L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano F or centuries trav- elers have visited La Piazza della Bocca Della Ver- ità located just south of Rome's busy center. The significance of this piaz- za is that the traveler can see in one stop Rome's many layers: from the Roman tem- ples, Temple of Hercules and the Temple of Portunus, the R o m a n s t o n e , L a B o c c a Della Verità located in the loggia of the sixth century Santa Maria in Cosmedin, to t h e e i g h t e e n - c e n t u r y Fontana dei Tritoni, sculpt- ed in the earlier Baroque style of Lorenzo Bernini. B u t R o m e a n d i t s history do not stand still. B e s i d e s i t s w e l l - k n o w n archeological sites, the city is developing a new site that h a s b e e n h i d d e n i n p l a i n sight for decades. I looked carefully at some of my older t r a v e l b o o k s , i n c l u d i n g a 1 9 0 9 e d i t i o n o f t h e renowned Baedeker's Italy: from Alps to Naples. There is only passing mention of what we must now define as one of Rome's most impor- t a n t p i a z z a s : P i a z z a Augusto Imperatore. At its center is the first century Augustan family's m a u s o l e u m t h a t i s n o w undergoing what must be regarded as the most impor- tant restoration of an arche- o l o g i c a l s i t e i n R o m e i n KENNETH SCAMBRAY d e c a d e s . A t i t s a n c i e n t Roman street level, it sits well below the level of the modern piazza surrounding it. In 1973 Carole, my wife, and I discovered this long- neglected monument. At the t i m e , I w a s a b l e t o w a l k down to the unfenced and neglected site where I found a plaque hanging precari- ously on the stone wall that l i s t e d t h e n a m e s o f t h e Augustan family interred in the mausoleum. The mau- soleum was in a degraded condition, having been loot- ed centuries ago, thought- lessly repurposed over the centuries, and then aban- doned for decades. But no longer! A p p r o x i m a t e l y s e v e n years ago, during our daily walks through the piazza, we saw a fence suddenly go up around the site. Not long after, the original fence was replaced by its current fence t h a t c o n t a i n s t h e m a u - soleum's historic timeline. At the same time, we also noticed workers entering the mausoleum and scaffolding going up around the walls of the ancient structure. Mario Erasmo's Strolling Through Rome tells us that Augustus began construc- tion of the mausoleum in the year 31 BCE after his victori- o u s B a t t l e o f A c t i u m a n d w h e n h e b e c a m e t h e e m p i r e ' s r u l e r . A u g u s t u s supposedly said, "I found Rome a city of bricks and I l e f t i t a c i t y o f m a r b l e . " Initially, it was the burial s i t e o f t h e f a m i l y , f r o m Augustus to Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor, who ruled from 41-54 and mar- ried Agrippina, his niece. A notable absence in the tomb i s A u g u s t u s ' s d a u g h t e r , Julia, who was exiled by her puritanical father for her immorality. Augustus also exiled Ovid for what he con- s i d e r e d t o b e O v i d ' s immoral, erotic love poems. T h e i n s a n e C a l i g u l a ' s r e m a i n s a r e b u r i e d e l s e - where in Rome. The tomb also became the b u r i a l s i t e o f m a n y o t h e r Roman imperial families, including the Julio Claudian line beginning in 23 BCE down to Nerva, in 410. It was for centuries a holy and revered site. But in 410 Alaric and the invading Visigoths sacked the mausoleum and carried away all its contents. The fence contains drawings of the mausoleum as it might A detail of Piazza Augusto Imperatore (Photo: Edimur/Dreamstime) Piazza Augusto Imperatore: Rome's new ancient piazza Continued to page 22 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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