Magna Mater -History

THE STORY OF THE MAGNA MATER PROJECT


MMDCCLV (2002)

The project of the Temple of Magna Mater was born two years ago under the Curule Aedileship of C. Fabius Quintilianus and continued under the Aedileship of F. Apulus Caesar.

Honouring the Megalesia Ludi, they singled out, among others, the temple of the Goddess on the Palatine Hill of Rome, as a monument that Nova Roma could somehow adopt.  They then began a project with the goal of restoration of the temple, and sought the collaboration of interested propraetors, former magistrates, priests and citizens.

A Joint Declaration was signed by those who supported the project:

http://italia.novaroma.org/cohorsaedilis/ludi/templemagnamater.htm


MMDCCLVI (2003)

The project continued under F. Apulus Caesar's Aedileship during  this year, and he involved several citizens:  M. Constantinus Serapio, M. Iulius Perusianus, Sacredos Magna Mater Vopisca Iulia Cocceia, C. Curius Saturninus, Aurelia Iulia Pulchra, and Lucius Iulius Sulla.

Their first goal was to try to restore part of the Temple, but it was soon realized that this kind of action would be very expensive, and absolutely out of our reach with current NR financial means.  M. Iulius Perusianus wrote two reports (the first being as Scribae Ad Historiam Provinciae Italiae in 2002) about the history of the cult, the history of the temple, the current archeological situation of the Temple and the connections established  with key persons in Rome.

Report  I:
http://italia.novaroma.org/cohorsaedilis/ludi/temple/report1.htm

Report II:
http://www.geocities.com/m_iulius/cohortis/MagnaMater2_eng.htm

He first met with the Sovrintedenza of Rome, thereby obtaining  good collaboration with the local public institution whch manages the economic and beaurocratic business of the Palatine.  At the same time, M. Constantius Serapio and C. Fabius Quintilianus proposed to the Nova Roma Senate a new feature for the Curule Aedile, which was the possibility of raisingdonations for a detailed project, by way of a Nova Roma bank account, under the authorization and control of the Senate.

Approval of the Aedilian Fund:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nova-Roma/message/13411

The Sovrintedenza of Rome gave us the name of the Director the Archeological Areas of the Palatine, D.ssa Irene Iacopi, who informed us that the University "La Sapienza" of Rome is directing the South West Archeological Park, where the Magna Mater temple stands.  Scriba Perusianus met the Director of Staff working on this side of the Palatine, Professor Patrizio Pensabene, one of the most important scholars of the Palatine and of the Magna Mater.  He has 25 years of excavation involvement on the hill to his credit.

The area is now closed to the public, being under a massive restoration, but Professor Pensabene allowed us to enter this restricted area to check the status of the Temple, visit other sites (Clivus Victoriae and Romulean huts) and take some unofficial photos.  We presented this data and photos during the last International Nova Roma Rally in Bologna to the Senior Consul Caeso Fabius Quintilianus.

The most important development, at this time, is that we obtained close collaboration with Professor Pensabene and his assistant, Doc. Alessandro D'Alessio.  We received several suggestions regarding the goals of the project.

At the end of the year, the Senate approved Senior Curule Aedile Franciscus Apulus Caesar's proposal to use the Aedilician Fund to raise the donations for this project.

The text of the MM project website (later approved):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nova-Roma/message18177


MMDCCLVII (2004)

The archeological area where the Temple stands is restricted but we may have unofficial admission authorization by Prof. Pensabene, though we seek a more official permission to visit the area from the Sovrintedenza Archeological of Rome.

We have all the information about the history of the building and some maps about it.  We will continue  to look for further information about the Cult of Magna Mater.  As said before, it's quite clear that it is not possible to restore the Temple itself, because its structural platform is nowadays covered by a tree growth known as Little Wood, which is in itself protected as an historical structure,  and is also currently conserved for environmental reasons.  However, in future it will be possible to restore some of the outer parts of the building or material found there.  These restorations have huge costs. We are encouraged, nonetheless, in  that we have established a good rapport with the university, but plans must be well detailed.

Our first goal is to create a promotional and informative website about the project and the Temple.  This website should be managed by Nova Romans and a couple of experts of the University of Rome.  We are working in hope of attaining Official Patronage of the University:  in this way we could promote the project (and Nova Roma) to other universities in the world, thus creating a network.  The collaboration with the University of Rome give us an important credit, as does access to the closed archeological area and current information about the Temple.

http://www.insulaumbra.com/aediles/perusianus/magnamater.html 

MMDCCLVIII (2005)