Juno arrives at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts:

The largest classical statue in the U.S., it has been dated to the Roman Imperial Period (27 BC to 565 AD) and probably stood before a civic building or temple in ancient Rome.

She will eventually reign over the future gallery dedicated to the Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes of Ancient Greece and Rome, after a delicate shipping process documented in this video.

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/arts/x394117183/Juno-arrives-at-Museum-of-Fine-Arts-for-all-to-see#axzz1pvX1bDgL

Mesmerizing video tours Ancient Rome — in 3D:

The project started with a plaster model of the city in 1996 and has since grown into a digital effort in collaboration and knowledge building. The online 3D project was unveiled in 2007 and continues to grow.

Deforestation during the Roman period:

Housing & building, fuel, agriculture, over grazing. All were part of deforestation during ancient Roman times. Wikipedia offers an interesting look at this topic.

Interesting video about the ancient Romans use of Greek and Etruscan influence in their architecture.

Vatican reveals a selection of historic documents from its secret archives:

Galileo’s retraction of his theories and the excommunication of Martin Luther are among the closely guarded documents that the Vatican has put on display to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the establishment of its archives at its current location in Rome.

The Holy See on Wednesday opened an exhibition of 100 documents — a tiny fraction of its archives — in Rome’s Capitoline Museums. The exhibit is entitled “Lux in Arcana: The Vatican Secret Archives Reveals itself.”

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/29/10541847-vatican-reveals-a-selection-of-historic-documents-from-its-secret-archives

The MAXXI museum, Rome’s new National Museum of 21st Century Arts, looks about as un-Roman as you could possibly imagine.

Instead of classical columns and pediments and relief carvings of ancient gods, MAXXI features sweeping curves of molded concrete and glass, accented by a rectangular form thrusting out of one of its flanks like a gigantic loudspeaker.

Designed by Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born London architect whose buildings resemble broken shards of metal, or the arcs of jet trails in the sky, MAXXI is totally unlike anything else in its neighborhood, or, indeed, the entire city. That’s precisely the point. And it’s actually refreshing.

Jeff Gundlach, CEO with DoubleLine Capital LP in Los Angeles, used the parallels between Ancient Rome and the U.S. to frame his latest webcast this week.

In the webcast, Mr. Gundlach goes on to point out that, like the Roman Empire of yesteryear, the U.S. today maintains a massive debt load and by far the world’s largest military budget. And like Rome, where a destitute underclass was granted little social mobility, a similar “underclass” is emerging in the U.S.

Below is the presentation where Jeff Gundlach dares to compare the US to the Roman Empire:

All Hail Berlusconi
“The Roman emperors knew that the secret to exercising peaceful rule over the people was to provide them with bread and circus. Well, Berlusconi owns the circus, pretty much all of it - the TV, the football, the magazines, the books. And as a head of government, who also happens to own Italy’s biggest supermarket chain, he also controls, in the widest sense of the word, the bread.”

This comes from an article by John Carlin that was published in The Observer 7+ years ago but provides good analysis of how Berlusconi managed to stay in power for 17 years!

Full article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jan/18/italy.features