Back in February, we fell in love with the Rome Reborn project that aptly showcased ancient Rome in its architectural peak in 320 AD. Well this time around, we are witness another gorgeous rendering of the ‘eternal city’ at its height in early 4th century (and it is touted as the most detailed model of the ancient metropolis). Boasting some impressive in-video lighting features, the breathtaking animation focuses on the monumental scale that was flaunted by Rome during its apical architectural stage. And furthermore according to one of the animators of this video, Danila Loginov – this sweet visual excerpt is just a promo, with the entire scope (which took years to animate) to be inducted into a game engine that would be accessible to the interested people.

 
Now as for the significance of early 4th century in Rome’s (the city) history, the period mirrored wide-ranging political and religious upheavals in the capital. In many ways, this short epoch reflected the change from classical avenues to ‘Christianized’ scopes, especially with the rise of Constantine. And almost in an ironic manner, such changes brought about the last spurt of architectural achievements in ancient Rome itself – and these ‘church’ structures were complemented by the earlier incredible specimens built by the ‘pagan’ Romans. Simply put, most of what we know about ancient Rome in our modern age comes from this period, along with the glorious preceding years before the rise of Constantine.

Unfortunately, by 410 AD, Rome unceremoniously lost its status as the administrative center of the western Roman realm, while Constantinople (now Istanbul) had already overtaken the ‘eternal city’ in terms of growth and influence in late 4th century. Interestingly, by virtue of its new found status as the wealthiest city in Europe, Constantinople was also called Nova Roma (Νέα Ῥώμη or ‘New Rome’), thus attesting to the power and prestige of original Rome in its imperial heyday.

Video Source: Danila Loginov’s YouTube Channel