Engineering the Eternal City: Infrastructure, Topography, and the Culture of Knowledge in Late Sixteenth-Century Rome by Pamela O. Long provides a view into the construction projects of Rome during the mid to late 16th century, which represents a significant period of Roman reconstruction and improvement after many devastating floods. In addition, the sections of this book present the contested nature of Roman politics, specifically about the construction, especially as new Popes redefine the necessities for Rome. Pamela O. Long is an independent historian who focuses on the history of science and technology; she specifically focuses on the interactions between scholars during the early modern period. In the past, Dr. O. Long has published numerous books that deal with the interactions between science, technology, and culture within late medieval and early modern societies. Engineering the Eternal City fits well with O. Long’s previous work as it looks at the interaction between the construction projects during the late 16th century as well as interactions between the self-described engineers, Capitoline Council, and the papacy to create large-scale construction projects.
This book focuses on a relatively narrow period of about 30 years to shed light on the inner workings of construction projects during this period, as well as show the contentious nature of construction and describe how far from modern construction during this period was. Within this period, O. Long shows how the changes in the papacy caused the rise and fall of different building projects; she also shows how patronage was as important as previous work for obtaining a contract. The numerous examples of attempts to improve Rome each individually show how it was not the strength of the proposing architect that determined the success of the project, but instead, it was the financial and political support from two governing bodies within Rome that decided both the architect and if a construction project would happen. This idea is used to show how construction within Rome in the late 16th century was as much a cultural process as a process of technological improvement to revitalize the Eternal City. To make this argument, O. Long presents multiple examples of successful and failed projects and the culture surrounding architecture during this period in Rome. These examples can be separated into four main sections, the failures to prevent floods and sanitation, contests over aqueduct and road building, the culture surrounding architecture in Rome, and the remaking of Roman roads and obelisks.
She begins the book with examples of the failure of a project to solve the Tiber River flooding issue and continued failures at attempting to improve the perceived sanitation of the city. These two examples show that during this period, there was no system in place for projects that were widely seen as in the public good to be undertaken. Although there were numerous writings on flooding, “a solution to Tiber River flooding was not found in the sixteenth century” (p. 41), but the common discourse on flooding by the Roman elite helped move engineering into “learned culture.” (p. 41) Sanitation within Rome suffered from significant issues for urban construction during this period; first, sanitation suffered from a lack of continued funding sources, and second, the continued evidence of new sanitation efforts into the eighteenth century shows the failures of these efforts. Together these projects describe a distinctly pre-modern attempt at improving a city, but they do show the growing cultural significance of architecture in scholarly Rome.
The following chapters of Engineering the Eternal City show a more successful view of Roman construction. Still, the process by which the architect was selected for these projects represents a lack of modern professionalism within construction. Chapters three and four present both successes and failures in construction, but their true value is presenting how a designer was contracted. In the reconstruction of the Acqua Vergine, O. Long shows how the pope’s selection decided the person who would design the aqueduct. However, the primary sources used were unclear regarding how this architect was selected. Overall, these two chapters show how all major project members “were chosen in a process that was sometimes conflicted and often influenced by patronage considerations” (p. 112) and not based on the plan of the hired person.
The only place the book falters is in chapters 5 and 6, where O. Long shows the connection between printing, antiquarianism, and architecture within Rome. In these chapters, the book moves from describing architectural projects to detailing how architectural printing is an important part of Roman culture. These chapters use the example images of the city and the creation of maps of Rome to show the link between architecture, both past and present, to the culture of Rome. Although these chapters provide a clear connection between engineering and culture, they felt out of place when placed between chapters on creating major infrastructure projects and a detailed account of reforming the roads within the Eternal City. This is because these chapters did not detail the architecture but the perception of the architecture. This created a feeling that these chapters had a change in topic from the others, although they helped support the argument that building became part of Roman culture.
In the last two chapters, O. Long focuses on the reconstruction of roads and the importance of obelisks in rebuilding Rome. These chapters present the failure of the pope’s influence because although the pope wishes to clean the streets thoroughly, he cannot achieve his goals and must settle for a less extensive recreation of Rome. But these chapters present the full influence that reconstruction had since the movement of obelisks was a point of pride for Pope Paul III and became one of the most impressive engineering feats. Together these two chapters show the contentious nature of the politics of construction and the perceived benefits of these projects.
As a whole, Engineering the Eternal City provides a nuanced account of the factional nature of construction during the late 16th century in Rome. It supports the main argument that when looked at closely, the construction projects within Rome do not yet resemble modern architectural projects, while these projects do engrain within Rome a culture of construction. Because of its quality and level of detail, Engineering the Eternal City is a book well-suited for historians, but because of its technicality, it may be a challenge for a more popular audience.
