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I am interested in a couple of statues in Rome. They are on the north side of Via dei Fori Imperiali, between Via Cavour and Piazza Venezia. If my memory serves me well, they are of key figures in Roman history — like Augustus — and they have inscriptions in Latin. I think they were erected in modern times, perhaps under Mussolini's rule. Here is a picture (and location) of one of the statues from Google Maps street view. (I might not remember some details correctly, since it's been years since I saw the statues.)

Where can I find a list of all the statues in this series (of five or so statues?) and, in particular, the inscriptions accompanying them? If my memory fails me and the inscriptions are in Italian, I would still like to see them. It would be an easy matter if I were in Rome, but I am — unfortunately! — not going there in the foreseeable future. I was unable to find this information online, but that is rarely good proof that it is not there.

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  • I am currently visiting Rome and had exactly the same question. Thanks. I can confirm inscriptions are in Latin.
    – cdonts
    Commented Apr 8 at 20:17

1 Answer 1

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The Via dei Fori Imperiali was built at the initiative of Mussolini. At the time it caused some controversy about the care for archaeological and sacred Catholic sites, as well as the displacement of residents on "one of the most densely populated areas" of the Urbs.

Among the ancient sites affected, there were the four fora that give the via its modern name: those of (Julius) Caesar, Augustus (Octavian), Trajan and Nerva.

The statues are four and honor each of the Emperors. They were erected during the XX century and are bronze reproductions of ancient statues. Below each one there are Latin inscriptions with the name and a title. (See photos and a little more context in this Italian language site.)

All the inscriptions start with a big "SPQR" and end with two lines: "ANNO XI / A FASCIBUS RENOVATIS". (Which seemingly has to do with fascist time reckoning. Only Julius says "ANNO X".)

The variable part of them is as follows: (I linked the Emperor's name to high-resolution pictures.)

  1. IVLIO CAESARI

    DICT·PERPETVO


  1. IMP·CAESARI·DIVIT·

    AVGVSTO

    PATRI·PATRIAE·


  1. IMP·CAESARI·NERVAE·F·

    TRAIANO

    OPTIMO PRINCIPI


  1. IMP·CAESARI·

    NERVAE·AUG·

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