Cities originated as small villages along riverbanks, and with population growth and increased activity, they evolved into more complex cities. The earliest records of social organization were found along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia; the Nile in Egypt; the Indus River in India; the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in China; and the San Juan River in Mesoamerica.
Given the complexity of activities, it became necessary to create states for military defense and the construction of large-scale works (irrigation systems, temples, canals, etc.), in a process of civilization formation.
In Europe, the first prominent civilization was the Greek, whose records of city-states date back to the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The best-known Greek cities were Athens and Sparta, which for centuries dominated trade in the Aegean Sea and part of the Mediterranean, also leaving as an important legacy philosophical, political (democracy), legal, military, and artistic aspects that are still perceptible today. However, the most notable case of an ancient city is Rome.
from twin brothers nursed by a she-wolf, the greatest empire of the period was formed, with Rome as its capital. From the Republic onwards, the Romans expanded throughout Europe and much of Asia, dominating these regions economically, militarily, and culturally for centuries.
An archaeologist named Italo Gismondi spent over 35 years of his life building a scale model of ancient Rome, which gives us an idea of the colossal size of this city. This incredible plaster model of Ancient Rome, known as Plastico di Roma Imperiale, was intricately designed by the archaeologist throughout his life to depict what the ancient city was like in the 4th century AD.
Gismondi worked on this model between 1935 and 1971.
Italo Gismondi: Mussolini commissioned the model that Gismondi continued making for most of his life.
The model is actually based on Rodolfo Lanciani's 1901 map, but was enlarged by Gismondi into this 1:250 scale model between the 1950s and 1970s. It is housed in the Museum of Roman Civilization and has even been used in films such as Gladiator. The entire model is approximately 16.5 m wide by 16.5 m long.
Gismondi's precision has earned this model a distinct reputation for being an important reference for monuments throughout Rome, such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon. The scale model was actually commissioned by Mussolini in 1933 and resides in a small neighborhood in Rome.
Some believe the model's purpose was for city planning and propaganda purposes by a fascist regime. It measures 55 feet wide and 55 feet long and now serves as an educational reference for students and tourists living and traveling throughout the old city.
The entire project consists of approximately one hundred and fifty window frames, mounted, in almost all cases, along the road axes.