Efisio Luigi Tocco: a 'lover of antiquities' in 19th-century Rome -

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Autore: Pier Luigi Tucci
Anno edizione: 2018
Isbn: 978-88-7140-846-0
e-Isbn: 978-88-7140-866-8
Materie: Storia di Roma, Topografia antica, Studi sulla cultura dell'antico
Formato: 17x24
Pagine: 608
Lingua: Inglese

In the title of a pamphlet published in 1870, architect Efisio Luigi Tocco (c. 1800-1874) declares himself a lover of antiquities. Born in Cagliari (Sardinia), Tocco migrated to Rome in 1822 and spent the rest of his life investigating the topography of the eternal city and the territory of Latium. He published many articles in newspapers and academic journals as well as short monographs on various subjects such as the draining of Lake Fucinus, Rome’s harbors, the naumachiae, and the floods of the Tiber. His favorite research topics were ancient topography and Roman architecture and material culture, as is attested to by his works on several archaeological sites in Sardinia, Latium, and, for what concerns Rome, the Roman Forum (to which he devoted a long monograph in 1858) and the Colosseum. His discovery of nine fragments of the Severan marble plan of Rome in the garden of the Monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian gave him some notoriety (although less than he expected) and today he is mostly remembered for that excavation. Yet, his personal archival documents shed new light on other unpublished digs and studies as well as on his relationships (and feuds) with several antiquarians and archaeologists between the French occupation (1809-14) and the Capture of Rome (1870). Tocco’s letters to prime ministers, popes, and directors of excavations are set in their historical context and bring back to life an almost completely neglected figure.

Sommario:

Introduction

Chapter 1. Tocco’s biography
1.1 Tocco’s archive and library
1.2 From Cagliari to Rome
1.3 Tocco’s family
1.4 Epigraphy and Egyptology
1.5 Rome in the 1830s

Chapter 2. The unpublished work on the Greek and Roman navy
2.1 A visit to the Arsenal of Genoa
2.2 Tocco versus Augustine Jal
2.3 Reconstructing the original text

Chapter 3. The archaeology of Sardinia
3.1 In search for the Roman aqueduct of Cagliari (1835-46)
3.2 Tocco’s candidacy to ‘Commissario di Antichità’ (1849)
3.3 The scandal of the bronze statuettes (1852)
3.4 The new aqueducts for Cagliari and Sassari (1850s)
3.5 Projects for a suspension bridge (1854) and a dock (1860s) in Cagliari

Chapter 4. Lake Fucinus, Ancient Harbors, and Porsenna’s Tomb (1856)
4.1 ‘Ancient-modern analysis of Lake Fucinus and its emissary’
4.2 ‘Essay on the ancient harbors and especially on the harbors of Claudius at Ostia and of Trajan at Centocelle and about the Trajanic channel with other observations on the Tiber’
4.3 Labyrinths and Porsenna’s Tomb

Chapter 5. Rome
5.1 The Roman Forum (1858)
5.2 The mosaic floors in Via in Selci 54 (1860-1872)
5.3 The excavation in the hall of the Forma Urbis (July 29 - September 28, 1867)
5.4 Piazza della Consolazione (1868)

Chapter 6. Latium
6.1 Via Appia (1860s)
6.2 Via Nomentana (February 1866)
6.3 Mount Circeo (January 1867)
6.4 Via Aurelia: two excavations at Alsium (April-June 1867)
6.5 The ‘antica casa’ di Ariccia (July 1867)
6.6 Gabii (1868)
6.7 The Alban Hills: Bovillae, Marino, and Albano (1868)
6.8 A journey to Pratica di Mare and Capocotta (1869)
6.9 Ostia, Portus, and Maccarese
6.10 Anagni, Ferentino, and Tibur

Chapter 7. Antiquarian works, architectural studies, and unpublished drafts
7.1 Antiquarian works
7.2 Archaeological works
7.3 Architectural studies
7.4 Miscellaneous drafts

Chapter 8. Tocco versus Pietro Rosa
8.1 From the Papal States to the Kingdom of Italy
8.2 The first two pamphlets
8.3 The appointment as Consigliere Provinciale and the Basilica Julia
8.4 Rosa’s excavations and restorations
8.5 The annus furiosus: 1872
8.6 Still against Rosa

Chapter 9. Tocco’s collaboration with Augusto Castellani
9.1 The so-called bisellium and the tensa capitolina (1872-73)
9.2 The Model of a Roman farmhouse for the World Fair at Vienna (May 1873)

Conclusions
Chronology and Tocco’s Bibliography
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Captions
Index of names
Index of places