The Roman Forum Excavation Under Lanciani and Boni: Classical Archaeology in Flux

This article reconsiders the Roman Forum excavation in the four decades after the Unification of Italy with the purpose of observing changes in the discipline of classical archaeology. It evaluates more than just the shift in what was considered normative skills for an excavator, such as those of the first director of excavation Rodolfo Lanciani (1845–1929), with his humanistic approach, to those of the second, Giacomo Boni (1859–1925), with his scientific methods. Rather, it highlights the institutional frameworks within which these men operated: the governmental offices, the academic community, and the social and public media networks which facilitated, interpreted, and disseminated the emerging archaeological knowledge. Additionally, it charts how these bodies worked to shape the excavators’ thoughts and habits, even as those bodies themselves were evolving. Further, it notes that because the clearing of the Roman Forum, a site which embodied the power of ancient Roman civilization, at a very specific sustained moment, the dawn of the new Italian state, was a topic of much scrutiny and circumspection, the discipline of archaeology quietly underwent a substantial professionalization. Distinctions began to arise among those practicing the archaeological profession from all others who were interested and engaged with the ruins of the classical past, i.e., the informed amateur, or the interested public. In sum, this article posits that an approach to the history of the Forum excavation that focuses on the institutions that both sustained and were sustained by the clearing of the site, offers keen understanding of the evolution of classical archaeology in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.