rebuilt following excavations.

The Temple

The Etruscan-Roman temple was built between the second half of the fourth century BC and the second century BC, although the area was in use for sacred rituals at least from the 7th century BC. It was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century and most likely corresponds to the ancient Fiesolano Capitolium .

The cell is the oldest part and is divided into three parts: this has led us to suppose that the temple was dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva (the latter is an attribution almost certain, as suggested by a Hellenistic bronze depicting an owl found nearby and now exhibited in the museum). In front of the temple there is a small decorated sandstone altar (4th century BC – 3rd century BC). In the Republican era the temple was rebuilt, raised and enlarged both on the wings and on the front, partly by reusing the walls of the previous building. The staircase, well preserved, has seven steps and reaches the stylobate on which stood the columns of the portico, surmounted by the pediment of the temple. The longest part of the stylobate suggests that the portico connected the temple to the Collegium.

On the left you can see the bases of three residual columns of the portico that surrounded the cell. Among these ruins were found bronze and silver coins (3rd century BC – 10th century AD). In this place, moreover, the remains of a barbarian burial ground from the Lombard period (7th-8th century AD) were found, built on an area of the cell, and the ruins of a Christian temple, built on the remains of the pagan one around the 3rd century AD

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4 Novembre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 4 minuto di lettura

THEATRE | Contemporary theatre and theatrical pedagogy. Tribute to Gigi Proietti

The experiments of the twentieth century led to the evolution of the theatrical medium, from staging a show to a powerful personal training tool, primarily for the actor.

The educational power of the theater has been the subject of study and, to date, is increasingly applied in the pedagogical and scholastic fields. The peculiarity of theatrical art is to involve the individual in his entirety as a person: his physicality and plasticity, his emotional sphere, necessary to impregnate the scenic gesture with truth and, last but not least, its moral sphere and scale of values he believes in.

The actor is first of all a human being, stripped naked on stage, who communicates with other human beings in the audience. It has something to tell, which unites everyone in the condition of men: the conflict and the emotions that are experienced in everyday life.

The Theatre – Education

In this sense, the phase dedicated to the laboratory becomes fundamental and grows in importance. The staging of the show is not the aim.

The purpose of the theatre is to lead the actor, child or adult, to discover himself, his abilities and his limits, and communicate and express himself in front of others.

During the twentieth century the figure of the actor became central, he is subject as much as the text. What interests us is the study of the person and the sphere of emotions. From Freud’s psychoanalysis to Stanislavski and Barba’s trainings, everything has shifted the focus of attention on man as such.

The Theatrical Pedagogy

The theatre mixes with the human sciences, with which it interpenetrates. Pedagogy places the human being at the center of its studies, with the aim of bringing it to growth in order to express all its abilities.

The conviction of pedagogical research is that each person has his own potential, of which he is not always aware, and the pedagogue’s task is to work to bring to light the possibilities of the individual, in a path aimed at knowledge and self-conquest.

In the theatrical field, the actor, with the help of the director and the training, is encouraged to express his personality and to grow by activating his own expressive and creative means, in an individual path, but inserted in a group. The goal is the individual, but the journey takes place in the relationship with the other, different in its uniqueness.

Often the identity of the group is strengthened, in a climate of mutual respect and listening, whose path is common; it behaves like a flock of birds that move in harmony according to nature and, inside which each specimen is unique and occupies its place, free to move in flight: all together contribute to the enchantment of the dance in the sky.

The company of actors, or rather the ensemble of the group, is stimulated to mutual knowledge, cooperation and sharing. It is an exciting, highly educational and creative path. Heterogeneity is not a weakness, but a strength: this is why it is valued. The director moves the ranks and leads the ensemble in the right direction.

In this sense, he goes from a mere director of a show to a teacher. The director-teacher must also be a theatrical pedagogist, in order to listen to the students and lead them to their full potential.

The Theatre goes off the stage and enters the schools

In recent years, the MIUR has recognized theater as having its powerful educational, pedagogical and didactic value, including it in all respects among the activities to be proposed at school.

In addition to insert a workshop at school, this translates into bringing schoolchildren to the theatre, to experience the workshop in which each child can have their say and give voice to their emotions.

The benefits are on multiple levels, as they embrace the child’s intellectual, rational and emotional sphere, his logical, symbolic and creative thinking. All inserted in a group context, with the rules to follow for the respect of the other, thus learning to live in sociality.

The child feels welcomed, accepted in his uniqueness and stimulated to think outside the box. Everyone feels safe in being able to have their say without fear of being judged.

Cultivating such an inclusive and assertive environment brings enormous benefits to the growth and training of tomorrow’s adults, in a society where standardization is king, where today’s adults have very often stopped communicating face to face and emotions they are censored and diversities marginalized or banned.

“Welcome to the Theatre, where everything is fake but nothing is fake”: Tribute to Gigi Proietti

The world of the theatre mourns the disappearance of a sacred monster of the stage: Gigi Proietti passed away on the day he would have turned 80, over 50 of which he spent on the Italian stage.

Proietti has profoundly marked the history of national contemporary theater. A multifaceted artist, he has ranged from theater, his first and unattainable love, to cinema, TV and dubbing, giving his voice to numerous extraordinarily different characters. We must acknowledge his talent for engaging in varied expressive channels, always keeping his style high: comic, dramatic, original and never vulgar. He was able to distinguish himself for the refinement and, at the same time, the sincerity of his acting, because, as he once said: “In the theater everything is fake but nothing is fake”. Thanks Gigi!!

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3 Novembre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 4 minuto di lettura

ARCHAEOLOGY | The Archaeological Site of Contrada Diana

The Archaeological Site of Contrada Diana is located in Lipari, in a plain south of the Vallone Ponte and north of the Vallone S. Lucia. The large fenced area near the Palazzo Vescovile, bounded to the south by the former via Diana (now via G. Marconi), and other small adjacent archaeological sites belong to the main unearthed park. The entire archaeological area was established in 1971 by the then Superintendence of Antiquities of Eastern Sicily. In 1987, however, following the birth of the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage in Messina, it became the archaeological heritage of the province of Messina.

Systematic archaeological excavations have been carried out since 1948. For about twenty years, starting in 1954, the investigations were led by Luigi Bernabò Brea and Madeleine Cavalier, who helped found the site and, above all, the Archaeological Museum. The entire area of the site preserves memory of the entire history of the island and has returned evidence of the prehistoric, Greek and Roman age. Among these, of particular interest are the Greco-Roman necropolis and the remains of the city walls, to which are added two thermal complexes.

The necropolis of Contrada Diana

The heart of the Archaeological Site of Contrada Diana is the large necropolis. The first site to be excavated, for over sixty years of excavation it has yielded nearly 3,000 burials. The tombs were neatly arranged, in rows, and superimposed on several orders: the most recent, in fact, are located above the older ones. All the burials have a kind of N-S orientation and each of them was accompanied by an internal and an external furnishing. Eight types of burials have been identified: they are mainly burials in sarcophagi, more rarely in defunctionalized amphorae. The external furnishing, first placed inside a large vase, starting from the middle of the 4th century BC, is placed inside a shell of raw clay. In the imperial age, from the 1st to the 5th century AD, in addition to the reuse of old Greek burials, the tombs also took on a monumental form with enclosures and familiar hypogea.

The funeral rite was mixed and included both burial and cremation, with a clear prevalence of the first over the second. The rich grave goods, preserved inside the Aeolian Regional Archaeological Museum, were composed of figured and non-figured ceramics, metal jewels and objects, terracotta statuettes and masks, which reproduce characters from Greek and Roman comedy and tragedy.

The Walls

Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of two city walls, one dating back to the period of the first foundation and the other to the reconstruction of the mid-4th century BC. The oldest walls were found in 1954, under what is now Piazza Luigi Savior of Austria. These are polygonal walls, with large blocks of perfectly hewn lava stone, built with the aim at protecting the Greek settlement, which extended between the Civita hill and the Castle.

What is visible in Contrada Diana is the reconstruction of the first half of the fourth century BC: it is a 50 m long stretch, which highlights the presence of square protective towers. The new and wider curtain was adapted to the expansion of the Greek town. This second construction technique involved a filling of compact stones, lined, on both sides, with isodomic blocks of stone coming from Monte Rosa di Lipari.

With the arrival of the Romans, the Greek city was destroyed and obliterated by the remains of the Roman reoccupation. In the second half of the 1st century BC, the citizens built a new parallel line of fortification, which is 6.50 m from the previous one: it is the agger of Sesto Pompeo, an irregularly shaped work, composed only of dry stone and blocks of bare. The new walls were part of the fortifications commissioned by Sextus Pompeius during the civil war of 36 BC against Octavian. The walls, as well as the necropolis, are implanted in an area that had been the seat of the prehistoric village, pertaining to the culture of Capo Graziano: in fact, they cut the remains of ancient oval huts, built with the technique of the wall dry.

The Roman Baths

Besides, the Roman Baths are added of via Mons. Bernardino Re and via Franza. The first is located almost in front of Palazzo Vescovile and shows the remains of public spaces, with floor mosaics and drainage channels, dating back to the imperial age. Furthermore, the remains of a horseshoe-shaped tank, the frigidarium, and some adjacent spaces referred as tepidarium and calidarium are clearly visible. In via Franza, nestled in what scholars interpret as a working district, there is a more modest spa building. This is made up of three rooms, equipped with a cocciopesto floor, one of which, due to the presence of the characteristic tile columns under the floor, has been recognized as a calidarium. This second spa building dates back to the late imperial age.

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Area of the Archaeological Site of Contrada Diana and Lipari Castle

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31 Ottobre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 2 minuto di lettura

ANCIENT EGYPT | Akhenaten and Amarna art

By “Amarna art” is meant the artistic production of Egypt created by Akhenaten, a sovereign belonging to the 18th dynasty. We referred to him as a revolutionary, heretic, monotheist, deformed and certainly an innovator, that not even the damnatio memoriae to which he was subjected was able to erase from the pages of history; indeed, today he is one of the most famous pharaohs of Egypt, along with Tutankhamen.
In Egypt, during the New Kingdom, there was a radical change in the religious field. Amenhotep IV carried out a reform in order to diminish the power of the god Amun and his priests, since they, thanks to the prestige and wealth gained, had become an intolerable alternative to the pharaonic power. This led Amenhotep IV to prefer Aton, the solar disk; in his honour, therefore, he changed his name to Akhenaten, “the one who is pleasing to Aton”, and founded newly in Tell el-Amarna, far from Thebes, a new capital, called Akhetaton, “Aton’s Horizon”.

The new rules of Amarna art

His reform also affected the artistic field: new forms of expression were imposed, far from tradition, aimed at realism (an example is the Bust of Queen Nefertiti, whose serene beauty has been shining for centuries, preserved in Berlin) and the representation of scenes of domestic life of the royal family (such as the limestone stelae, also in Berlin, depicting Akhenaten, his wife and three daughters). These scenes were a real novelty: until then, in fact, they had been judged far too intimate to be reproduced on the walls of public buildings.

As time went by, the realism of the Amarna style became exaggerated, pushing the physiognomic features to the point of deformity. The colossal statue of Akhenaten, from the temple dedicated to Aton in Karnak and currently housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, exemplifies the new artistic rule: it has an unnaturally elongated head on a long slender neck, a face with fleshy lips, almond-shaped eyes, sunken cheeks, cheekbones, nose and chin pronounced; finally, the body with a narrow torso, relaxed belly, wide hips and thighs and thin calves.
Some scholars, assuming that the artists, in the realization of their works, had based themselves on the real aspect of Akhenaten, had assumed that he suffered from pathological problems and congenital deformities, found, precisely, in the lengthening of the limbs and skull.
The alteration of shapes and lines shows Akhenaten’s innovative intent; however, this did not have devastating effects on the rendering of the figure, which, even though it appeared unbalanced, drew inspiration from a fertile creativity and unusual stylistic solutions, which did not depend on any rule. The freedom of expression that the Amarna artist had led to broaden the stylistic paths and themes of representation, including references to royalty, as well as moments of daily life and intimacy of the royal family.

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Bust of Nefertiti (Neueus Museum, Berlin)

Colossal statue of Akhenaten (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

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30 Ottobre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 3 minuto di lettura

UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY | The wrecks of the “Falcata Zone” of Messina

Known as the Falcata Zone because of its shape, the peninsula of Saint Raineri, in Messina, tells more than a millenary story, centuries older than the canonical foundation of the Zancle colony done by the Chalcidese.

The Falcata Zone, Guardian of Wrecks

That stretch of the Ionian Sea that bathed the peninsula was the scene of numerous battles. Its seabed and coasts became cemeteries for boats, which, through the passing of time, were forgotten.
But something still peeps out from the past, as a reminder of a time when Messina was the crossroads of the main trade and connection routes between the Island, the Italian peninsula and the rest of the Mediterranean.

The Rigoletto

Along the Southern part of the Falcata area lies, undisturbed, the wreck of a historic ferry: the Rigoletto. The wreck owes its fame to the prow that comes out of the water, clearly visible a few metres from the shore and not far from the Spanish Citadel. While the stern was sinking, resting on the seabed, it became the habitat of several species of fish, unique in the Mediterranean Sea (trumpet fish and pink and black castanets). In 1968 the ship was sold to Italy and, under the name “Maddalena Lofaro”, made numerous trips. On the first of July of 1980, a fire broke out on the ship, while it was carrying used cars from Antwerp (Belgium) to Beirut in Lebanon. The crew was forced to abandon the boat, which was towed from the Mediterranean to the port of Messina. Now too damaged to travel by sea, it was abandoned in the area of the Real Cittadella, where, in shallow waters, it found its last port. The Rigoletto is not the only wreck along the Falcata area, just as it is not the only one found at the bottom of the Sicilian coast.

Other modern wrecks: the ferry Cariddi

Another wreck that can be admired in the depths of the Falcata area is that of the Cariddi ferry, a historic boat dating back to the early 1930s. This allowed the railway connection between the Calabrian and Sicilian coasts across the Strait of Messina. The Cariddi was a symbol of great innovation and was the first ship to have a diesel propulsion system.
She was sunk during the Second World War, re-emerged in the following years and redeveloped with a lengthening of the hull, only to be decommissioned in 1990. Finally, now forgotten along the coast, she sank in silence in the 2000s. The ship, a favourite destination for scuba diving, gives shelter and life to countless marine animal species (shrimps, sea bass, groupers, etc.), lying on the rocky limestone seabed.

In antique

During a research campaign, carried out with scans, Rov verifications and scuba diving, two perfectly intact wrecks of merchant ships, dating back to the II-IV century A.D., were discovered at the bottom of the Strait of Messina. The area involved in the archeo-submarine countryside embraces a stretch of sea of 49 km2, not far from the Falcata area. In this operation public and private institutions have worked in synergy: Aurora Trust, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of the Sea of Palermo, Oloturia Sub, Bimaris Edition. The research campaign is part of the “Atlantis” project, a two-year plan for mapping the seabed of the Strait of Messina. During the campaign that took place from 13th to 19th June of 2011, well-preserved North African amphorae were found in the first shipwreck, well-preserved whole millstones, lead ingots with a stamp, fundamental to identify their origin, and three iron anchors, now preserved in the warehouses of Zanca Palace in Messina.

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29 Ottobre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 5 minuto di lettura

BEHIND THE FASCISM | The Augustan Exhibition of Roman times

The process of identification between Augustus and Mussolini and the reference to antiquity reached its apex with the great Augustan Exhibition of Roman times in 1937. Managed by Giulio Quirino Giglioli, it was launched at the Exhibition Palace to celebrate the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Augustus.

Manifesto of the Augustan Exhibition of Romanity

The Exhibition Palace

The façade of the Palace, created by Alfredo Scalpelli, featured “writings along the entire façade, warning visitors and passers-by about the indestructible power of Rome, the talents of the Italic people and the universality of Roman politics, with the words of great classical writers and Christians “. It was decorated with copies of Roman statues of captive barbarians, the originals of which (2nd century AC) were found in the collections of the Conservative Palace.

The entire facade was a clear reference to the tripartite layout of the arch of Constantine, with the casts of the statues imitating the statues of the Trajan era placed on the top of the ancient monument. On the keystone of the central entrance of the exhibition there was a cast of the statue of the Victory of Metz, a reference to the Victories trophy placed in the median arch of the arch of Constantine. On the keystone of the central entrance of the exhibition there was a cast of the statue of the Victory of Metz, a reference to the Victories trophy placed in the median fornix of the arch of Constantine. Already from the mere realization of the façade, the desire to reuse classical elements and the desire to connect the Fascist empire with the Roman one was conceived.

The exhibition rooms of the Exhibit

Giglioli had set up twenty-six rooms dedicated to the history of Rome, from the first kings to the formation of the Empire, considered a space that the Romans had conquered because they were superior from a cultural point of view. Through the exhibition, visitors could learn about the uses, customs, techniques and economy of the entire Roman world.

Entrance to the Augustan Exhibition of Romanity

One of the most important rooms was certainly the Empire room, with the casts of triumphal monuments, such as the relief of a sacrifice probably made by Trajan, in front of a large temple. The shrine of the exhibition was the room dedicated to Augustus (room X), where, surmounted by the passage of Suetonius which exalted his birth, the statue of the Augustus of Prima Porta appeared.

The glass cross in the Hall of Augustus

The mystical analogy between Augustus and Mussolini will find an iconographic translation in a glass cross bearing the words of St. Luke. The cross referred to the imperial census issued by Augustus and the birth of Christ. The identification between Augustus, “cooperator of Divine Providence” and Mussolini, who, after the Lateran Pacts, will be considered as the Man of Providence, became clear.

Giglioli recovered hundreds of casts, models of monuments, machines, models of cities, geographical and topographical maps that highlighted the power and grandeur of the Empire. Indeed, the exhibition was intended to “educate the masses”, to speak to the general public and enhance the similarities between the ancient empire of Augustus and the new empire of Mussolini.

The image of Constantine

In rooms XXIV and XXV the “fascistized” image of Constantine emerged. The rooms were placed in communication with each other by the architecture, which suggested the ideal continuity between the obelisks and the triumphal arches of the present and the past. Think about the triumphal arch of Constantine “erected to celebrate the victory over Maxentius on 28th October 312 AC, which marked the advent of Christianity […] reported at that same Milvian bridge, which the Black Shirts crossed on 28th October in 1922, starting the Era of Fasci ».

The peace savior

On his return from Munich, fresh from the closing of the Augustan Exhibition of Roman times, Mussolini, at least at home, was able to present himself in Rome as the “savior of peace”. If those garments did not mislead Pius XI, the same could not be said for the Catholic press. On 5th of November in 1938 The Catholic Civilization praised Mussolini as the new Augustus, who had returned from across the Alps with peace. A peace that wanted to resemble the Pax Augustea, which lasted for four centuries, but, when it left Europe, there was nothing but disorder and barbarism, which, within a year, destroyed the myth of Roman times.

Mussolini as Augustus and Constantine

The Duce personified the model of Constantine, the Christian emperor, and that of Augustus, the Princeps of the empire: a fusion of two imperial models. This happened through the recovery of the legend about the “Christianization” of Augustus, whose testimony emerged from the panels of the Augustan exhibition in which he was represented. An Augustus “Christianized” and aware of his earthly mission, illuminated by the light of providence, coinciding with the redemptive mission of Christ. Mussolini, therefore, claimed to fascism the merit of having restored the authority and prestige of the capital of Italy to Rome; moreover, he had used the myth of Rome and, in particular the classical elements, to provide historical legitimacy and ideological consistency to fascism.
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28 Ottobre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 5 minuto di lettura

ARCHAEOLOGY | Metaponto – Basilicata – the pearl of Magna Graecia

Metaponto, an ancient city of Magna Graecia, was probably founded in the eighth century BC by groups of Achaeans from the Peloponnese. According to the tradition handed down by Strabo, it seems that the centre was initially constituted by the veterans of the Trojan war.

The new veterans, however, lived together and clashed with the local populations of the Oenotrians. In the oldest phase of the area there was also an important inhabited area, now designated as the archaeological area of the “Incoronata of San Teodoro“.

History of the city

The place, during the early age, was called Metabos with regard to a legend, and from this comes the subsequent evolution in the name. The ceramic productions were important in the area of ancient Metaponto.

Among the ancient artists the “Painter of Pisticci” should be remembered . The craftsmanship of bronze, sometimes illustrated, found in the Incoronata site was also important.

The city, in the period of maximum splendour, was able to host Pythagoras, who fled from Crotone. Following the events of the times, the city of the Achaeans often allied with nearby Taranto, following its fate for a long time. After being involved in the wars between the Romans and the Carthaginians, Metaponto entered the Roman orbit, first as a Federal City, then as a City Hall in the 1st century BC.

The archaeological area

The sacred area is bordered on the west and east side by a perimeter wall ,Témenos, as well as by wide orthogonal streets. The east side, on the other hand, is marked only by a symbolic theory of pillars, which physically separates the area from the other public space, the agora.

The two major temples, Heraion and Apollonion, were built in the Doric style around the mid-sixth century BC. They are the result of a process of monumentalization of the sanctuary, which seems to end with the construction of the Ionic temple and with the reconstruction of building, in the first decades of the fifth century BC. The most impressive remains belong to the temple of Hera, the series of the 8 columns of the eastern front with a partial reconstruction of the elevation is proposed. The entire floor plan, on the other hand, is suggested by the orderly arrangement of the other remaining architectural elements.

On the side there is the temple dedicated to Apollo Lykaios, named as the Virtuous or the “Wolf”, of which some monolithic non-fluted columns relating to a previous building, never built, can be appreciated. The grandeur of the structure, the large base, is due to the need to support a great weight, determined by the marble roof. The building is characterized by the central division of the cell and by the double colonnade on the eastern front.

This building and the Ionic temple dedicated to Artemis maintain an old orientation, different from that of the two major temples, which instead align perfectly with the geometries of the urban grid. In front of the temples are situated the altars, accompanied by numerous bases, inscriptions and votive objects.

PUBLIC SPACES

In the agora, however, the architectural grandeur of the theatre is clearly distinguished, which during the second half of the fourth century BC replaces the previous archaic circular building, conventionally referred to as Ekklesiasterion. The building certainly hosted the highest town hall meeting, Ekklesia, but also competitions and shows with great popular participation. The absence of a hilly slope in the area has forced the invention of an artificial embankment. This is held on the outside by a retaining wall made of large limestone blocks.

In the current arrangement we can point out the development of the first layout, following that one of the metal section bars. In the centre the orchestra is recognizable, rectangular in shape, with two large opposite entrances. To represent the elevation of the theatre, instead, the masonry reconstruction of a sector of the external retaining wall, decorated with columns and Doric frieze, was preferred. Along this wall there are also the entrances, which should have allowed the spectators to access the upper part of the steps, the cavea.

On the opposite side of the modern access road to the park, before the railway line, the area of the so-called Castro Romano develops, built between the agora and the line of the eastern walls. This is happened probably to house the Roman military garrison during the wars of the third century BC, before the definitive defeat of the Carthaginian army led by Hannibal. It is important the large portico or stoà, probably on two floors, with columns and Doric frieze, which closes the east side of the agora.

During the imperial period, Metaponto was further reduced to a small town within the Castro area. It exists in the basis of the port and the coastal road system. It is significant that the public space of the Greek city , agora and sanctuary, hosts a sector of the necropolis as if to underline the loss of any cultural and topographical relationship with the previous stages of life.

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28 Ottobre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 2 minuto di lettura

THEATRE | How does the way of making theatre change after World War II

Theatrical research in Europe, in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, brought back the body work of the actor. As a result, the training was born, preparatory to the arrangement of the show. The laboratory gradually gets more and more important for the final staging, which is only the last part of a much longer journey. The show is only a portion of the work, not the most important.

The artistic contaminations

The theatre, in its experimentation, allows itself to be contaminated by other art forms, especially oriental ones such as yoga, meditation and martial arts, from which it borrows the spiritual philosophy and the harmony of creation.

The actor works on his inner balance and eliminate the scenery, to get to the character’s essence within himself. More and more often the director chooses to set up the work by getting rid as much as possible of all the ornaments and supports: what it remains only the actor who can find a sort of relationship with the spectators.

The Poor Theatre of Grotowski

The Polish director Grotowski pursued this philosophy and called it “Poor Theatre”: the staging was reduced to a minimum, to shift the focus on the preparation of the actors, who went through a rigid physical and vocal training to enhance their expressive skills.

The fundamental moment for Grotowski, in fact, was not the show, but the rehearsals, during which a close relationship was established between the director and the actor.

The Odin Teatret by Eugenio Barba

Eugenio Barba is an Italian director and was a pupil of the master Grotowski. In 1964 he founded Odin Teatret, a multicultural theatre company, in Oslo, Norway.
Crucial point of the group’s research is the depth of the actor’s work through training. The preparation laboratory can last for years and cannot be bound to the tight deadlines of the production of shows.

For the first time in their work, the pedagogical approach appears, through which the actors prepare themselves by comparing themselves. They are pushed by the director to acquire the most suitable means of expression for themselves. Personal study is fostered, drawing on different cultures and performative traditions. The company and the director make numerous trips to inform themselves, in order to enrich their cultural and artistic experience, coming into contact with other styles and techniques.
The training finally becomes a tool for personal growth, to coach an actor prepared and responsive to every incentive provided by the text and the director. The latter gives input, but the research is entirely of the actor, free to convey, in the laboratory phase, real emotions.

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27 Ottobre 2020 Redazione ArcheoMe 3 minuto di lettura

ARCHAEOLOGY | The Acropolis of Lipari and the Castle overlooking the Mediterranean

The Acropolis of Lipari is the promontory on which the Castle stands. Located in a large bay between Marina Corta and Marina Lunga, it was formed less than 40,000 years ago. It is a real rock of volcanic lava, about 50 m high. Its steep walls and flat surface provide natural protection. This feature has meant that the site was inhabited since the Neolithic. The evidence of the settlements that have followed one another over time have created a notable elevation of the promontory; moreover, the fortress is the subject of an interesting inverse natural phenomenon: the wind, instead of eroding the walls, contributed to the accumulation of volcanic ash, favoring the growth of the deposits of the earthy layers. The archaeological excavations, in fact, as evidence of this accumulation, have brought to light a long stratigraphic sequence of overlapping settlements more than 10 metres high.

The Castle of Lipari

The Castle of Lipari represents one of the most important centres of the cultural life of the Aeolian Islands and is the repository of a millenary history. Its current appearance derives from the reconstruction, commissioned by the Spaniard Charles V, around 1560. This reconstruction became necessary following the attack of the Tunisian pirate Khayr ad-Din Barbarossa who in 1544 had conquered and destroyed the city, deporting part of the inhabitants as slaves.

The mighty Spanish fortifications covered the rocky ridge to the base and were equipped with numerous positions for artillery and cannons. The latter are now closed by walls. The Spanish walls have incorporated the previous Norman towers, dating back to the 12th century. Among these, there is a tower-gate, which was the ancient entrance to the Civita and which today is the access to the Castle. Of particular interest is the presence of a tower from the Greek age (4th century BC), made up of 23 rows of square blocks of Monte Rosa stone, incorporated into the walls.

Greek tower integrated in the castle walls

Archaeological remains

Going along the access road from the Roman age and passing the entrance door, you will find a short gallery with barrel vaults. Here is kept the machicolation in which the iron gate was housed. The gallery leads to a second open-air passage, later covered by pointed vaults in the 19th century. You arrive in front of an imposing door, on the top of which there is a coat of arms depicting an eagle, symbol of the Bourbons. The surrounding area of the castle, until the eighteenth century, housed part of the city. What remains are various religious structures, including the now disused church of Santa Caterina, the Church of the Addolorata from the 16th century, characterized by a Baroque-style facade, and the Cathedral of San Bartolomeo, in the centre of the plateau.

In the early 1900s, the built-up area inside the Castle was abandoned and the inhabitants moved to the city built on the plain below. Then the bishop, in order not to go through the sad destroyed houses, decides to build a large access staircase in front of the Cathedral. In doing so, however, he cuts a large section of the Spanish fortifications and destroys the remains of the oldest settlements. Today, the Acropolis of Lipari is home to the Castle, which houses, inside, the Regional Archaeological Museum “L. Bernabò Brea “.