Cars and Emperors
Publication: StoryMap, seminar paper at University of Zurich, 2016.
Do you remember the first time you saw the Colosseum in Rome? How its many arches appeared in the distance, viewed from Piazza Venezia and the marble 'typewriter' monument? Do you remember how you marvelled at Trajan's large column and market on your left, and then the many ruins of the other fora and the Palatine hill on your right? How the Colosseum grew in front of you as you approached it, proudly towering over its surroundings since 2000 years?
You probably did not know, however, that this cinematic view on the Colosseum was actually framed by Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator. You saw the Colosseum exactly as he wanted you to see it. Before the 1930s, a residential neighbourhood covered most of the Forum area and blocked the view on the Colosseum. Mussolini had it torn down to make space for his triumphal road connecting 'his' Piazza Venezia (remember the iconic balcony) and the Colosseum: the Via dell’ Impero.
With the building of the Via dell' Impero, today called the Via dei Fori Imperiali, Mussolini strove for two aims: making the city car-friendly and showing off its ancient monuments. It was through these two strands that he wanted to build his new city: the Third Rome. Mussolini’s great Rome was supposed to be the third after the ancient Rome of the emperors and the renaissance Rome of the popes. For achieving his goals, Mussolini built schools, post offices, sports facilities, a university campus, a film production city, and a subway—mostly outside the historic centre. The biggest building projects are marked by green circles on the map on the left. Much more than through construction work, however, he shaped the city through demolition. For laying bare the ancient monuments and making the historic centre accessible to the car, he demolished complete neighbourhoods like the one on the Forum Romanum—he even pictured himself as the saviour of Rome, freeing it from its old decadence and burden. For the many pictures showing Mussolini swinging a pickaxe, 'piccone' in Italian, he received his nickname 'picconatore'—he who swings the pickaxe.
In this storymap, I want to show you how Mussolini reframed the ancient monuments of Rome—how Mussolini makes us follow his gaze even today. As you can see on the left, I marked many of the demolitions in red, new fascist buildings in black, and new or widened streets in light blue. Orange lines represent streets planned by Mussolini that have never been executed. As you scroll down, I present to you three places Mussolini transformed and illustrate the changes through historical photographs and up-to-date Street Views: Piazza Navona, the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Forum Romanum. But most importantly, I want you to (re)visit the Eternal City and see and explore it with critical eyes.