Bulletin

ofthe
History Archaeology
of
Brennan, B. 2020. Amedeo Maiuri: Herculaneum, Archaeology
and Fascist Propaganda. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology,
30(1): 2, pp. 1–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-625

RESEARCH PAPER: EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST

Amedeo Maiuri: Herculaneum, Archaeology and Fascist

Propaganda
Brian Brennan

Amedeo Maiuri (1886–1963) is rightly considered one of the greatest Italian archaeologists of the
twentieth century and his scientific archaeological work at Herculaneum has been much studied. Yet while
Maiuri’s work flourished under the patronage of Mussolini’s fascist regime, the nature of his relationship
with the party has received less attention. This paper, based both on archival sources and Maiuri’s
published writings, investigates Maiuri’s politically committed response through archaeology, both to
the ideological and the propaganda needs of the fascist regime. It is argued here that Maiuri’s writings
as well as his museological practice in the reconstruction of Herculaneum as a ‘resurrected’ and ‘living’
Roman town, represent an attempt to further develop the affective aspect of the fascist doctrine of
romanità. Maiuri, drawn to the ‘action not words’ of fascism, provided the regime’s propaganda with an
inspiring example of what willpower, hard work and modern machines could achieve in the archaeology of
the ‘New Italy.’

Introduction the scholars of all nations have vainly cried out for:
On 9 April 1927, Benito Mussolini, speaking to the Reale the rebirth (rinascita) of Herculaneum’ (Mussolini
Società romana di storia patria at its headquarters in 1927 = Opera Omnia XXII 1957: 341).
Rome, announced two difficult archaeological projects.
He committed his fascist government to the recovery What Mussolini’s speech did not acknowledge was that
of the Roman boats submerged in Lake Nemi and the Herculaneum, for nearly two centuries, had been a highly
resumption of the equally challenging excavation of the contested place. Even back in the 18th century, many
Roman town of Herculaneum. Herculaneum, like nearby criticisms had been levelled against the destructive incom-
Pompeii, had been destroyed and buried in the AD 79 petence of the Bourbon-era tunnellers (Horace Walpole
eruption of Vesuvius and previous attempts at open-cut (1740) 1937–1983: 17. 222; Johann Joachim Winckelmann
excavation had been abandoned because of the high costs (1762) 1762: 19; Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1787) 1913:
involved. Unlike Pompeii, which was buried under ashes, 1.218). During the Risorgimento, when Italy took up the
Herculaneum had been engulfed by flows of pyroclastic open-cut excavation that had been begun by the Bourbons
material from the same eruption of Vesuvius. This cooled in the early 19th century, there was a short lull in censure.
and hardened into a layer of tufo, igneous rock formed Unfortunately, that open-cut excavation by the Italian
of hardened volcanic debris, some twenty meters thick. state ceased in 1875 and work was abandoned because of
To disinter the ruins, nothing short of an open-cut min- the costs. Foreign disapproval once more became strident.
ing operation was needed. The fifty-two years of inactiv- Then, in 1906, an acrimonious controversy broke out
ity under previous governments were ascribed by the when a Cambridge academic, Charles Waldstein, proposed
Duce to a failure of political will. Now the Duce declared an imaginative and daring scheme for an international
that under the fascist regime, as at Rome itself, so also at project to undertake a complete excavation of Hercula-
Herculaneum, the past would be recovered: neum. Unfortunately, Waldstein’s proposal, which had
many influential backers across Europe and in the United
‘… while in Rome the most august monuments of States, floundered after a series of misunderstandings. It
antiquity have been recovered through the will of the was then finally sunk in a storm of nationalistic fervour
fascist government, not completely restored, which whipped up by the Italian press (Waldstein 1908). The cul-
might be a stupid profanation, but simply exhumed tural nationalists who opposed the scheme were led by
and liberated from the parasitic incrustations accu- Giacomo Boni, the famous excavator of the Roman Forum
mulated over the centuries of abandonment, I am and the Forum of Trajan. Boni appears to have played a
resolved to put my hand to a work that for long years duplicitous game with Waldstein, absenting himself from
key meetings of the Central Commission of Fine Arts and
Antiquities where the scheme was discussed, and leak-
Macquarie University, AU ing private correspondence with Waldstein to the press.
[email protected] Waldstein shows himself to have been somewhat naïve in
Art. 2, page 2 of 13 Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri

his dealings with Boni and was clearly outmanoeuvred by In Rhodes, Maiuri showed himself to be a highly tal-
him (Waldstein 1908: 51–52; 250–251). ented excavator and an energetic administrator. The
In February 1907 an excerpt of a letter from Boni to Italian seizure of the islands of the Dodecanese was
Waldstein was appended to a chauvinistic article in the opposed by Greece, but Maiuri staked Italy’s cultural
Rome newspaper La Tribuna and this was used to rally claim to them through his excavation of Lindos and other
opposition to the Herculaneum scheme (Waldstein sites, the establishment of a new archaeological museum
1908: 51–52). Then, in America, Boni was reported on 21 in Rhodes, and the restoration of the crusader buildings
February 1907 as saying that it was to the dishonour of such as the Hospital of the Knights and the Palace of the
Italians ‘to go begging to foreigners’ (The New York Times Grand Master. From the beginning Maiuri promoted the
1907a: 6). Boni’s opposition seems to have been fuelled by state’s cultural policy program of Italianità and his first
his suspicion in February 1907 that one of Waldstein’s US Guide to the monuments and to the Museo archeologico
backers, J. Pierpont Morgan, had illicitly obtained Italian was published by the Italian army of occupation (Maiuri
antiquities for the Metropolitan Museum in New York (The 1919). Maiuri, also keen to explore archaeological sites
New York Times 1907b: 4). Pierpont Morgan was already in Asia Minor, developed connections with conservative
under suspicion in Italy in relation to the Monteleone archaeologists, such as Roberto Paribeni (ASDMAE, AP
Etruscan Chariot bought by him and acquired by the Met 1919–1930 Dodecaneso, b. 981. fasc. 2373), who were
in 1903. Boni had opposed foreign excavations in Italy the ‘forward scouts’ of Italian imperialism and keen to
and, together with Corrado Ricci, supported plans for take advantage of a weakened Turkey (Petricioli 1990:
the Rosadi-Rava law (1909) for tighter controls on the 412–413; Veronese 2007: 137–150). Maiuri gained the
export of antiquities (Balzani 2007). On the matter of enthusiastic backing of the governor Mario Lago for his
Herculaneum Boni struck a chord with many conservative work in the Dodecanese. Indeed, it was Mario Lago who
Italians, and the chauvinistic slogan ‘L’Italia deve fare da wrote to Mussolini on 23 March 1923 in praise of Maiuri’s
sé’ (‘Italy must do things itself’) triumphed over any con- work in Rhodes (ASDMAE, AP 1919–30 Dodecaneso, b.
sideration of what Waldstein had actually proposed. 986. fasc. 2424 – Trattazione generale).
Waldstein’s plan was rejected by the Italian government Shortly afterwards, Maiuri was appointed to the superin-
which announced it would undertake the excavation tendency of Pompeii and Herculaneum where he replaced
alone. However, despite the government appointing a Vittorio Spinazzola, whose liberal connections, according
committee in 1907, nothing more was done on the site to his son-in-law, Salvatore Aurigemma, most probably
of Herculaneum and twenty years passed. Mussolini was had lost him his position (Spinazzola 1953: Vol. 1, XI, note
therefore able to capitalise on this inaction by previous 1). Spinazzola appears to have had a number of work-place
liberal governments of the united Italy. What was needed enemies but Aurigemma asserts that it was the archae-
was action, not words. The resumption of the excavations ologist’s obvious adhesion to liberal ideas and his close
was to be an object lesson in the character of the ‘New links with F.S. Nitti and opponents of fascism that had cost
Italy.’ him his position. Maiuri’s own relations with the fascist
Mussolini’s speech announcing the resumption of work regime have been much debated by scholars (Barbanera
raised the possibility of great finds – paintings and papyri 1998: 149–150; Bracco 1983: 50–52; Manacorda 1982;
in particular – and claimed that over many fruitless years Manacorda and Tamassia 1985: 23–25; Maggi 2017,
in the distant past there had been sporadic excavations but Osanna 2017, Pappalardo 2009: 11–20, 225–226; 2015:
they had been conducted ‘without order, without method’. 68–71) but it will be argued here that the relevant archival
This would all change. The most exacting standards of materials showing the nature of his dealings with the gov-
scientific excavation would be adhered to, regardless of ernment in relation to Herculaneum, as well as a number
the cost. Photography would record the finds and publica- of his published statements, indicate an ardent commit-
tions would increase the public’s knowledge of the ancient ment to the fascist regime.
town. The modern town of Resina, that had been built Maiuri was a skilled political operator. In the case of the
above the ruins, would not be moved because Mussolini resumption of the Herculaneum excavations it has been
stressed that the proposed excavation would mainly take established by Mario Capasso that Maiuri had first gained
place outside the inhabited area. Later, party speeches, also the in-principle support of Michele Castaldi, the High
reported in the press, stressed the positive impact that this Commissioner for Naples. After this, Maiuri took the idea
project, like others, would make on the regional economy to Pietro Fedele, Minister for Public Education who then
of the area around Naples (Il Popolo d’Italia 1927). lobbied Mussolini on behalf of Maiuri’s plan to resume
The whole project of the resumption of excavations the excavations (Capasso 1991: 17–30; Maiuri 1992:
was the brainchild of the archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri, 106–107). The Duce subsequently designated resumption
who in 1924 had been appointed by the regime as of the excavation as ‘a work of national importance.’
the superintendent of the excavation of Pompeii and The excavation of Herculaneum was to be developed by
Herculaneum. Indeed, there is much detail in the section the regime as a major project. It was also clearly designed
of the Duce’s speech dealing with Herculaneum to sug- to show to a somewhat sceptical international commu-
gest very strongly that Maiuri had a hand in its writing nity both the industry and resourcefulness of the ‘New
(Osanna 2017: 126–127). Maiuri was a right-wing nation- Italy’ and the determination of the fascist government to
alist who came to this prestigious position after serving complete this project. After an interval of fifty-two years
as an archaeologist in the Italian-occupied Dodecanese, at since the last excavation, a new beginning was made at
first under the army and then under the civil governor. Herculaneum with vigour and determination. Indeed
Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri Art. 2, page 3 of 13

this spirit of enthusiastic resolve was encapsulated by the Mediterranean, memories of the Roman Empire inspired
Latin inscription on a ceremonial pick used by the king patriots and imperialists to reclaim their Roman past in
on 16 May 1927 to begin the excavation: ‘Herculaneum Libya and the Dodecanese.
effodiendum est/Herculaneum must be excavated Romanità was the central element in the rhetorical
(Notomista 2017; The Times, London 1927a and 1927b; façade that appropriated Roman history of the imperial
The Washington Post 1927). period to magnify the regime and make it appear invincible
The fascist government liked to speak of archaeological (Belardelli 2005: 222–226; Giardina and Vauchez 2000:
campaigns as ‘liberating’ Roman buildings and the new 212–296; Nelis 2007 and 2018; Roche 2018; Visser 1992).
Herculaneum excavations were spoken of, from the start, As Benedetto Croce observed in 1944, Roman imperial
in bellicose language. Fascist ideology constantly stressed greatness was invoked by the regime in words ‘whose vir-
the primal necessity of struggle in all important human tue lay in their very vacuity’ (Croce 1973: 39). Romanità
endeavours. Success came from struggle and the model of could be shaped to become all things to all people. Indeed,
struggle was the soldier. Like many other Italian archae- in order to communicate the meaning of its Roman rheto-
ologists in the fascist period (Manacorda and Tamassia ric to a broad and diverse popular audience, as opposed
1985: 24), Maiuri used military language to describe the to a coterie of highly educated right-wing cultural nation-
problems that he faced in his fieldwork. alists, the party found that it needed to devise strategies
Maiuri also liked to speak of the rebirth (rinascita) or of popularisation. These included the annual celebrations
resurrection (resurrezione) of the town and this language for the birthday of Rome, political rallies, festivals and cel-
was commonly deployed in fascist propaganda as a met- ebrations with a ‘Roman-style’ choreography. There was,
aphor for the rebirth of Italy and the Italian national as well, the popularisation of Roman history and Roman
spirit. Through publications, popular journalism and archaeology through the cinema, tourism, dopolavoro
newsreels, that had covered the ‘heroic years’ of labour (after-work) excursions and the Giornale LUCE newsreels.
on the site, Herculaneum (and Maiuri) became world During the 1930s there were 225 newsreel items on
famous. At the same time the excavation of the site was Roman archaeology in Italy and Libya shown in cinemas.
used in propaganda to exemplify fascist values of struggle, Romanità was presented by the regime as something
speed, efficiency, organisation and order, and the appli- that might be apprehended in moments of emotional
cation of modern science. The project also provided both discovery as one visited Roman ruins, which might evoke
skilled workers and labourers in the depressed local area historical memories in those who were the true descend-
with much-needed employment (Capasso 1991: 31–35; ants of the Romans. Mussolini told an audience in 1924
Napoli e le opere del Regime 1930; ACS MPI AABBAA Div.1 that while in his youth he had loved Rome, it was only
1934–1940, b. 33, fasc. 536) and was part of the regime’s years later, when he was able to actually walk in Rome
stimulus of the economy of Naples. among the ‘living relics’ of the Forum and along the Via
Through the simultaneous excavation and restoration Appia or near the great temples, that he truly understood
of houses and public buildings, Maiuri largely rebuilt his romanità. There, by these Roman stones, he frequently
Herculaneum. A great deal of what we see on site today happened to meditate on ‘the mystery of Rome’ and
dates not to antiquity but to the 1920s and 1930s (Rizzi on the ‘mystery of the continuity of Rome.’ This was an
and Barbieri 2000: 15). Maiuri also introduced a new style affective experience and, in recalling it for his audience,
of presentation of everyday items by displaying them in Mussolini contrasted such personal experience with the
their context in houses and shops on site. Herculaneum ‘so-called critical history’ which, in its overly rational way,
was developed by Maiuri in the 1930s as a place where ‘tries hard to knock down the legendary.’
Italians could descend to the bottom of the 20-metre- Yet, Mussolini asserted that ‘an area of shadow always
deep excavation pit, step back in time, and experience remains, where, from out of a cold and often absurd
their unearthed romanità. rationality, the irreplaceable legend comes back into
blossom’ (Mussolini 21 April 1924 = Opera Omnia
The fascist party and romanità XX,1956: 234). Such sentiments, influenced by Mussolini’s
Romanità as a rational, aesthetic or emotional identifi- pronouncements, and the mystical school of the fascist
cation with classical Roman culture and socio-political party (Marchesini 1976: 55–73) became very much a part
values long predated the advent of fascism. Indeed, the of fascist archaeology. Indeed, some key fascist archae-
educated upper-class and bourgeoisie in Italy were predis- ologists were suspicious of the overly systematic, ‘overly
posed by their education to the appeal of such an out- rational’ approach taken by their foreign colleagues. Such
look on the world. Roman culture, having assimilated an approach was condemned because it denied space for
the best that Hellenistic Greece had to offer, was extolled an emotive sense of place and shunned a reverence for the
as the epitome of Western Civilization (Canfora 1976). legendary (Whitling 2019: 96). A mystical timelessness, a
Roman literature, art, law, political concepts and imperial form of recovered cultural memory, played an important
organisation were powerful paradigms that might underlie part in fascist conceptions of romanità.
the attitudes of cultural or political conservatives. Roman In 1932 Maiuri published his first book on the site and
history was most commonly viewed as part of a seamless its buildings and described the progress of the excava-
Italian history, and the Italian Renaissance celebrated the tions thus far. This lavishly illustrated book, Ercolano,
rebirth of the most classical of Roman values. When Italy which appeared in the popular Visioni Italiche series, was
in the late nineteenth century, in competition with other not aimed at an international scholarly audience. Rather,
European powers, eyed colonial possessions around the it was intended for an Italian readership which would
Art. 2, page 4 of 13 Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri

include both armchair travellers and potential tourists. monumental structure of the exhibition. Given the impor-
Indeed, while Maiuri wrote a number of articles about tance of inscriptions in ancient and papal Rome, Maiuri
Herculaneum for Italian and foreign newspapers, the argued that ‘epigraphy needs to return to being an essen-
originally promised scholarly scientific publications never tial element in the works of the regime’ (1937: 266). In
appeared during the 1930s. It was not until near the end line with the regime’s assertion of the continuity between
of his career that Maiuri produced a major publication antiquity and fascism, Maiuri saw it as logical and natural
of the site (Maiuri 1958). Thus, in his review of the 1932 that the great words of Mussolini, with their ‘bare mascu-
Ercolano the Russian scholar Michael Rostovtzeff, while linity and power’ (1937: 266) would take their place on
heaping the highest praise on Maiuri’s scientific fieldwork, the walls of the Mostra Augustea among the words of the
still expressed his disappointment that no preliminary or historians, orators and jurists of antiquity and the fathers
final reports had been published on any of the buildings of the church. There, all the quotations would serve as
unearthed so far (Rostovtzeff 1932). ‘one living voice’ to affirm, recommend, and sanction the
In line with the archaeological propaganda of the regime, ‘new history of Italy.’
Maiuri, in his 1932 Ercolano, stressed that Herculaneum
allowed visitors to experience an almost mystical Herculaneum as metaphor for the rebirth and
reintegration with their own Roman spirit (Maiuri 1932: resurrection of Italy
82). Maiuri’s discussion of the Anglo-American Charles Maiuri’s 1932 book Ercolano predictably carried the
Waldstein’s idealistic, but doomed, proposal for the inter- politically correct message that the ‘resurrection’ of
national excavation of Herculaneum is also politically Herculaneum had come about through ‘the strong will of
circumspect. It is known that Maiuri had the greatest per- the government and the nation.’ Maiuri’s first chapter is
sonal respect for Waldstein and when that distinguished on the excavation history of the site and it is constructed
scholar died he even provided a Roman cinerary urn with a chiastic structure that begins and concludes with
to be sent to his widow for his ashes (Maiuri 2008: 70; contrasts between the living and the dead, the darkness
Iezzi and Scafati 1984: 260–261; ACS MPI AABBAA Div. of the tomb and the bright light of rebirth. Maiuri asserts
II 1925–1928, b. 20, fasc. 354). Magnanimously, in his that no visitor, if they had come to Herculaneum just a
Ercolano, Maiuri wrote of Waldstein as having had ‘noble few years before and had seen little more that the ‘skeletal
and generous intentions’ (Maiuri 1932: 12–13). Yet, he aspect of a few walls,’ and everything ‘stripped of any sign
also declared that Waldstein unconsciously reduced of life or any hope of resurrection,’ would ever have dared
the matter of Herculaneum ‘to a simple technical and to hope that a renewed excavation of this ‘città sepolta’
financial problem’ and that he was unable to appreciate could ever come about.
‘the profound spiritual and cultural essence that had to Maiuri stressed the superiority of the scientific modern
mature and draw upon its own true resources in the life methods used in the current excavations compared to
of a people.’ those used in past times. In the first three years of the
Maiuri offered his archaeological experience in resumed excavations the area cleared was about 4,500
the service of the fascist regime. At the time of the sq. metres with more than 100,000 cubic metres of vol-
Augustan exhibition, the Mostra Augustea della romanità canic material being carted away. Eventually, in all, more
1937–1938, for which he had offered technical advice than 200,000 cubic metres were removed from the
on archaeological materials (Prisco 2014), Maiuri excavated area.
wrote enthusiastically of the didactic deployment of Even in a short time a good part of the middle area of the
archaeology in the service of the fascist regime and the city had been exposed, Maiuri declared, as a result of ‘the
cause of romanità. He believed in the power of archaeo- good organisation of the work and the improved methods
logical material thematically and imaginatively presented, of excavation.’ The speed of Maiuri’s excavation would
to connect the broad masses of the people with their have been read as an illustration of the fascist doctrine of
heritage of romanità (Maiuri 1937: 261–266). Indeed, ‘action not words.’ It is reminiscent of the goal-setting and
Maiuri’s comments leave no doubt that he saw the Mostra relentlessly determined completion of the regime’s work
Augustea della romanità as essentially political, a ‘link in targets on other national projects such as the draining of
the chain that is welded together’ connecting the ear- the Pontine Marshes or the building of the new town of
lier Mostra della Rivoluzione, that was held at the same Sabaudia, completed after just 253 days of ‘heroic effort’
exhibition venue, and the Mostra del Fascismo, that was in 1933.
planned for the future (Maiuri 1937: 261). Maiuri asserted The extent of what had been achieved in the first years
that romanità was ‘the truly great unitary factor of the of the new scavi at Herculaneum was similarly impres-
social and political order for a great part of the ancient sive and Maiuri in 1931 communicated to a popular
world’ and declared that the 1937–1938 Mostra would audience in L’Illustrazione Italiana (Maiuri 1931a) a sense
be for all Italians ‘a religious reinvocation’ of the wisdom, of what had been accomplished. In November 1931 The
good sense and vitality of Roman institutions (Maiuri Times of London also featured an article by Maiuri enti-
1937: 263). tled ‘Herculaneum. Four Years of Discoveries’ in which he
Maiuri emphasised the importance of epigraphy as it presented the excavations as a heroic undertaking that,
was employed in the Mostra Augustea (Maiuri 1937: 266). despite some people’s initial misgivings, was proceed-
He viewed it as an instructional medium, as a historical ing ‘with regular and uninterrupted rhythm.’ The British
commentary, and as a necessary complement to the public was informed that ‘in just four years of intense and
Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri Art. 2, page 5 of 13

laborious work twice as great an area had been uncovered The photo documentation of the Herculaneum excava-
as during the rather languid excavations between the tion, something that owes a great deal to the practices fol-
years 1825 and 1875’ (Maiuri 1931b). lowed by Spinazzola at Pompeii, is used by Maiuri in his
Maiuri did not merely excavate the buildings of 1932 book to construct a progressive visual narrative of
Herculaneum, he restored them in varying degrees in the rebirth or resurrection of the ancient town. One such
the process of digging them out of the ‘tufo,’. Thus, the photo (Figure 2) shows, snaking into the distance, the
Roman town of Herculaneum was disinterred and rebuilt track of the Decauville railway with its bins full of debris.
at the same time. In part this practice was due to the exi- In the foreground, to the right of the track, is a towering
gencies of the digging process, especially where the vol- mound of amorphous compacted tufo. It is being attacked
canic deposits which had entered some buildings and by four men using picks. On the top of the mound we see
filled them could not be removed without the buildings another man employing a pneumatic drill. A little further
collapsing. Many structures had to be excavated, propped along on the right we see the first outlines of a building
up and rebuilt in order to save them. Overall, Maiuri’s emerging from the tufo that has been broken up. The long
aim was to recreate Herculaneum by restoring significant lines left in the tufo by recent pneumatic drilling are vis-
buildings and recreating the streetscapes of the ancient ible. In the distance, beyond these signs of work, we see
town. Maiuri’s workers, the ‘eager young recruits’ and the Roman houses which already have been excavated and
‘haggard veterans,’ worked methodically and relentlessly restored. The edges of the excavation pit can be seen in
across the site through the 1930s (Figure 1). the far distance.

Figure 1: The progress of the excavation of Herculaneum during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Art. 2, page 6 of 13 Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri

Figure 2: The excavation of Herulaneum c.1929. Maiuri 1932: 16.

Excavation photographs such as this were composed removed, gave the visitor to the site an overwhelming
to carry a message of hard work and perseverance. Later, sense of the struggle that man always wages against the
looking back to these years, Maiuri remembered the noise forces of nature (Maiuri 1929). Sites of ‘heroic struggle,’
on site: the din of the compressors, the squeak of the such as Sabaudia or Herculaneum, were promoted by the
winches and the growl of the trucks. The photographs regime as tourist attractions because they could serve a
used in Maiuri’s book Ercolano were brought to life in a didactic purpose. It is revealing to note the striking poster
Giornale LUCE newsreel with sound, made for a mass audi- by Marcello Dudovich (Figure 3), commissioned by the
ence and shown in Italian cinemas in 1932 (Giornale LUCE state tourist organisation and the state railway around
1932). We see workers rhythmically hammering long 1930, because it focused the viewer’s attention on the
metal spikes into the edge of a tufo embankment and we gargantuan task of the regime’s excavation project at
hear the metallic sound made by their efforts. They lever Herculaneum. The artist depicted the hand of an unseen
the now-embedded spikes and a part of the embankment giant lifting up a massive rock overlay to reveal the ruined
collapses. Huge slabs of tufo break off and slide into the city still preserved beneath.
pit below. Other scenes show Roman frescoes emerging As an archaeologist with boundless energy and a deter-
as a pick removes the debris that surrounds them. There mination to make a new beginning at Herculaneum
is no voice-over because the soundtrack, the constant din Maiuri was committed to work on until the task was com-
of workplace noise, carries the message of unrelenting pleted. With his yearly goals, his efficient machines and
labour. his loyal workers imbued with a sense of mission, Maiuri
Maiuri thought that Herculaneum was an exciting place was indeed emblematic of the ‘New Italian’ that Griffin
for people to visit, not just for its Roman buildings but has shown was being promoted at that time by the regime
also because of the lessons it taught. He believed that (Griffin 2007). Through his novi scavi Maiuri made a new
the debris that had engulfed the town, and was being beginning as he broke with the indolence and limited
Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri Art. 2, page 7 of 13

Herculaneum (Corriere della Sera 1934). In a 1941 speech

on the Campidoglio Maiuri expressed his gratitude to the
Duce for having resumed the excavations in 1927 and for
supporting them. Maiuri noted that without the special
laws approved by the High Commissioner for Naples,
Michele Castaldi, he would not have been able to achieve
the property acquisitions necessary for the excavations
(Guzzo 2010).
The Herculaneum rebuilt by Maiuri was a triumph of
archaeological verismo. The buildings looked Roman but
a great deal of what the visitor saw was modern. Maiuri
was influenced in this, to varying degrees, by the work
of Vittorio Spinazzola at Pompeii and Arthur Evans at
Knossos on Crete. However, Maiuri is on record as having
made disparaging comments about Evans’ ‘mania’ for total
reconstruction and he also disapproved of the ‘bizarrely
coloured’ and over-restored frescoes at Knossos (Livadiotti
and Rocco 1996: 193; Appendice documentaria no.10).
What made Herculaneum appear ‘authentic’ were small
touches – lumps of carbonised wood were affixed to
modern doorframes and fresco fragments pieced together
on walls. Maiuri’s own practice was not to fully reconstruct
the upper storeys of buildings nor to extend or recreate
frescoes. His personal aesthetic tended towards a roman-
tic sense of the ruins, with signs of their incompleteness
and the passage of time. Some upper storey walls were not
rebuilt and the visitor could look into a building as if into
Figure 3: Ercolano poster by Marcello Dudovich c.1930. a doll’s house. Here and there, ad identicum Roman roof-
Image courtesy of Poster Photo Archives, Rennert’s tops with reproduction ‘Roman tiles’ covered significant
Gallery, NY. buildings and took attention away from the modern rein-
forced concrete slabs that he used to cover 70% of other
vision of those who had come before him in order to inau- lesser structures.
gurate a new era at Herculaneum. Fascinated by the human experience of the people
of the town, the archaeologist presented the visitor to
Maiuri’s ‘living city’ and the experience of Herculaneum with contextualised displays of objects from
romanità everyday life with the stated aim of reproducing what he
Maiuri sought to engage with a wider popular audience termed the ‘human face’ of the town (Camardo 2016).
through newspaper articles and interviews with report- Across the site in houses and shops, 50 glass showcases
ers. His stated aim was to capture ‘the spirit of the past’ displayed 1,233 of the small objects that had been found
and show ordinary people something of a ‘resuscitated’ during the excavations. There was a windlass and some
and ‘living’ antiquity that was far removed from ‘bookish preserved rope displayed near a well, in another building
learning’ (Maiuri 1929). When he published photographs a large wooden clothes press was shown, and in a number
in L’Illustrazione Italiana, Maiuri declared that these could of locations carbonised wooden furniture was exhibited.
say more than any written description that he could offer Sometimes it was the small things of ordinary everyday
(Maiuri 1929). life that had the greatest impact on visitors.
Maiuri was skilled at gaining publicity for the exca- A journalist from The Washington Post visiting the ‘living
vations at Herculaneum. In June 1934, for example, city’ of Herculaeum told his audience: ‘While the older
Maiuri’s sensational discovery of two magnificent poly- excavators at Pompeii had merely shown one or two ruined
chrome mosaics – one depicting Neptune and his consort walls, a new spirit was at work at Herculaneum … objects
Amphitrite and another showing a hunt – was featured dug up are not considered for their intrinsic value as finds,
as front-page news in both Il Giornale d’Italia (1934) but as contributing to the reconstruction of each house,
and La Tribuna (1934). The quality of these two mosaic so that ultimately the whole city may be recreated’ (The
compositions captured the public imagination and the Washington Post 1930). In the bakery of Sextus Patulcius
attendant publicity was valuable also to the propaganda Felix a number of baking dishes were displayed on the
of the regime. Within days the Corriere della Sera was back wall near the mills and oven. In a taberna visitors
trumpeting the personal interest that Mussolini took could see a wall painting of Priapus and foods that were
in the excavations and the paper praised the enlight- on sale on the day of the destruction. One house featured
ened fascist policy that supported the archaeological a room displaying a skeleton on a bed, a marble table, a
work at Herculaneum. The paper’s readers also learned bronze lampstand and a reproduction of a weaving frame
that Mussolini had personally given Maiuri a gift, an with Roman terracotta loom weights attached. The display
offerta privata, of 100,000 lire towards the excavations of looked convincing, yet detailed research by Camardo has
Art. 2, page 8 of 13 Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri

revealed a number of inconsistencies between the display Maiuri’s aim was to showcase the excavations and the
room as Maiuri set it up, and the records of the excavation great progress made at Herculaneum before a distin-
(Camardo 2006). guished audience of the world’s most eminent archae-
The appeal of Herculaneum, where the actual Roman ologists and ancient historians. In his 1937 proposals to
objects used in everyday life 2,000 years ago were being the regime for a celebration in 1938 of the bicentenary
displayed in newly restored Roman buildings, was imme- of the Herculaneum excavations, Maiuri had stated that
diate. It was an extraordinary historical recreation, a con- the resumed excavations undertaken as a consequence of
structed ‘lieu de mémoire’ (Nora 1989: 31–48) and invested the ‘will of the Duce’ showed that ‘fascist Italy was victori-
with contemporary political significance in the context of ous on this battlefield as well’ (ACS MPI AABBAA Div. II
fascist Italy. Indeed, the reconstructed Roman town has 1934–40, b. 33, fasc. 536). Such victories he noted would
similarities to the reconstruction of colonial Williamsburg take their place as part of the annals of the ‘New Italy.’
in Virginia across the Atlantic undertaken during the The international scholarly community would have
1930s by the Rev. W. A. R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller. remembered still the acrimony of the Italian reaction to
Williamsburg was designed as a city-museum and as a Charles Waldstein’s proposal for a co-operative interna-
‘shrine’ where the great events of early American history tional excavation project at Herculaneum. They would
might be ‘visualised in their proper setting’ (Williamsburg also have been aware that for twenty years nothing had
Restoration 1931: 6). For its part, Maiuri’s ‘living’ Roman been done on the site until the rise of the Duce and the
town of Herculaneum provided a similar means by which appointment of Maiuri. On a number of levels, therefore,
the fascist party could popularise and materialise the both Maiuri and the regime hoped to make a favourable
abstruse concept of romanità in a way that might make it impression on international scholarly opinion and to
more accessible for the average Italian visitor. attract publicity for the new excavations from the major
Herculaneum, buried and then reborn, was an eternal American and European newspapers.
place that could be imbued with a religious aura in keep- Such high hopes were not realised. Fascist foreign
ing with the regime’s sacralization of Roman ruins, and policy, the atrocities in Ethiopia and the blatant co-option
determined development of Roman rituals and liturgies. of Augustus by the regime to justify their contemporary
As Emilio Gentile has observed Roman ruins served as imperialism resulted in a reaction against the celebra-
sacred centres where people were brought into contact tions by many British and French scholars. In late 1937
with the magical power of Rome (Gentile 1990: 245; the young Oxford historian Ronald Syme had spoken
1993: 148–154; Scriba 1996). In his popular 1932 book anxiously of the coming Augustan year 1937–1938 — ‘a
on Herculaneum Maiuri spoke of the ruins of the town memorable and alarming anniversary looms heavily upon
in reverential tones as a place which offered the visi- us’ (Syme 1937: 194) — and by the end of the Augustan
tor a ‘spiritual reintegration into the past.’ Here in the year few British and French scholars wished to be publicly
ruins was the hearth where burned the ‘small inextin- associated with the Convegno Augusteo. The list of poten-
guishable lamp of our spirit’ (Maiuri 1932: 82). A major tial invitees had been revised a number of times and invita-
newspaper (Corriere della Sera: 1938) spoke of the ruins of tions were sent out late. The response was disappointing.
Herculaneum as a spiritually significant place for Italian By then the celebrations at Rome and Herculaneum
people as the descendants of the Romans. Its very stones were increasingly overshadowed in the foreign press by
were infused with romanità. weightier matters: the Sudetenland crisis, growing fears
of a European war and finally, the drama of the Munich
The bicentennial celebrations at Herculaneum Conference (A.C. 1938).
25 September 1938 In its report on the Ara Pacis ceremony at Rome, The Times
The year 1938 represented the high water mark of roman- of London lamented that no representatives of British uni-
ità due to the year-long Mostra Augustea della Romanità versities or learned institutions had been able to attend (The
that celebrated the bimillennium of the birth of Augustus Times 1938). The Director of the British School at Rome, C.A.
with a display of archaeological materials (Arthurs 2018). Ralegh Radford, who had enjoyed good relations with the
The year also marked the two hundredth anniversary of regime, was excavating in Cornwall. He declared himself
the excavations at Herculaneum and Maiuri lobbied hard unable to return in time. Hugh Last, the Regius Professor
to link-in the Herculaneum bicentenary celebrations with at Oxford, a noted scholar of Augustus, and an opponent
the September birthday of Augustus, the inauguration of of Nazism, did not attend the Convegno, it would seem,
the Ara Pacis at Rome and the closing ceremonies of the for political reasons (Last 1950: 14; Murray 2010: 82–83).
Mostra Augustea. Because of the recent racial laws, Arnaldo Momigliano, one
The Augustan bimillennium was planned to end with a of the greatest Italian scholars of his time, was excluded
Convegno Augusteo (Silverio 2014), a conference for 329 because he was Jewish (Silverio 2014: 405–411).
Italian and foreign archaeologists and historians who Conspicuous amongst the foreign scholars who did
were to be invited to the inauguration of the Ara Pacis. attend the Convegno Augusteo and then afterwards
They were also to visit archaeological sites and new exca- travel on to the Herculaneum celebrations was Gerhart
vations at Rome and Ostia. It was on Maiuri’s sugges- Rodenwaldt, director of the German Archaeological
tion that these distinguished scholars would be invited Institute who led the German delegation. Rodenwalt was
to visit the Vesuvian sites and celebrate the two hun- a not a member of the Nationalist Socialist Party, but by
dredth anniversary of the beginning of the excavations at avoiding politics he had by 1937 achieved an accommoda-
Herculaneum. tion with the Third Reich (Sünderhauf 2008; Losemann
Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri Art. 2, page 9 of 13

2001: 71–88). The foreign philofascists included the required of important state officials on formal occasions
American archaeologist A.W. Van Buren who had written such as this. A 1935 photograph of Maiuri together with
in praise of both the regime’s archaeology policy and the Mussolini at Paestum shows him in the full uniform of the
Foro Mussolini (Van Buren 1929a, 1929b, 1930, 1933). fascist militia, wearing the tasselled cap with fasces badge,
Jérôme Carcopino, who, as the head of the École fran- the black shirt of the party and a Sam Browne belt (Maggi
çaise de Rome, also attended the Convegno, was known as 2017: 100). In September 1938 Maiuri wore just the black
a strident European imperialist. Carcopino later became jacket of the party and white trousers as he accompanied
Minister for Education in the collaborationist Vichy the more splendidly uniformed official party around the
Regime (Bernard 2017; Cacy-Debray 2001). ruins of Herculaneum.
Then there was the British archaeologist Eugénie The visit by the minister Giuseppe Bottai and the mem-
Strong, who was a fervent admirer of both Mussolini and bers of the Convegno at the end of the Augustan year was
the regime (Strong 1938a). At the inauguration of the featured in a Giornale LUCE newsreel. The ruins were
Ara Pacis, Strong, as the spokesperson for the foreign presented as the documentation of the ‘eternal Italian
scholars who were present, delivered a congratulatory civilisation’ and the segment ended with a portrait bust
speech to Mussolini. Despite the well-known massacres of Augustus who was also being celebrated. It is notable
of Ethiopians by the fascist imperialists in the years just that the newsreel voice-over speaks enthusiastically and
prior to these celebrations, Strong praised Mussolini very pointedly of Herculaneum as illustrating the ancient
as a ‘peacemaker.’ She declared that Mussolini, like civilization of the Italian ‘race.’ Herculaneum speaks for
Augustus, celebrated not his victories themselves but the ancient glory of ‘la razza italiana.’
the peace that he had established through them (Strong This type of racial emphasis in the party’s presentation
1938b). of the archaeological site is significant because during
After their program in Rome members of the Convegno September 1938, the first fascist racial laws against Jews
travelled down to Naples for the Herculaneum bicen- were being implemented and others were in preparation.
tenary celebrations on 25 September. The Education Clearly the conjunction, in this propaganda newsreel, of
Minister Giuseppe Bottai presided (Mussolini was in classical portrait statues and reliefs with a racist voice-
Munich for the conference with Hitler, Chamberlain and over was intended to mould further public opinion. This
Daladier) and the distinguished scholars were guided was propaganda far more subtle than the image on the
around the excavations by Maiuri. In honour of the occa- August cover of the new journal La Difesa della Razza (La
sion a recently restored house, now named the House of Difesa della Razza 1938). That journal had compared ste-
the Bicentenary, was opened. reotypical ‘semitic’ and ‘negroid’ profiles to supposedly
The celebration at Herculaneum was very much a fascist ‘superior’ physiognomical features as exemplified by a
festival. Minister Bottai and the official party first visited classical statue.
the local Casa del Fascio before touring the ruins. Maiuri The culmination of the September visit of party and
gave a speech about the ‘reconquest of the site by hard government officials to Herculaneum was reported to
work.’ Both a newsreel (Giornale LUCE 1938) and a photo- be the acclamation of the Duce and ‘Imperial Italy’ by a
graph (Figure 4) show him dressed in the black jacket of crowd of academics, camice nere and visitors in the par-
the fascist party, which was, however, something routinely tially excavated Roman palaestra at Herculaneum. It was

Figure 4: The Education Minister Giuseppe Bottai with Amedeo Maiuri (left) at Herculaneum 25 September 1938.
Photographer: Studio Troncone. © Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, Fondo fotografico Giuseppe Bottai
A11_B29_F01.
Art. 2, page 10 of 13 Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri

a common practice at Rome for the Fascist Party to use text commemorating the remarkable excavations ‘begun
Roman ruins as a significant backdrop to parades on the again by the order of Benito Mussolini.’ This text is framed
Via dell’Impero or exhibitions in the Circus Maximus by two lictorial bundles of fasces. It is significant that the
(Kallis 2014). Here in 1938, as he had done in June 1927 1938 medal showed Hercules in the process of fighting
when he had negotiated party use of the amphitheatre, the Nemean lion. The hero had not yet killed the wild
rather than the forum at Pompeii (ACS MPI AABBAA Div. animal nor skinned it for his trophy. Clearly Herculaneum
II 1934–1940, b. 21, fasc. 367), Maiuri made available the was still a labour in progress, an ongoing struggle that
ancient sports field at Herculaneum as an appropriate required the continuing attention of Mussolini, the
Roman backdrop to a Fascist Party spectacle of manufac- modern Hercules.
tured consensus.
The half-excavated palaestra was also a significant place
in which to locate the acclamation of the Duce because
Mussolini identified himself with Augustus who had pro-
moted the physical education of youth. The iuvenes of
Augustus’ time were paralleled in the 1930s by the Italian
youth who were enrolled in the Opera Nazionale Balilla
(ONB) and Gioventù del littorio (GIL). The Herculaneum
palaestra was also especially associated with Hercules,
the legendary founder of the town and protector of gym-
nasia (Delorme 1960: 339–340), and by extension with
Mussolini, the new Hercules who was the patron of the
excavations. Mussolini had long associated himself with
the muscular Hercules and in fascist iconography of the
late 1930s (Lamers and Reitz-Joosse 2016: 63–69) and on
ONB and Littorali sports medals in 1931 he was depicted
as Hercules draped in the skin of the slain Nemean lion
(Casolari 1996: X/38). (Figure 5) Mussolini held the title
princeps iuventutis and appeared with this title on athletic
medals for youth that bore his head (Casolari 1996: Figure 6: Herculaneum medal 1938. Hercules fighting
XIII/38). the Nemean lion. Casolari 1996 XVI/87 Obverse. Text
At Herculaneum, the September 1938 Bicentennial on the edge: ANNO CC A PRIMIS ERUTIS HERCULANEI
ceremonies ended with the presentation of medals to all VESTIGIIS MDCCXXXVIII-MCMXXXVIII. http://www.
the participants. On the obverse of the medal (Figure 6) mpa41.com/medaglie.asp?anno=1938.
was a depiction of Hercules fighting the Nemean lion
with a legend around the image commemorating the
200th anniversary (Casolari 1996: XVI/87). The reverse
(Figure 7) depicted the newly excavated ruins at the end
of Cardo V together with a dedicatory panel with a Latin

Figure 7: The ruins of Herculaneum and commemorative

text framed by bundled lictorial fasces. Casolari 1996
XVI/87. Reverse. Text: AD NOVAS HERCULANENSES
EFFOSSIONES ABHINC ANNOS XI IUSSU BENITI
MUSSOLINI DENUO SUSCEPTAS ACRIUS PERACTAS
Figure 5: Mussolini as Hercules in the skin of the Nemean RITE MEMORANDAS KAL. OCTOBR. MCMXXXVIII A
lion. Littorali medal 1932 Casolari 1996 X/58. http:// FASC. REST. XVI. http://www.mpa41.com/medaglie.
www.mpa41.com/medaglie.asp?anno=1932. asp?anno=1938.
Brennan: Amedeo Maiuri Art. 2, page 11 of 13

Conclusions Arthurs, J. 2018. Bathing in the Spirit of Eternal Rome:

It is impossible for us to know, and idly speculate, whether The Mostra Augustea della Romanità. In: Roche, H
Amedeo Maiuri was merely a careerist or opportunist who, and Kyriakos, D (eds.), Brill’s Companion to the Classics,
for his own interests and advancement, conformed to the Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, 157–177. Leiden: Brill.
ideology of the patron state, or was a fascist of conviction. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004299061_008
However, if he is to be taken at his own word, he was a fer- Balzani, R. 2007. Rosadi, Rava e la legge n. 364 del
vent supporter of the fascist regime and committed to the 20 Giugno 1909. In: Ceccuti, C (ed.), Cento anni di
Duce. Maiuri’s work at Herculaneum, and his presentation Tutela: atti del convegno di studi, 1–18. Florence:
of it in his writings, both illustrate how strongly he was Polistampa.
drawn to the ‘action not words’ aspect of fascism. Barbanera, M. 1998. L’archeologia degli italiani. Storia,
He was a fervent believer in the power of the will. In a metodi e orientamenti dell’archeologia classica in Italia.
later remembrance of Mussolini’s 1927 speech announc- Rome: Editori Riuniti.
ing the resumption of the excavations, Maiuri expressed Belardelli, G. 2005. Il Ventennio degli intellettuali: Cultura,
publicly in the press his admiration for ‘that bare and politica, ideologia nell’Italia fascista. Rome-Bari: Editori
clearly observable will’ revealed by the Duce in his speech Laterza.
on that occasion (Maiuri 1938). Like the Battle of the Bernard, G. 2017. Roma aeterna: l’Antiquité romaine
Pontine Marshes or the Battle for the Grain, the propa- et l’extrême droite française Cahiers d’histoire. Revue
ganda message of the Herculaneum excavations was that d’histoire critique, 135: 147–166. https://journals.
the energetic application of willpower, hard work and openedition.org/chrhc/5947.
modern machines to a task of national importance, would Bracco, V. 1983. L’archeologia del regime. Rome: G. Volpe.
ensure its success. Camardo, D. 2006. Gli scavi ed I restauri di Amedeo
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cism of the earlier inactivity by the Italian state at this Canfora, L. 1976. Classicismo e fascismo. Quaderni di
significant archaeological site. Thus, the ongoing work storia, 4: 15–48.
at Herculaneum was extolled by the Fascist Party as an Capasso, M. 1991. Dallo scavo di Ercolano allo svolgimento
impressive example of the energy and capability har- dei papiri. Scritti e documenti inediti di Amedeo Maiuri.
nessed by Mussolini in the ‘New Italy.’ Naples: M. Ferraro.
Maiuri served the fascist regime by elaborating the Casolari, G. 1996. 25 anni di storia: medaglie e decorazioni
mystical aspect to be found within the party’s doctrine mussoliniane: 1922–1945. Rimini: Tipolito Giusti.
of romanità. It was a romanità that was imaginatively and Corriere della Sera. 1934. L’ Interessamento del Duce per
physically embedded in the ‘living city’ of Herculaneum. gli scavi di Ercolano. 30 June 1934, p. 8.
Thus Roman Herculaneum came to be described as a Corriere della Sera. 1938. Il Ministro dell’Educazione
timeless place which ‘breathed from each and every stone Nazionale alla celebrazione di Ercolano. 26 September
an overwhelming atmosphere of romanità’ (Corriere della 1938, p. 4.
Sera: 1938). As a ‘lieu de mémoire’ Herculaneum offered Croce, B. 1973. Scritti e discorsi politici (1943–1947). Bari:
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romanità of the Italian people. In fascist propaganda it Delorme, J. 1960. Gymnasion. Étude sur les monuments
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other fascist discourses of national identity, political alle- romain. Athens–Rome: Éditions E. De Boccard.
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Abbreviations org/10.1177/002200949002500204
ACS Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Rome Gentile, E. 1993. Il culto del litttorio: la sacralizzazione
AABBAA Antichità e Belle Arti della politica nell’ Italia fascista. Roma: Laterza.
ASDMAE  Archivio storico diplomatico del Ministero Giardina, A and Vauchez, A. 2000. Il mito di Roma:
degli Affari Esteri, Rome da Carlo Magno a Mussolini. Rome-Bari: Editori
AP Affari Politici 1919–1930 Laterza.
b. busta (box) Giornale LUCE. 1932. I lavori dei nuovi scavi. January.
fasc. fascicolo (folder) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5IOEtgrh7c.
Giornale LUCE. 1938. L’inaugurazione dei nuovi edifici,
Competing Interests emersi ad Ercolano nei recenti lavori. 5 October. https://
The author has no competing interests to declare. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA2qUu1DDQE.
Goethe, JW. 1913. Italienische Reise. Kroeber, HT (ed.).
Translations Leipzig: Insel Verlag.
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How to cite this article: Brennan, B. 2020. Amedeo Maiuri: Herculaneum, Archaeology and Fascist Propaganda. Bulletin of the
History of Archaeology, 30(1): 2, pp. 1–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-625

Submitted: 04 September 2019 Accepted: 29 January 2020 Published: 24 February 2020

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