BUILDING AN EMPIRE
A virtual exploration of the Roman worlds

An immersive exhibition from Iconem

Thanks to the formidable capabilities of new digital techniques, visitors are taken on a journey through history, through spectacular projections of the archaeological sites of Palmyra, Aphrodisias, Leptis Magna and Pompeii. Combining little-known monuments and symbols of world heritage, the exhibition “Building an Empire” invites visitors to discover the urban and architectural models of Roman cities, so different and yet so similar. From the sands of Egypt to Hadrian’s Wall, from Lusitanian oppidums to the shores of the Black Sea, Rome governed the destinies of hundreds of peoples and thousands of cities under the Roman Empire. In this extraordinary profusion of languages, customs, divinities and legal systems, the Roman Empire proposed a unifying model articulated mainly around cities established all around the Mediterranean. The remains of these cities and the ancient testimonies show important similarities. The Roman cultural model spread by these cities was gradually adopted by large parts of local populations. Thanks to a dense network of Roman or Romanized roads and cities, it was possible for a Roman citizen to travel the Mediterranean basin using Latin and the sesterce. This traveler, according to his peregrinations was confronted with the diversity of the Roman world but also with its progressive unification around the markers of the Romanity.