Rodolfo Lanciani

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Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani (born January 2, 1845 in Rome ; died May 21, 1929 in Rome) was an Italian classical archaeologist , engineer and topographer .

Rodolfo Lanciani was the son of the engineer and papal architect Pietro Lanciani . He first attended the Jesuit College Romano , then he completed an engineering degree at the then papal University of Rome . After completing his studies, he took part in the excavations of the Trajan port of Ostia Antica , which changed the course of his life forever. In 1867 he published a preliminary report on the excavations in the Monumenti ed Annali of the Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica and devoted his scientific work to the study of ancient monuments, even though he was the successor of his father in Montecelli from 1868 onwards. In 1872 he became secretary of the then newly founded local Roman authority for archeology, the Commissione Archeologica Comunale .

His marriage to the American translator Mary Ellen Rhodes in 1875 gave him access to a circle of American archaeologists and he published many of his publications in English. In 1876 Lanciani became vice director of the Museum Kircherianum , two years later he became professor of Roman topography at the University of Rome, which was nationalized in 1870. He held the chair until two years before his death. From 1887 to 1890 he was also an engineer in the Directorate General responsible for museums and excavations at the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione , the Ministry of Public Education.

Lanciani's most important work appeared from 1893. It is a map of ancient Rome in 46 sheets, which was published under the name Forma Urbis Romae . Deviating from the usual maps of the time, which were published on a scale of 1:20,000, Lanciani chose the much more detailed scale of 1: 1,000. To make orientation easier, the modern streets of Rome, the squares and villas were indicated above the archaeological findings. Up to 1901, all archaeological findings from ancient Rome up to the end of the 6th century were presented in this map series. To this day, Lanciani's Forma Urbis Romae is unsurpassed and an extremely important source on the topography of Rome, even if some of its interpretations are to be regarded as outdated by recent findings.

As one of the few English-speaking Italian archaeologists of his time, he edited the 15th edition of the Handbook of Rome and its Environs, first published in 1843, together with amateur Austen Henry Layard in 1894 . His most important book in English followed in 1897, The Ruins & Excavations of Ancient Rome. A Companion Book for Students and Travelers . Towards the end of the 19th century, Lanciani had responsibility and supreme supervision of all excavations in the area of ​​the city of Rome, but also carried out numerous excavations himself, the most important of which was that of the House of the Vestals in the Roman Forum . At this time he formed a circle of excellent experts on the Roman Forum and Roman topography with Thomas Ashby , Heinrich Jordan , Christian Huelsen and Samuel Ball Platner . In 1900 he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects .

Lanciani was one of the first to develop all the notes, drawings and references of the Renaissance artists and scholars, which he presented in four volumes between 1902 and 1912 as Storia degli Scavi di Roma e le Noteie intorno all Collezioni Romane di Antichità and all the discoveries that made between the years 1000 and 1605 included. From 1994 to 2002, two more volumes plus an index volume on the finds between 1605 and 1879 were published from his estate.

When Giacomo Boni resigned from the Commission for the Zona Monumentale in Rome in 1909 , Lanciani succeeded him and prevented a public park from being created on the site of the Caracalla Baths . For his services he was appointed Senator del Regno d'Italia on June 3, 1911 . Lanciani was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and the Accademia di San Luca . He received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Aberdeen , Würzburg , Oxford , Harvard and Glasgow .

After his first wife died in 1917, Lanciani married Princess Teresa Caracciolo Colonna, widow of the 15th Duca e Principe di Paliano, Marcantonio Colonna, in 1920 . Lanciani died on May 21, 1929, and on May 23, 1929 a memorial service was held in the Italian Senate in the presence of Benito Mussolini . He was buried on the Campo Verano .

Publications (selection)

  • Guida del Palatino . With plans by Alessandro Zangolini. Bocca, Rome 1873.
  • I Commentari di Frontino sulle Acque e gli Acquedotti . Rome 1880.
  • Scavi di Ostia . Salviucci, Rome 1881.
  • Il Tempio di Apolline Palatino. Il Tempio della Vittoria. In: Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma. Volume 11, 1883, pp. 185–212, (digitized version )
  • The aula e gli uffici del senato romano. (Curia hostilia iulia: secretarium senatus). In: Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei. Memorie della Classe di Science Morali, Storiche e Filologiche. Series 3, Volume 11, 1882/1883, pp. 3–32, (digitized version )
  • Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries . Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (NY) 1888. ( online at LacusCurtius ).
  • L'itinerario di Einsiedeln e l'ordine di Benedetto canonico . Accademia dei Lincei, Rome 1891.
  • with Luigi Salomone and Ulrico Hoepli : Forma Urbis Romae . 8 volumes. Ulricum Hoepli, Milan 1893–1901.
  • Pagan and Christian Rome . Macmillan, London 1896 ( online at LacusCurtius ).
  • The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome. A Companion Book for Students and Travelers . Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (NY) / Macmillan, London 1897 ( online in the Internet archive ).
  • The Destruction of Ancient Rome. A Sketch of the History of the Monuments . Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (NY) 1899 ( online in Internet Archives ).
  • New Tales of old Rome . Macmillan, London 1901 ( online at InternetArchive )
  • The Golden Days of the Renaissance in Rome, from the Pontificate of Julius II to that of Paul III . A. Constable, London 1906 ( online at InternetArchive ).
  • Wanderings in the Roman Campagna . Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (NY) 1909 ( online at InternetArchive ).
  • The Roman Forum. A Photographic Description of its Monuments . Frank & Co, Rome 1910 ( online at Questia ).
  • Wanderings through Ancient Roman Churches . Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (NY) 1924.
  • Ancient and Modern Rome . Harrap, London 1925.
  • ed. by Anthony L. Cubberley: Notes from Rome . British School at Rome, London 1988.
  • Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità . Volume 1, 1902 (online) ; Volume 2: Gli ultimi anni di Clemente VII e il pontificato di Paolo III (1531-1549) , 1903 (online) ; Volume 3: Dalla elezione di Giulio III alla morte di Pio IV (7 February 1550 - 10 December 1565) , 1907 (online) ; Volume 4: Dalla elezione di Pio V alla morte di Clemente VIII (7 gennaio 1566 - 3 marzo 1605) , 1912 (online)
  • edited by Paolo Liverani, Maria Rosaria Russo: Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità. Dalla elezione di Paolo V alla morte di Innocenzo XII: 16 maggio 1605 - 27 September 1700 . Volume 5, 1994.
  • edited by Paolo Liverani, Maria Rosaria Russo: Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità. Dalla elezione di Clemente XI alla morte di Pio IX (November 23, 1700-7 February 1878) . Volume 6, 2000.
  • edited by Paolo Pellegrino: Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità. Indici analitici . Volume 7, 2002.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lanciani, Rodolfo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lanciani, Rodolfo Amedeo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian classical archaeologist, engineer and topographer
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1929
Place of death Rome