Magna mater. Tra Roma e Zama (Magna Mater. Between Rome and Zama)

The Colosseum Archaeological Park hosts the exhibition Magna Mater. Between Rome and Zama, an international exhibition project that unites and links together archaeology, myth and cultural cooperation between the countries of Italy and Tunisia.

The theme of the exhibition is the figure of the Magna Mater – the Great Mother – an ancient ancestral divinity known by various names - Kubaba, Cybele, Kybele, Meter Theon - and venerated for over a millennium in Anatolia, Greece, Rome and throughout the Mediterranean area in general. The exhibition highlights its origins and transformations, from the Phrygian cult of its origins to its official adoption in Rome in 204 BC, when – according to the response of the Sibylline Books – its aniconic image was transferred from Pessinus to the Palatine, becoming a symbol of salvation and perennial rebirth for the Urbs.

The exhibition is divided into six locations within the Park, offering an itinerary through the history and spread of the cult of the Magna Mater. Particularly interesting is the section set up in the Temple of Romulus, which presents to the public for the first time the works from the excavations of Zama Regia: these are archaeological evidence of extraordinary value relating to the presence of the cult of the Magna Mater in Roman North Africa. Inside the Curia Iulia, on the other hand, it broadens the perspective to the provinces of the Empire, such as Egypt, Gaul, Thrace and Britain, with a reflection on the spread and transformation of the cult in the late ancient period.

On the Palatine, at the Farnesian Aviaries, visitors can explore the goddess’s oriental roots and their transmission in the Greek and Hellenistic world, with a particular focus on the mysterious nature of the cult. In the Temple of the Magna Mater, moreover, there is a section dedicated to the introduction of the cult in Rome during the Second Punic War, which highlights the political and historical implications of the event. At the Ninfeo della Pioggia (Nymphaeum of Rain), one can admire an installation that reproduces the sounds, gestures and symbols of Roman rituals linked to the cult, which is very emotionally engaging. Finally, at the Museum of the Roman Forum, the exhibition ends with a selection of works of art that illustrate the iconographic, literary and philosophical fortune of the goddess between the Renaissance and the seventeenth century.

Promoted by the Colosseum Archaeological Park in collaboration with the Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisien, the exhibition is curated by Alfonsina Russo, Tarek Baccouche, Roberta Alteri, Alessio De Cristofaro and Sondès Douggui-Roux with Patrizio Pensabene, Aura Picchione and Angelica Pujia.

Photo: official poster of the exhibition