Rome Reborn
Available
Project Director
- Bernard Frischer
Description
Rome Reborn is a digital recreation of ancient Rome developed for educational and research 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 using software such as May, 3DS Max, and Blender
2. Class II elements (less certain features) use 3D procedural models created with ESRI's CityEngine
The Rome Reborn urban model shows the city within the Aurelian Walls as it might have appeared in 320 CE. The model is used as the principal visual resource in the following educational virtual tours available on the Yorescape platform: "Rome Reborn: Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine," "Rome Reborn: Baths of Caracalla," "Rome Reborn: Flight over Ancient Rome," "Rome Reborn: Roman Forum," and "Rome Reborn: Pantheon." More tours are planned. The best place to start is "Flight over Ancient Rome," which is a two-hour tour with 39 stops and 12 time warps giving a synthetic view of the model and the city's economy, geography, governance, housing, infrastructure, and more. There are no plans to create urban models of Rome beyond late antiquity. Dissemination occurs through Yorescape, offering virtual tours on various platforms. The urban model has also been used as a resource for research. A free, one-week trial subscription is available to Yorescape, which also includes other virtual tours to iconic destinations such as the Acropolis in Athens and the Giza plateau.
History of the project
The project was initiated in 1996 by Bernard Frischer (https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-L-5fwMrOX2eoHSoY00Gw53glSnAyXN/view?usp=sharing). With the help of an advisory committee of experts on Roman archaeology and topography, it aimed to create scientifically accurate 3D digital models depicting the city of ancient Rome.
Rome Reborn version 1.0 was launched in 2007, 2.0 in 2008, 3.0 in 2018, 4.0 in November 2023.