Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Press Release

ATLANTA—Just a few more weeks remain to see the world premiere exhibition Imperial Rome at Fernbank Museum of Natural History, on view through January 3, 2007. Italy’s Contemporanea Progetti, Florence, and Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum created and organized this spectacular exhibition, which features more than 450 artifacts, ranging from small imperial coins to larger-than-life regal statues on loan from more than 15 Italian museums.

Imperial Rome showcases the brilliance of ancient Roman society during its glory days through a series of galleries featuring the legendary emperors, gods, households, lifestyles, and peace, or Pax Romana, established by the powerful military.

Imperial Rome featured several firsts, such as a number of Roman artifacts that have never before traveled to the United States. This is also the first time Fernbank Museum has offered a podcast audio tour of the exhibition, which is available for download to a personal MP3 player from Fernbank’s Web site.

Another new addition to Fernbank’s offerings, the exhibition features two character guides designed by Fernbank educators, which represent children from ancient Rome and help young visitors explore how their lives would have been if they lived during the time of Imperial Rome. Also for “little emperors” is Education Alley, which features interactive learning components such as authentic Roman games and costumes for children, as well as books, videos and other activities.

And only a few weeks remain to explore even more of the ancient world by pairing a trip through Imperial Rome with Greece: Secrets of the Past, now showing in the IMAX® Theatre through January 19, 2007. Greece is both a modern detective story and a sweeping journey to the past, featuring incredible scenes that restore the Parthenon to its original glory and enable audiences to experience the volcanic eruption that buried Santorini in 1646 BC.

Although Imperial Rome debuted at Fernbank Museum of Natural History, it will next travel to the Houston Museum of Natural Science (February 23 - August 12, 2007) and then to The Muzeo in Anaheim, California, in October 2007, where it will be the first exhibition shown at the new facility.

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Imperial Rome was organized by Contemporanea Progetti, Florence, Italy; in collaboration with Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta. The exhibition is sponsored by The Raymond M. Cash Foundation, BellSouth, The Rich Foundation, Delta Air Lines, The Atlantan, AGL Resources, and Primerica through Citigroup Foundation.