Rome Reborn
Available
People
- Project Director: Bernard Frischer
Description
Rome Reborn is a digital recreation of ancient Rome using avatars for educational purposes.
Architectural elements and landmarks are divided into two categories:
1. Class I elements (e.g., the Colosseum) with detailed information are modeled by hand 2. Class II elements (less certain features) use 3D scan models
AI avatars are currently in development. There are no plans to cover periods beyond late antiquity. Dissemination occurs through Yorescape, offering virtual tours on various platforms, and free versions are available on Vimeo and YouTube.
History of the project
The first version of this resource, entitled Project Cicero, was created in 1996. It aimed to create 3D digital models depicting Rome's urban development from 1000 B.C. to A.D. 550, with a starting point in 320 CE.
Rome Reborn version 1.0 was launched in 2007, 2.0 in 2008, 3.0 in 2018, 4.0 in November 2023.
References
- Frischer, Bernard and David Massey, 2022. 3D Urban Models as Tools for Research and Discovery Two Case Studies of the Rostra in the Roman Forum Utilizing Rome Reborn, in Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age: Proceedings of the 12th EMA Visiting Scholar's Conference, 23-47; available online at: https://www.academia.edu/74034923/3D_Urban_Models_as_Tools_for_Research_and_Discovery_Two_Case_Studies_of_the_Rostra_in_the_Roman_Forum_Utilizing_Rome_Reborn
- Frischer, Bernard, with technical appendices by Paolo Alberi Alber, David Dearborn, and John Fillwalk, 2018. “Edmund Buchner's Solarium Augusti: New Observations and Simpirical Studies,” Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 3-90. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/38081245/Edmund_Buchners_Solarium_Augusti_New_Observations_and_Simpirical_Studies
- Frischer Bernard, 2017. Review of Andrea Carandini, editor. The Atlas of Ancient Rome: Biography and Portraits of the City. Volume 1: text and images; volume 2: tables and indexes. 2017. 1280 pages, 532 colour and b&w illustrations, 9 tables. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press. Antiquity 91: 1659-1662. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/36617500/Frischer_Review_Carandini_Atlas_2017
- Frischer, Bernard, John Pollini, Giuseppina Capriotti, David Dearborn, John Fillwalk, Karl Galinsky, Christina Haueber, John Miller, Jackie Murray, Michele Salzman, Molly Swetnam-Burland, 2017. “New Light on the Horologium Augusti, the Montecitorio Obelisk, and the Ara Pacis,” Studies in Digital Heritage 1: 18-119. Available online at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/sdh/article/view/23331
- Frischer, Bernard, 2014. "Cultural and Digital Memory: Case Studies from the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory," in Memoria Romana, edited by G. Karl Galinsky, Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor) 151-164. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/36647782/Frischer_From_cultural_to_digital_memory_pdf
- Dylla, Kimberly, Bernard Frischer et al., 2010. "Rome Reborn 2.0: A Case Study of Virtual City Reconstruction Using Procedural Modeling Techniques," in CAA 2009. Making History Interactive. 37th Proceedings of the CAA Conference March 22-26, 2009, Williamsburg, Virginia (Archaeopress: Oxford, 2010) 62-66; available online at https://www.academia.edu/108083880/Rome_Reborn_2_0_A_Case_Study_of_Virtual_City_Reconstruction_Using_Procedural_Modeling_Techniques
- Wells, Sarah, Bernard Frischer, et al., 2010. "Rome Reborn in Google Earth," in CAA 2009. Making History Interactive. 37th Proceedings of the CAA Conference March 22-26, 2009, Williamsburg, Virginia (Archaeopress: Oxford, 2010) 373-379.
- Koller, David, Bernard Frischer and Greg Humphreys, 2009. "Research Challenges for Digital Archives of 3D Cultural Heritage Models," JOCCH 5:1-20; available online at https://www.academia.edu/36445372/Research_Challenges_for_Digital_Archives_of_3D_Cultural_Heritage_Models
- Frischer, Bernard, 2008. "From Digital Illustration to Digital Heuristics," in Beyond Illustration. 2D and 3D Technologies in Archaeology, edited by Bernard Frischer and Anastasia Dakouri-Hild (Oxford 2008) v-xxiv. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/36445365/From_digital_illustration_to_digital_heuristic s
- Frischer, Bernard and Phil Stinson, 2007. "The Importance of Scientific Authentication and a Formal Visual Language in Virtual Models of Archaeological Sites: The Case of the House of Augustus and Villa of the Mysteries," in * Proceedings of the Conference on Authenticity, Intellectual Integrity and Sustainable Development of the Public Presentation of Archaeological and Historical Sites and Landscapes, Ghent, East-Flanders, 11-13 September 2002. Flemish Heritage Institute, Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation. 2007, Brussels, Belgium, 49-83; available online at https://www.academia.edu/108083880/Rome_Reborn_2_0_A_Case_Study_of_Virtual_City_Reconstruction_Using_Procedural_Modeling_Techniques.
- Mueller, Pascal, Peter Wonka, et al., 2006. "Procedural Modeling of Buildings," in ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Papers:614-623. Available online at https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1179352.1141931
- Raffarin-Dupuis, Anne, 2005, 2012. Flavio Biondo. Rome Restaurée, 2 volumes (Les Belles Lettres, Paris).
- Frischer, Bernard, 2006. "New Directions for Cultural Virtual Reality: A Global Strategy for Archiving, Serving, and Exhibiting 3D Computer Models of Cultural Heritage Sites," in Proceedings of the Conference, Virtual Retrospect 2005 (Bordeaux), 168-175. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/36445422/New_Directions_for_Cultural_Virtual_Reality_A_Global_Strategy_for_Archiving_Serving_and_Exhibiting_3D_Computer_Models_of_Cultural_Heritage_Sites
- Frischer, Bernard, Dean Abernathy, Fulvio Cairoli Giuliani, Russell Scott, Heike Ziemssen, 2006. "A New Digital Model of the Roman Forum," in "Imaging Ancient Rome. Documentation-Visualization-Imagination," edited by Lothar Haselberger and John Humphrey, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplementary Series 61, 163-182. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/36574837/Frischer_et_al_Roman_Forum_2006_pdf
- Guidi, Gabriele, Bernard Frischer, et al., 2005. "Virtualizing Ancient Rome: 3D Acquisition and Modeling of a Large Plaster-of-Paris Model of Imperial Rome," Videometrics VIII, edited by J.-Angelo Beraldin, Sabry F. El-Hakim, Armin Gruen, James S. Walton, 18-20 January 2005, San Jose, California, USA, SPIE, vol. 5665, 119-133. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/106343191/Virtualizing_ancient_Rome_3D_acquisition_and_modeling_of_a_large_plaster_of_Paris_model_of_imperial_Rome
- Frischer, Bernard, 2005. "The Digital Roman Forum Project: Remediating the Traditions of Roman Topography," in Acts of the 2nd Italy-United States Workshop, Rome, Italy, November 3-5, 2003, Berkeley, USA, May, 2005 edited by M. Forte, BAR International Series 1379 (Oxford 2005) 9-21. Availabe online at https://www.academia.edu/109346267/The_Digital_Roman_Forum_Project_of_the_Cultural_Virtual_Reality_Laboratory_Remediating_the_Traditions_of_Roman_Topography
- Anonymous, 1990. Rediscovering Pompeii: Exhibition by IBM-ITALIA (L’Erma di Bretschneider, Rome).
- Frischer, Bernard, 1988. “Project Cicero,” a chapter in the Microsoft CD-ROM Library, vol. 3: 145-156; available online here: https://www.academia.edu/36446114/Cicero_a_framework_for_multimedia_projects_for_Classics
- Bosselmann, Peter, 1984. “The Berkeley Environmental Simulation Laboratory: A 12 Year Anniversary,” Berkeley Planning Journal 1: 150-160. Available online at https://escholarship.org/content/qt86r6f8x7/qt86r6f8x7.pdf
- Moto-Oka, Tohru, editor, 1982. Fifth Generation Computer Systems. Proceedings of the International Conference on Fifth Generation Computer Systems, Tokyo, Japan, October 19-22, 1981 (Amsterdam, New York, Oxford).
- Naimark, Michael, no date. “Aspen Moviemap,” website available at http://www.naimark.net/projects/aspen.html
- Mitchell, William J., 1977. Computer-Aided Architectural Design (Petrocelli/Charter, New York).