The Romans have always "lived" it, perhaps throwing an eye out the window in traffic.
Tourists admired it from above, guide in hand, to discover that right here, in 44 BC, one of the most heinous crimes of ancient history took place, the assassination of Julius Caesar told to the whole world even by Shakespeare.
Now for the first time the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina, with the remains of its four temples still shrouded in mystery and the famous tuff base of the Curia of Pompey, which collected the blood of the consul and dictator Caesar, will be open and completely accessible , thanks to the works starting by mid-May.
"An impressive intervention", explains the mayor Virginia Raggi, made possible by the patronage of Bvlgari spa, which after the operations at the Baths of Caracalla, the Trinità dei Monti steps and the Ara Pacis, now donates about one million euros to repay another piece of the history and heritage of the city (500 thousand euros come from the agreement signed in 2019 between the company in Roma Capitale and 485,593.58 from the residual funds of that of 2014 for Trinità dei Monti).
"There are many other works to be carried out and we are always ready to offer our help - assures the CEO of the Bvlgari group, Jean-Christophe Babin - We will be protagonists on April 21 at the events around Piazza Augusto Imperatore. We are also building the hotel more luxury than Rome, which needs to be on a par with New York and Paris ".
Yes, because even if, as the Councilor for Cultural Growth Lorenza Fruci reminds us, even without international flows and only with the Romans "reservations for the Mausoleum of Augustus sold out in 48 hours", Rome is eagerly awaited for return of tourists.
"We are all dependent on the evolution of the virus and on what will be decided by the CTS and the Government - says the mayor - Meanwhile we are preparing by opening new sites".
Like the Sacred Area, one of the oldest places in the city (dating back to the Republican age), but also among the most recent as an archaeological excavation, which started only when during the demolition of some buildings between 1926 and 1929 a acrolito, probably a statue of the Goddess Fortuna, today at the Centrale Montemartini.
"We are used to seeing it from above, adds the mayor - Now we can enter and walk among the vestiges of the past".
Duration 360 days, the works, entrusted by the Capitoline Superintendence to Cultural Heritage to Impresa Biagioli Srl, will be in the name of 100% accessibility, "whether it is for disabled people or for mothers with wheelchairs", emphasizes Raggi, with walkways at high altitude and illuminated at night with LED lights.
Three central elements: the Papito tower, with ticket office and exhibition space in the external portico;
vertical and horizontal paths, complete with an open cabin lift platform and walkways to admire the archaeological finds up close;
and a covered exhibition area, in the eastern portico, on the side of via di San Nicola de 'Cesarini, where among panels, inscriptions, fragments of decorations, terracotta and remains of statues it will be possible to follow the events of the site from the third century BC up to demolitions of the Fascist period.
Once the Domitian flooring has been repositioned and the historic feline colony preserved, it will then be an opportunity to return to the still unsolved mysteries.
If the circular-shaped Temple B was most likely dedicated to the Goddess Fortuna, as told by the Capitoline Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, little is still known about the "small" Temple A, according to some built by consul Q. Lutatius Catulus in honor of Giuturna.
"Temple C is the oldest - says the superintendent - perhaps built for the Sabine goddess Feronia. While Temple D, from the 2nd century BC, is the largest, but still divides: for some it was dedicated to the Lares Permarini, for others to Nymphs ".