Via dei Fori Imperiali

Via dei Fori Imperiali, seen from the Colosseum looking northwest

The Via dei Fori Imperiali (formerly Via dell'Impero) is a road in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, that runs in a straight line from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum.

The road, whose original name was Via dell'Impero, was built during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. Its course takes it over parts of the Forum of Trajan, Forum of Augustus and Forum of Nerva, parts of which can be seen on both sides of the road. There has in recent years been a great deal of archeological excavation on both sides of the road, as significant Imperial Roman relics remain to be found under it.

Paving Over History

Perhaps the biggest difference of all was that there was no four-lane, heavily trafficked road straight through the forum area, dividing the Roman Forum from the other Imperial Fora (Forum of Trajan, Forum of Augustus, Forum of Caesar, Forum of Nerva and and Forum of Vespasian).

This road was built between 1931-1933 at the behest of Benito Mussolini, leader of Italy's National Fascist Party. Primarily he wanted a road fit for a triumphal march or parade. He also wanted to create a physical and symbolic link between the his office in piazza Venezia and the seat of ancient Roman power in the forum, all the way to the Colosseum. Some obstacles lay in the way of the road though – not least the millennia-old Roman structures, as well as the popular tenements that housed 746 of Rome's poorest families, when one of the most densely populated and oldest inhabited areas of Rome was systematically pulled down.

Apart from the human impact of displacing thousands of people, there were many other structures that were destroyed, moved or covered over during the building of the road. These include:

• The de-consecration and stripping of the Church of Sant'Adriano in Curia Senatus (built on the Curia Julia) in the Roman Forum;

• Demolition of the 17th century convent of the Mercedari, annexed to the Church of Sant'Adriano;

• Excavation and removal of a large part of the Velia Hill, on which the Basilica of Constantine (also known as the Basilica of Maxentius) stands, half way between the Colosseum and piazza Venezia;

• Destruction of the monastery of Sant'Urbano ai Pantani and the nearby convent of Sant'Eufemia;

• Destruction of the neighbourhood of Via Alessandrina, which included the house of famous 19th antiquarian Francesco Martinetti, collector, restorer and numismatics expert – itself a treasure trove;

• Excavation and covering of the gardens of the 16th century Villa Rivaldi and its nymphaeums;

• Loss of several notable houses including Casa Desideri, Casa Ciacci, Casa Cetorelli and Casa De Rossi;

• Demolition of the churches of San Lorenzo ai Monti and Santa Maria degli Angeli in Macello Martyrum;

• The excavation and partial obliteration of the forums of Caesar, Augustus, Trajan, Vespasian and Nerva;

Of the areas excavated, a great deal of data has been lost. A recent exhibition about the building of the road (reviewed here) at Musei Capitolini noted that many of the objects found were stored in crates in the vaults of Museo della Civiltà Romana, but little associated data was recorded about the exact location and context of the objects, meaning that huge amounts of information that could be inferred is now irrecoverable.

Whatever benefits may have been gained from the rudimentary archaeological processes that were given an impetus by Mussolini's road-building plan, the via del Fori Imperiali completely changed the landscape and character of the heart of Rome and sliced the forum area in two. General outrage is often the reaction of modern archaeologists and scholars when discussing it. David Watkin, professor of the history of architecture at Cambridge University, is in no doubt that the road should – and will – be removed.

It is ironic that the a paved avenue named via dei Fori Imperiali obliterated over 84% of the recently excavated forums of Nerva and Trajan. Over 40,000 square yards of one of the most historic parts of medieval and Renaissance Rome was destroyed, including five churches and many houses, of which it is now difficult even to find photographs.

This road today carries an extremely heavy motor vehicle traffic. It has and continues to do immeasurable damage to the ancient Roman monuments over which the road was built by Mussolini. It literally bisects several building, and is the conduit for the heavy motorized traffic that encircles the Colosseum and funnels through Via dei Fori Imperiali. With closure and removal of this road and the banning of motor vehicle traffic in and around Colosseum, a new life could breath into the most central of all Roman archaeological heritage and save them from demise. However, all attempt to undo what Mussolini government created by removing the road have failed.

Sources

• Rendina, Claudio (1999) (in Italian). Enciclopedia di Roma. Newton Compton. 

• "Via dei Fori Imperiali" (in English). http://heritage-key.com/rome/dei-fori-imperiali-mussolinis-fascist-route-through-rome.