Alessandro Sebastiani

The journey of memory intertwines with the places that served as companions during the writing of the volume Ancient Rome and the Modern Italian State. While translating the text into English, I unexpectedly found myself visiting the Museum of Roman Ships on Lake Nemi.

This place’s historical narrative is captivating, interwoven with the famous cult of Diana Nemorensis, the enigmatic figure of the rex Nemorensis, and the majestic presence of the volcanic lake, whose sacred aura has resonated since antiquity. Notably, the museum houses remnants of the ships attributed to Caligula, a storyline meticulously explored in a recent publication by John M. McManamon S.J., tracing their inception through to their fateful demise amidst the tumult of the Second World War.

Yet, it was the Museum itself that attracted my attention; it was conceived and executed by Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo, the very architect entrusted with the transformation of Piazza Augusto Imperatore, culminating in the protective enclosure for the Ara Pacis Augustae and in the isolation of the Mausoleum of Augustus.

Beneath its architecture and the hydrological engineering to salvage the sunken ships, lies the genesis of yet another ideological place of the fascist epoch, tirelessly seeking monumental symbols to underpin its narrative of romanitas. This fusion of contemporary design in homage to classicism, however, bears the paradoxical weight of its subsequent inversion; a visit to this museum today entails an immersion not only in its tangible exhibits but also in the ideological currents of yesteryears. It offers a nuanced understanding of the identity rhetoric of Fascist Italy, revealing how the annals of Roman history, its material culture, and architectural marvels were co-opted and reshaped to bolster the regime’s agenda.

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A. Sebastiani, 2023, Ancient Rome and the Modern Italian State. Ideological Placemaking, Archaeology, and Architecture, 1870-1945. Cambridge University Press.

John M. McManamon S.J., 2023, From Caligula to the Nazis. The Nemi’s Ships in Diana’s Sanctuary. Texas A&M University Press.