The Trajan’s Markets are an archaeological complex with absolutely unique features in Rome and, we can say, worldwide.
They represent a “district” that has experienced the city’s evolution from the imperial age to the present day, constantly reused and transformed: from a strategic administrative center of the Imperial Fora, to a noble residence, to a military fortress, to a prestigious convent seat, to a barracks… in a continuous becoming, which is evident in the architectural transformations and the marks of the different “hands” that in various eras have adapted the complex to various functions, arriving to us and starting a new “season” of life.
Precisely leveraging this duality as an excellent container of its own history and the history of the city, we have designed the exhibition dedicated to the Imperial Fora in Trajan’s Markets, which were an integral part of it, not as a “shopping center” (according to past archaeological literature), but as a set of buildings intended to administer the activities and operation of the largest and most famous of the Fora, the one commissioned by Emperor Trajan.
We do not want to “exhibit” the individual fragments (although splendid) of a past decorative splendor, but to physically recompose the architectural-sculptural decoration, even tackling very challenging works materially. But that is not enough: it is absolutely essential to make the visitor perceive the complexity of the ancient construction site, its work system, its “technology,” as well as important to recreate the real environment, that is, the activities that took place in the Fora, the people who frequented them, in other words to reproduce real life in real spaces.
To achieve these objectives, while respecting the scientific rigor of the reconstructions, we propose to use the best technologies available today: from graphics to multimedia, not wanting to use only one mode of expression, but choosing the most flexible according to the communication needs: multimedia products derived from the communication system, publication through websites, CD-ROMs, and DVDs, are now permanently part of production in the museum and cultural fields in general and accompany traditional paper production (guides in various languages, catalogs, etc.), broadening the circulation of information at various levels.
