Rome’s Contemporary Past - Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City - page 169

although presented as a practical and aesthetic solution to conservation is-
sues, the plan was not without its political agenda: the making of such a park
would have involved ripping up three wide boulevards built by mussolini for
fascist parades. The construction of a new metro line was an essential part of the
project, as there would be no vehicular traffic, and indeed hardly any roads, in
the center of Rome. few details were presented on exactly how the stations would
deal with either buried archaeological remains or surface buildings except for
specifying that the imposing fascist public records office would have to be demol-
ished to create space for a metro station; a sacrifice the authors seemed more than
willing to make (podestà 1985, 105).
The concept of an archaeological park was taken up with enthusiasm by the
Communist-led city council of Rome and not only because it would have meant
getting rid of hated fascist structures. The mayor, luigi petroselli, was a product
of the periphery and was acutely aware of the need to provide a program to de-
velop Rome after decades of inactivity: “The historic center of Rome must live,
and its life must push the whole city towards new values of civic association.”
(Quoted in bosworth 2011, 272.)
The archaeological park offered a platform for action that would give Ro-
mans a sense of pride in their city and the people in the marginalized periph-
ery would be drawn back into the center by means of free events to be staged at
the monuments. The plan immediately attracted a great deal of media attention.
predictably, it provoked a backlash from the right that was at times very bitter,
but further served to make it good copy. within Rome, the plan revived local
enthusiasm for archaeology and, according to some newspaper articles, resulted
in 8,000 people visiting the Roman forum in one day (insolera and perego 1983,
xv, xxiii, 244). however, notwithstanding the fact that the argument was played
out in the national press and concerned the national capital, it was essentially a
local dispute that failed to ignite the rest of the country and had little resonance
beyond the city boundaries.
The plan ultimately came to nothing. The merry-go-round of italian politics
ensured that biasini was removed from office before any progress could be made
on the ambitious pedestrianization scheme and subsequent ministers squashed
the project. aside from political opposition to removing the fascist boulevards,
the lack of a credible plan to deal with traffic made certain that the vast archaeo-
logical park was never seriously considered, though certain aspects of it were
implemented and were very important from the point of view of preserving the
historic center. for example, a road across the Roman forum was removed and
traffic was diverted away from the Colosseum and arch of Constantine (insol-
era and perego 1983, 254). however, even those without nostalgia for mussolini
baulked at the notion of turning the clock back by canceling reminders of an
uncomfortable past. as one american archaeologist put it, the fascist boulevards