If the final episode of the the HBO/BBC series ROME left you longing for more, you can now make a journey into ancient Rome by way of your computer. For the past ten years, a team of archaeologists and computer geeks led by Bernard Frischer from the University of Virginia and Diane Favro from UCLA have been working on Rome Reborn 1.0, a digital recreation of Rome. They call it the largest and most complete simulation of a historic city ever made.
The simulation shows Rome in A.D. 320, at the time the emperor Constantine, digitally reconstructing the 7,000 that lay within the 13-mile circuit of the Aurelian Walls. The simulation also presents the interiors of about 30 buildings - including the Senate, the Colosseum and the basilica built by the emperor Maxentius - complete with their frescoes and decorations.
Sections of the simulation are available on the project’s website, which currently only offers images and videos of the simulation since allowing simultaneous access to potentially thousands of users would require enormous computer power. Project Directors say talks have begun with Linden Labs, based in San Francisco, California, to make the entire simulation available on the Internet through the company’s virtual world “Second Life.”
A group of private companies also plans to open in April 2008 a theater near the Colosseum that will feature interactive, 3D animations based on the simulation, Rome officials said.
The project offers great potential in helping us understand ancient Rome in all its glory. As for seeing the monuments, virtual is cool but there’s nothing like the real thing baby.
