Under Mussolini, Rome's Metro Line B was built a few metres from the Colosseum

In the 1940s the Rome Metro was laid in close proximity to historic monuments. Line B passes a few metres from the Colosseum. Did anyone worry about possible damage to the ancient buildings? Mussolini, at any rate, was untroubled: he proclaimed a policy of the most direct route, that is, of laying lines regardless of whatever objects happened to stand in the way. So all that remains is to thank the nameless designers who did not let the branch run straight beneath the Flavian Amphitheatre.

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Under Mussolini, Rome's Metro Line B was built a few metres from the Colosseum

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s