General News
17 June, 2022
Travel Back In Time With The Ancient Rome Exhibition
THE Cairns Italian Festival launched the Ancient Rome Exhibition on June 8, inviting visitors to step back in time and rediscover the Roman empire and its contributions to technology, war and architecture.
The exhibition will run until August 7 at the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum Cairns, where attendants will enjoy objects from the Roman empire that were crucial to the modern world, a timeline of over 1,000 years from the Republic to the great Roman Empire, gladiator’s armours, swords and shields and much more.
Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch and Assistant Minister for Tourism Industry Development Michael Healy MP were present for the launch of the event next to the president of the Cairns Italian Festival, Steve Cordenos.
Mr Cordenos said the exhibition celebrated Roman history and how their technological advances impacted civilizations.
“Travel 2,000 years back in time when massive construction, large-scale technology and innovation led to the largest global integrated economy the world has ever seen,” Mr Cordenos said.
“This is what the Ancient Rome Exhibition is all about; all the artifacts are made in Florence and brought here to Cairns.
“This exhibition is fantastic because this represents the history, the culture, where everything started in Italy going back to the Roman days.
“And this gives people an idea of how the Roman Empire was built, how the architects were so advanced in what they did and the tools they used to create everything they did.”
Member for Cairns and Assistant Minister for Tourism Mr Healy said the Ancient Rome Exhibition was a perfect addition to the museum and the ideal plan for history enthusiasts.
“The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum in Cairns is world-class; what this exhibition has done is add to it,” he said.
“As the old saying goes, “what have the Romans ever done for us?” you have to come out here and have a look.
“What’s on display here is truly phenomenal, if you look at the engineering, not only how they defended themselves and the manner in which they fought but the tools and the mechanisms.
“This is a great addition to what is already a world-class facility; not only does it reflect our very strong Italian heritage, which is very prolific in the region, but it also reflects how we’ve progressed over the generations.”
Curator of the exhibition and manager of the touring machines from the Artisans of Florence, Luigi Rizzo, said the collection offered a different perspective on the history of the Roman Empire.
“It’s the history of the Roman Empire seen through the technology rather than the events of emperors,” Mr Rizzo said.
“There’s a lot of experimental archaeology that the Artisans of Florence have practised for more than 50 years, and it was passed onto us by our fathers.
“If you see some of the drawings in this exhibition, we tried to bring the earliest possible drawings that we had from the period of 100 BC and 100 AD.
“We can’t talk of the whole of the Roman Empire but perhaps a couple of hundred years, the most critical years, the beginning of the empire to the beginning of the decadence.
“Out of these 200 or 300 years, we’ve reconstructed the machines and shown the evolution from the early ballistae (bolt thrower) to the Scorpion (crossbow) that pierced the helmet and skulls of the enemies from hundreds of meters away, to the protective armours that evolved.”
Mr Rizzo said that due to a COVID-19 halt in activities is very exciting to bring this exhibition and machinery back to the light.
“We’ve been in storage for a couple of years, so this is a revival for us,” he said.
“It’s lovely to be out in Cairns.”
The Ancient Rome Exhibition is made of pieces and replicas from the Roman Empire, exceptionally crafted by the Artisans of Florence.
Their catalogue has travelled around Australia, New Zealand and Asia and has stopped by Cairns for the Cairns Italian Festival.
Tickets for the Ancient Rome Exhibition include general admission to the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum. To purchase tickets, visit, https://bit.ly/3aQP31Y
For more information on the Cairns Italian Festival and all of the events to come, visit, www.cairnsitalianfestival.com.au
