Have you ever walked through the mezzanine of the Goldfarb Library and wondered what that giant display in the center is? That huge item is a model of the Roman Forum, and it was given as a gift to the students in 1993 to stand as a treasure unique to Brandeis.
The Roman Forum was the cultural, political, commercial and religious center of Rome. The model is extremely detailed and a scaled representation of the Forum, the heart of ancient Rome.
The model was created by Robert Garbisch. Garbisch was a fireman from Northern California who spent 10 years (1973 to 1983) making this model. Garbisch became connected with the University when he was passing by the ruins of the Roman Forum in Italy when former Brandeis Prof. Jean D'Amato was giving a lecture on the Forum. He insisted that D'Amato come to his garage in California to observe the model he was creating. She eventually agreed and went one summer, and after seeing what he had built, she tried to get Garbisch to bring it to Brandeis so that she could show her students.
The model arrived at Brandeis on March 15, 1983, an event covered even by the Boston Globe and the Waltham News Tribune. The model was at Brandeis on loan for about 10 years until Prof. Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow (CLAS) was able to get Garbisch to officially give it to Brandeis.
She urged Garbisch to give it to the students of Brandeis because she had been using the model for teaching. "It's great to bring my class to the library and turn on the little lights and see it. I wanted to give this gift to [Brandeis students]. I feel like it is easier to connect to it by owning it," said Koloski-Ostrow.
It did not matter if one was a patrician (aristocrat) or a plebeian (commoner); all were welcome in the Forum. It was a common space for political speeches, a site for shops, temples and buildings, such as the Senate house.
"The Roman Forum is the Times Square and the Washington Mall combined," said Prof. Charles McClendon (FA). McClendon also said it is likely that Garbisch set the time of the model of the Forum around 160 CE because this time period is considered to be the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. This was during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, who were co-emperors from 161 CE until Verus' death in 169, when Aurelius continued to rule until 180. This is known because the model contains two figures representing Aurelius and Lucius Verus. As described by Koloski-Ostrow they are "the two men riding on horseback down the Sacred Way on their way to the Capitoline Hill."
Aurelius and Verus are but two of the figures out of 700 that are scattered throughout the model. All of them were hand painted and dressed, and they are each placed to bring the Roman Forum to life. The attention Garbisch gave to the historical detail is seen as he includes one teenage boy carving graffiti on a column while another boy is looking out for guards, and there is actual graffiti on that column in the actual Roman Forum.
Others figures include teenage lovers holding hands, slaves carrying a wealthy Roman, a Vestal Virgin waving at a Roman soldier (which would have been unacceptable), and Garbisch himself on the top of the Capitoline steps in a green toga looking at his model. In addition to the figures, there are 400 marble statues on the buildings, all made of papier mache, and tiny ceiling lights that turn on and show activity behind the windows of some of the buildings.
Garbisch chose to construct parts of the forum out of common household items, such as uncooked spaghetti for the roofs of some buildings, chicken wire for the windows and spools of thread for the columns. it is believed that Garbisch used these items because they were more economical for him and still satisfied his vision for the model.
Koloski-Ostrow has been very involved with this model since she arrived at Brandeis in the fall of 1985. She said in an interview with the Justice, "as a Classics professor, I found it as such an accurate presentation of the heart beat of the Roman city. Look how history can come alive!"
According to Koloski-Ostrow, it is the only model in the world that depicts what the Roman Forum looked like during the reign of Marcus Aurelius with such a high level of detail and accuracy.
Students themselves were also impressed by the presentation that Koloski-Ostrow and McClendon gave on it on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Describing the model, Classical Studies major Matthew Chernick '16 said that, "It was a very informative presentation. I knew [the model] was there but I didn't realize how unique it was."