The Museum of Roman Civilization (Italian: Museo della Civiltà Romana) is a museum in the Esposizione Universale Roma district of Rome devoted to aspects of Ancient Roman Civilization. The museum has been closed for renovation since 2014.

History and general introduction

The museum was designed by the architects Pietro Ascheri, D. Bernardini and Cesare Pascoletti (1939–1941). Its 59 sections illustrate the history of Roman civilization from its origins to the 4th century, with models and reproductions, as well as original material. The premises are shared with a planetarium. It houses, among other things: The museum was closed for renovation in January 2014. Work on the renovation was started in June 2017; as of January 2024, no date has been announced for the reopening.

Structure

There are three main itineraries through the museum:

Historical sections

Thematic sections

Model of Imperial Rome

Appearance in popular culture

Il Plastico is today the most important reference for any serious attempt of reconstruction of the Ancient Rome: it has been used for the "Rome Reborn 1.0" 3D Visualization Project (B. Frischer, Director, University of Virginia; D. Favro, Associate Director, UCLA; D. Abernathy, Director of 3D Modeling, University of Virginia; G. Guidi, Director of 3D Scanning, Politecnico di Milano). Gismondi's model can be seen also in a few shots of Ridley Scott's Gladiator. In the James Bond film Spectre, the marble colonnade of the museum doubled as a cemetery after the Archconfraternity of the Departed confraternity barred the filming of a funeral scene at the Campo Verano cemetery. The music video of the song "Cruel Summer" Ace of Base was also filmed at here in 1998.