Roma in tabula - V2

Virtual tour of ancient Rome developed in academia.

/!\ The markers are available on a flyer to print from the Map of Rome website: https://rome.unicaen.fr/pdf/LivretRomaInTabula.pdf /!\

The virtual restitution of ancient Rome is led by the “Plan de Rome” group (www.unicaen.fr/rome), within the Research Team on Literature, Imaginaries and Societies (ERLIS, EA 4254) and with the technical support of the Interdisciplinary Center for Virtual Reality of the University of Caen (CIREVE).

The interactive virtual model resulting from this work is unique in the world in its use. It allows you to visit almost all of ancient Rome, restored by computer to its state of the 4th century p.C. The choice of the restored historical period (the beginning of the reign of Constantine) has been thought out and is based on several levels of consideration. The first is museographic and educational: it seemed interesting to us that the visitor could compare the physical model of Paul Bigot kept at the University of Caen Normandy (which also chose this period) and the remains still visible in Rome. (which are generally the last “antique” state of the building) with the virtual model. The second is architectural and urban planning: the reign of Constantine marks the monumental peak of “ancient Rome”, it is a kind of completion. The third is archaeological: it is naturally for the last period of Antiquity that the mass of archaeological information is the most important. The fourth level is of a methodological nature and is linked to the previous one: we ultimately wish to represent several chronological levels of Roman town planning and, as in archeology the first layer excavated and possibly restored is always the most recent, it seemed to us natural to proceed in the same order.

The Roma in tabula application offers a real interactive virtual tour, allowing you to see exteriors (streets, homes, shops, public monuments, etc.) and part of the interiors (the most famous public buildings, some examples of homes and shops ). The virtual model is used today at two levels. The first is scientific: the virtual model offers the possibility of viewing and experimenting: these are two essential concepts for research. The permanent link with the corpus of textual, archaeological and iconographic sources makes it possible to measure for each element the degree of "security" of the restitution and the setting in situation on the scale makes it possible to measure the degree of validity of the hypotheses of topographic restitution and architectural. It may also involve testing, under conditions close to reality, the effectiveness of mechanical systems such as the spraying of scented water in performance buildings or the stage curtain in theatres. The experimentation and validation of the hypotheses are done with experts in the fields concerned (Roman topography, architecture, town planning, ancient sciences and techniques). The second level is educational: guided tours of virtual Rome are a tool for transmitting knowledge in the same way as guided tours of real Rome. The two types of visit are very complementary. The actual visit, when possible, allows you to measure the current state of conservation and soak up the atmosphere. The virtual visit allows easy reading: the "ruin" is no longer to be interpreted, the restitution is immediately readable. The free visit project is aimed both at the researcher who, in his office, works on a particular sector, and at “plural audiences”, beyond school and university frameworks.