The 1901 Forma Urbis Romae by Lanciani meticulously captures topographic, architectural and archeological details, including distinct color-coded “layers” of historical epochs: ancient and medieval Rome in dark red and black,early modern Rome in red and Roma Capitale—the city after 1870 that was known to Lanciani—rendered in blue. The resultant stratigraphy allows the observer to simultaneously see changes over time.
Embedded in his map, Lanciani provided references to a wealth of information for countless archeological sites, many of which have yet to be fully explored by contemporary scholars. He was painfully aware that archeological excavations are prone, by their very nature, to be destructive and are unrepeatable acts. Once a dig is conducted, it is impossible to rebuild the original, stratified layers. It is in that spirit that Lanciani cataloged raw data (measured drawings, photographs and written records) about several thousand sites of excavation and published many of them in his Storia degli Scavi. He also contributed to and documented excavations and discoveries in journals such as Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità and Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale that provide accurate descriptions of excavations and findings. All told, Lanciani cross-referenced thousands of pages of textual content through the 3,000 or so annotations that were plotted on his Forma Urbis Romae.
This page shows just a few examples of different textual annotations and the way they were color coded by Lanciani. Click on the pulsing circles to get more information about each type.