GUCCI WILL SPONSOR RESTORATION OF ROMAN CLIFF

Fashion house Gucci to sponsor restoration of Roman cliff from which traitors were flung to their deaths Even by the bloody standards of the ancient Romans, it was a particularly grisly way to die. The Tarpeian Rock is a precipitous cliff in the heart of Rome from where, during Roman times, traitors, perjurors and larcenous slaves were hurled to their deaths.

Now, in an unlikely marriage between the worlds of high fashion and ancient history, the cliff, which still exists, is to be restored with the help of the Florentine fashion brand Gucci.

Paths around the cliff will be cleared and a new lighting system installed in what is being described as a “restyling” of the area. Gucci has not divulged how much it will contribute, but the project will take a year and a half to complete. “According to history, up to the first century AD traitors were sentenced to death from the cliff to the underlying Roman Forum, symbolically expelled from the city.

“Today the cliff, made mainly of tufa, a porous rock, carved and dug over the centuries, is a unique natural space,” the fashion house said. The restoration is just the latest example of wealthy Italian fashion brands coming to the rescue of Rome’s crumbling cultural heritage.

The sweeping stone staircase, built between 1723 and 1726, has featured in many films, most notably Roman Holiday, the 1953 romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Work on the area, where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by senators on the Ides of March in 44BC, will be completed towards the end of 2022, according to Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome.

Bulgari will reportedly contribute around €800,000 to the site, which is home to a large population of feral cats and a cat sanctuary.