AN EPIPHANY: FORUM (OF PEACE) WARE & ITALIAN HISTORY
I had an epiphany on Friday. I went to see the latest excavations in Rome’s Forum of Peace (the Forum of Vespasian) and a new discovery solved a problem that has been a pivotal point of debate since the very beginnings of Medieval archaeology in Italy. As I rushed down the Via dei Fori Imperiali past thousands of school students striking for climate change and the future, my mind was on how this new discovery might rewrite the past, the history of Rome and early Medieval Ital
Small Things Forgotten: Rome’s ‘orange garden’
Rome has precious gardens and spaces but only in Santa Sabina’s fortified garden (the Parco Savello) can you see the city and consume the voluptuous perfume of oranges at the same time. Here on the Aventine the September storms have thrashed the orange orchard and caused the grass to grow. Roma Capitale gardeners know their city. They are at ease mowing the new grass here and inhaling the fragrance. A carpet of early oranges worthy of Palermo litters the ground, soon to be ma
Jonathan Coe’s Middle England, 2019
In a week in which the UK’s new Boris Johnson (Conservative) government has faced unprecedented and well-deserved trials at the hands of Britain’s parliament, these seem to be topsy-turvy times. Personally, I can only hope for my children’s sake that Johnson’s specious tactics to enforce Brexit will lead to his downfall. The realignment this week of Italian politics with a new governmental coalition between the 5-Star movement and the Democratic Party may be a harbinger of th
Odysseus and Naucicaa
Twenty five years since we crossed to begin our excavations at Butrint in Albania and had our excitement dashed by our Albanian colleagues who, to be fair, really could not grasp who we were. They were in shock at the end of Enver Hoxha’s regime and we were neo-liberals out-of-time. In time, over nearly two decades, we prevailed, all together, thanks to the support of our donors - Jacob Rothschild, John Sainsbury and David Packard. Today, looking across at Albania from Jacob’
