Rome Reborn: Watch what Ancient Rome looked like in 320 AD thanks to 3D reconstruction

An academic research project has created a 3D render of Ancient Rome, featuring monuments like the Pantheon to the Colosseum.

Ryan Ramgobin
Tuesday 01 March 2016 14:18 GMT
Comments
Rome Reborn

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A long-running project called Rome Reborn is attempting to create an accurate 3D render of Ancient Rome.

Iconic monuments like the Pantheon and the Colosseum were well documented during Ancient Rome but there were limited descriptions of what was in between; and this project is attempting to fill in those blanks.

It seeks to illustrate scenes from the first settlements in the late Bronze Age (1000 BC) to the depopulation of the city in the early Middle Ages (550 AD).

The leaders of the project have decided that 320 AD is the best time to begin the modelling.

“At that time, Rome had reached the peak of its population, and major Christian churches were just beginning to be built. After this date, few new civic buildings were built and much of what survives the ancient city dates to this period, making reconstruction less speculative than it must, perforce, be for earlier phases.”

The full video can be viewed below which features insight from Indiana University professor Bernard Frischer, who leads the Rome Reborn project.

It is an extensive endeavour as Rome was the largest city in the Western World until it was overtaken by London in the nineteenth century.

More information on the project can be found at www.romereborn.org

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in