R. Scott Smith’s review of Andrea Carandini, and Paolo Carafa’s  (ed.) book, The Atlas of Ancient Rome: Biography and Portraits of the City (2 vols.)., in BMCR(2018.03.26), is a pointer that reflects certain points on this published works.

The work offers a comprehensive overview of the ancient city since Lanciani’s Forma Urbis Romae, which culminated in 1901.  Over forty individuals contributed to this volume. They had to identify 13,190 individual monuments in Rome alone, But the ancient city does not live through the present Rome in Italy.

Ancient Rome’s geographical position should be seen through biblical eschaeton; biblical scholars’ idea on the ‘meaning’ of this word is incorrect. It means ‘end of the world’ not ‘end’ of humanity. Ancient Rome was on the edge of the world on the west; and it signifies the birthplace of the Rama, the God incarnated of the epic the Ramayana. Caesarea and Rome are separated by the river Indus itself. Vergil’s descriptions of this ancient city should be followed strictly. Pompa refers to an ancient ‘pond’ of ‘image’; pompa means ‘bimba’ same as ‘image’. Saracani is the place to the south of this pond. Ceremonial Image Processions are held annually to mark the birthday of Rama. It also marks the House of Fama.

Locating the birthplaces of all ancient Roman Emperors is not a problem as their names reflect their nativity, Monuments of Horti Luculliani refers to seat of worship of goddess Herat, neighbourly to Caesarea and Atalia or Italia.  Basilica of Matidia identifies Basileon of the Kgs; and Matidia is another place which identifies the place of worship of ‘Mothers’ in Basileon at the Foot of Triton.  Similarly, Temple of Saturn, Temple of Divi Hadriani, and Temple of Tritons are heritage of human civilization. Roman emperors were emperors of the whole of the ‘inhabited world’ or the kings of the ‘four-quarters’. To limit their historical identity as ‘Rome Emperor’ is wrong. Again, to connect for each lines of its ancient history with Greeks is disgrace approach to Rome’s history itself.  Temple of Triton is a wonderful thing. It tells of the Three Tops’ of the Mt Sumeru or Mt Meru as coming under the Rome’s geographical situation itself. It was just to the south of Rome.

Though translation of Cicero finds a missing point in the volume, as you have pointed out, it normally happens when a large volume like this is handled. The real place of Cicero still lives on the top of a mountain today where Ulysses arrived. But it is no more in anyone’s mind.

What I lament for today is that when the real identity of the ancient Rome falls prey to human ignorance, and its monuments stand utterly neglected,  the unreal one flourishes through stupendous made-out collective intellectual outputs today.