Rodolfo Lanciani
Encyclopedia
Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani was an Italian
archaeologist, a pioneering student of ancient Roman topography
, and among his many excavations was that of the House of the Vestals
in the Roman Forum
.
Lanciani was born in Rome
, although some state he was born in Montecelio, now Guidonia Montecelio
. He was professor of Roman topography at the Università di Roma from 1878 until 1927. He is known today chiefly for his Forma Urbis Romae (1893‑1901) and the Storia degli scavi, a regular summary of Roman excavations that started appearing in 1902. His students included Giulio Giglioli
. Together with important British art historians such as Austen Henry Layard
he re-edited the original 1843 guidebook to Rome for John Murray
.
He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei
and the Academia di S. Lucia. He received numerous honorary degrees, including those from Aberdeen, Würzburg, Oxford, Harvard, and Glasgow.
He was married twice, first to an American woman and then to the British widow of Prince Colonna.
Lanciani formed a core of distinguished late nineteenth-century scholars of the Roman forum
including Henri Jordan
, Christian Huelsen
, Samuel Ball Platner
, and Thomas Ashby
. Richard Brilliant described Lanciani's Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome as "undiminished in vitality as a study of ancient Roman ruins" (1967). He died in Rome on 22 May 1929.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
archaeologist, a pioneering student of ancient Roman topography
Topography of ancient Rome
The topography of ancient Rome is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws on archaeology, epigraphy, cartography and philology.The classic English-language work of scholarship is A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome , written by Samuel Ball Platner, completed and published after his...
, and among his many excavations was that of the House of the Vestals
House of the Vestals
The House of the Vestal Virgins was the place where Vestal Virgins lived. It was located just behind their circular Temple of Vesta at the eastern edge of the Roman Forum, between the Regia and the Palatine Hill, in Rome...
in the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
.
Lanciani was born in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, although some state he was born in Montecelio, now Guidonia Montecelio
Guidonia Montecelio
Guidonia Montecelio is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.- Geography :The community of Guidonia Montecelio lies to the north-east of Rome, some kilometres from the Grande Raccordo Anulare - a ring-shaped motorway which forms a circle around the capital...
. He was professor of Roman topography at the Università di Roma from 1878 until 1927. He is known today chiefly for his Forma Urbis Romae (1893‑1901) and the Storia degli scavi, a regular summary of Roman excavations that started appearing in 1902. His students included Giulio Giglioli
Giulio Giglioli
Giulio Quirino Giglioli was an art historian of classical Roman and Etruscan art and was associated with Fascism in Italy.Giglioli was a student of and assistant to both Emanuel Löwy and Rodolfo Lanciani. He fought in World War I, during which time he published the newly discovered statue of...
. Together with important British art historians such as Austen Henry Layard
Austen Henry Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard GCB, PC was a British traveller, archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, author, politician and diplomat, best known as the excavator of Nimrud.-Family:...
he re-edited the original 1843 guidebook to Rome for John Murray
John Murray (publisher)
John Murray is an English publisher, renowned for the authors it has published in its history, including Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Herman Melville, and Charles Darwin...
.
He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei
Accademia dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei, , is an Italian science academy, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy....
and the Academia di S. Lucia. He received numerous honorary degrees, including those from Aberdeen, Würzburg, Oxford, Harvard, and Glasgow.
He was married twice, first to an American woman and then to the British widow of Prince Colonna.
Lanciani formed a core of distinguished late nineteenth-century scholars of the Roman forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
including Henri Jordan
Henri Jordan
Henri Jordan was a German scholar of Roman topography in the 19th century.He worked together with Christian Huelsen and Rodolfo Lanciani and is most famous for his 2 volume study of Roman topography, Topographie der Stadt Rom im Alterthum.Jordan was born in Berlin and died in Königsberg, where he...
, Christian Huelsen
Christian Huelsen
Christian Karl Friedrich Hülsen was a German architectural historian of the classical era who later changed to studying the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.-Biography:Hülsen was born in Berlin...
, Samuel Ball Platner
Samuel Ball Platner
Samuel Ball Platner was an American classicist and archaeologist.Platner was born at Unionville, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College...
, and Thomas Ashby
Thomas Ashby
Thomas Ashby FBA was a British archaeologist.-Family:He was the only child of Thomas Ashby , and his wife, Rose Emma, daughter of Apsley Smith...
. Richard Brilliant described Lanciani's Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome as "undiminished in vitality as a study of ancient Roman ruins" (1967). He died in Rome on 22 May 1929.