Pagan and Christian Rome
by Rodolfo Lanciani
1892

Professor Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani (1845 or 1846-1929) was an Italian archaeologist, a pioneering student of ancient Roman topography, and among his many excavations was that of the House of the Vestals in the Roman Forum. Lanciani was born in Rome, although some state he was born in Montecelio, now Guidonia Montecelio. He was professor of Roman topography at the Università di Roma from 1878 until 1927. He is known today chiefly for his Forma Urbis Romae (1893-1901) and the Storia Degli Scavi, a regular summary of Roman excavations that started appearing in 1902. His students included Giulio Giglioli. Together with important British art historians such as Austen Henry Layard he re-edited the original 1843 guidebook to Rome for John Murray. He was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and the Academia di S. Lucia. He received numerous honorary degrees, including those from Aberdeen, Wurzburg, Oxford, Harvard, and Glasgow. Lanciani's great work was the production of a map of the ancient city of Rome. Amongst his other works are: Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries (1888) and Pagan and Christian Rome (1892).