Next Stop, Antiquity Station

Still, Rome's strict conservation laws, which require every artifact to be studied, may cause unthinkable delays for the project. That's precisely why Bottini sees the subway as a great opportunity—even if some relics will have to be sacrificed. "We know that in some cases the conflict will lead to removal or destruction of ancient ruins," he says. "But we never get to dig in the center of Rome."

Federico Fellini parodied a similar situation in his 1972 film "Roma" in a scene where engineers digging the first subway discovered a large Roman villa filled with perfectly preserved bright frescoes. Within minutes of boring through the ancient wall, the frescoes disintegrated forever after exposure to air—existing for only those few moments just after they were discovered. But Fellini's point was clearly that had it not been for the subway, they wouldn't have been discovered at all.  Modern engineers have better preservation methods than Fellini might have envisioned, and the actual train tunnels of Rome's new subway will be built 80 to 100 feet below street level, well under the lowest layer of antiquity. Still, the subway stations and air ducts are closer to the surface, displacing ancient relics. In Rome's striving to exist as a modern city, its most difficult task is finding a way to live with its past.

© 2008