‘Virtual Rome’
Dr Matthew Nicholls
Senior Lecturer, Classics.
Roman library:
Timgad, Algeria
Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Tiberside docks south of Aventine
6
Theatre of Marcellus
Theatre of Pompey
Forum Augustum, Rome
7
Baths of Diocletian, Rome - early 4th C AD
Recreation of lighting conditions in the Theatre of
Marcellus, Rome: 9.00am, 5th of June 17BC.
Creation
of
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customised
tour
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SELECTING BUILDINGS
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There are so many places to
visit! I will choose the ones
that are close, so I can walk
from one to another
Uhh.. I want to
create my own tour!
EMAIL TOUR
Maybe this
order will work
better for me...
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my iphone, so I should
print this tour.
learning about a building in detail
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buildings
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checkbox
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100 BC
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"The Triumph" one
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Colosseum
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100 AD
Famous building
A
A
Onse volorepudae.
Tour's brief Ut occuptaquunt
Go!
description
faccus quidus
dolorempel et et unt
doluptur mod qui is ea volorum as
ĞdžĐĞƌƵŵĂůŝƋƵĂƟƐŝŵƐƵŶƚŵŽĚŝƐƟbus, sae volore veles unt ium rest
fugitate assunt.
Dam quis ut quid qui verum venes
qui quodi nis eatur Show
arciistour,
inveliquia
starting
ĐƵƐĂĚƋƵĂŵ͕ǀŽůĞƐƟďĞƌŽƌĞ͕ƵƚĂƵƚ
at the step 1
ommolor ehendent.
Map of tour,
with buildings
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&ůLJͲŝŶ
movie
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image
&ƌĞĞŇŽĂƟŶŐ
Famous building
Reading
about
buildings
and
rotating
3D
models
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the system
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email
Colosseum
There are so many places to
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3D
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about ancient Rome
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distance between
buildings now!
View 3D
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3D model
Free
floating
In ancient
city
In ancient city
A BUILDING
3D MODEL
I want to see the
Colosseum first
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Donor Day 2012
Breaking news FEBRUARY 2011
This month’s
DIGITAL RECONSTRUCTION
History
Headlines
For your weekly news update, go to
www.historyextra.com
à Research your
family history
à History of
miracles now online
Researchers at the University of
Sheffield have launched a new
online catalogue examining the
history of miracles through the
ages. The database includes over
600 miracles spanning three
continents and 800 years of
history, and allows for exploration
of links between records, such as
locations, gender and the
outcomes of the miracles. The
information has already revealed
that miracles became more
diverse over the years and that the
lower classes appeared to be
more favourably treated by the
saints. To view the catalogue, go to
www.medievalportal.group.
shef.ac.uk
à Rare Chartist
pamphlet discovered
A 165-year-old pamphlet stored in
a box at a Yorkshire public library
has been identified as being the
only surviving copy of a Chartist
hymnbook. The 16 hymns within
the document cover themes of
social justice and protests against
the exploitation of child labour and
slavery. The pamphlet, which was
discovered by an academic from
the University of Manchester, can
be viewed online at
www.calderdale.gov.uk/wtw/
14
Ancient Rome, as portrayed by
Dr Nicholls’s fly-through digital
model. In the foreground is the city’s
chariot racing stadium, which could
hold a quarter of a million people
Virtual model to give historians
their best view yet of ancient Rome
H
ISTORIANS WILL soon
have the opportunity to
explore the seat of imperial
Roman power in greater detail
than ever before, now that a
British classicist has started to
create the world’s most up to date
computer model of ancient Rome.
The new 3D fly-through digital
model – due for completion later
this year – will offer scholars
unprecedented opportunities
to reconstruct key events in the
history of the imperial capital.
It will, for example, give them a
better understanding of what
happened when, in AD 410, tens
of thousands of Visigothic
barbarians gained entry to Rome
and, fanning out through the
street network, destroyed much
of the city.
The computer model will also
allow historians to understand the
huge pedestrian traffic and public
order issues caused by major
public events in Rome – especially
chariot racing and gladiatorial
displays. And it will reveal what
views of the city its inhabitants
had from various vantage points.
The ground-breaking model of
one of the world’s greatest ancient
metropolises is being created by
Dr Matthew Nicholls of Reading
University, and goes by the name
of Virtual Rome.
Dr Nicholls is using both
historical and archaeological
evidence to produce his
reconstruction. This evidence
includes an ancient map of the
city which used to adorn an
internal wall of Rome’s Temple of
It offers a hugely
detailed view of
the ancient city
Peace. The 18x13 metre marble
map, created at a scale of 1:240,
originally included floor plans of
virtually every major building in
Rome. However, today only 1,200
fragments survive, accounting for
around 12 per cent of the original.
Dr Nicholls has also used
high definition Geographic
Information Systems (GIS)
data on streets and ancient
monuments in modern Rome
to help with his digital
reconstruction.
So far, he has recreated around
45 per cent of the ancient city.
When his model is finally
complete, it will not only be the
most up-to-date reconstruction of
Rome but also the most detailed,
consisting of up to three gigabytes
of data.
Thanks to Dr Nicholls’s work,
historians will be able to better
understand how major fires
spread within the city, and which
areas were susceptible to flooding.
Virtual Rome will also enable
scholars to explore, in high
definition, around 10 hectares of
temples (more than 100 sacred
structures in total), 45 hectares of
imperial public bath houses, 130
hectares of industrial warehouses,
20 hectares of imperial palaces,
around 720 hectares of residential
tenement blocks, 15 hectares of
theatres, arenas and stadia,
14 hectares of markets, some
270 hectares of public and private
gardens and villas, and 120
hectares of streets.
Virtual Rome is the first
computer version of the ancient
imperial capital to be created
without the direct help of physical
models. Two other computerised
models – the University of
Virginia’s ‘Rome Reborn’ and the
University of Caen’s ‘Plan of
Rome’ – were originally made
from laser scans of existing early
and mid-20th century physical
David Keys
models.
BBC History Magazine
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This month sees the fifth annual
Who Do You Think You Are? Live
event, between 25 and 27
February, giving you the chance
to find out more about your
ancestors. Celebrities such as
Monty Don and Tony Robinson
will be making an appearance, as
well as experts in family history
who will be running sessions to
help you on every step of your
historical journey.
Turn to page 86 for details on
our special reader offer – two
tickets for £25 if you order before
19 February.
Inchtuthil Roman
fort
Inchtuthil Roman
fort