Are you planning to visit Rome anytime soon? If so, you now will have the advantage beyond crowds and time, pollution induced damage to the monuments. You can now view a virtual model of the imperial capital through the world’s biggest, most complete computer simulation of an ancient city.
A digital reconstruction by the “Rome Reborn” project shows a view of what the Forum would have looked like during the peak of Roman power.
‘Rome Reborn’ shows the city at its peak in 320 AD, under the Emperor Constantine when it had grown to a million inhabitants. Brainchild of the University of Virginia’s Bernard Frischer, it will eventually show its evolution from Bronze Age hut settlements to the Sack of Rome in the 5th century AD and the devastating Gothic Wars. The project costs came to about $2 million.
Reproduced for tourists on satellite-guided handsets and 3-D orientation movies in a theater is due to be opened near the Colosseum next April.
When in virtual Rome, visitors will be able to do even more than ancient Romans did: They can crawl through the bowels of the Colosseum, filled with lion cages and primitive elevators, and fly up for a detailed look at bas-reliefs and inscriptions placed atop triumphal arches.
Rome Reborn’ was created over 10 years by an international team of archaeologists, architects and computer specialists from the University of Virginia and the Los Angeles branch of the University of California, as well research institutes in Italy, Germany and Britain
Now that you will be able to understand the ruins a lot better why not plan a visit to Italy.
Source: IHT
