Rome & Empire with Darius Arya Digs

Darius sits down at a local cafe in Rome with Daisy de Plume, creator of "That Muse" (THATmuse.com "treasure hunt at the museum") an innovative company that engages visitors in Paris (d'Orsay, Louvre, streets of Paris), London (British Museum, Victoria and Albert, and more), with an eye on Rome, where she once studied art history. Darius and Daisy discuss the common features that may hinder a magical experience at the museum with the family. Her unique solution, creating fun, rivalry, competition and exploration, has been a hit for families, friends, and corporate gatherings. all in the name of learning about the past is exactly what Darius wants to see more of in Rome, away from the most crowded, overloaded sites and distinct from the mass-tourism experience that so many are bogged down with. Can Darius and Daisy find some unique Roman solutions as they gaze down into the cat sanctuary at Largo Argentina? A casual conversation from an archaeologist and a museum expert that may lead to some future collaboration in Rome.

Join Darius with his friend, tour guide and all-around Rome expert Ettore Bellardini in the Roman Forum for a walk around the Temple of Saturn, on the occasion of the end of year celebration from December 17-23. For an intimate look at Roman religion, archaeology, art, and history. At the end of December, walk with them as they recall the events surrounding the very popular cult and year-end festivities that eventually gave way to the Christmas holidays (that freely borrowed the merrymaking- eating, drinking wine, and gift exchange from the Saturnalia). There are so many ways we now reflect and recall the events of the past year and celebrate the good and bad. Join Darius and Ettore as they help usher out the pre vious year and look forward to an amazing 2019! The new year has just begun and we're already in situ throughout Rome, ancient and contemporary.

Darius kicks off his new podcast with a walk through his dynamic, historic neighborhood, in the heart of Rome. From the moment he walks down his apartment steps, through the courtyard gate, dropping off the trash, and clicking the front door of his building open, he introduces you intimately to his city: Travel to Campo de' Fiori, Piazza Farnese, Largo Argentina. And he takes you into local shops and markets, for vegetables at the banco stand in Campo, the butcher shop, his scooter mechanic, and some bread at Roscioli's, all the time indicating the historic sites of ancient Rome, like the outlines of the late Republican Theater of Pompey and adjacent porticoes, over 2000 years old. He concludes at the site of Julius Caesar's assassination in the Curia (senate house) that Pompey had built. It's now mostly underneath Darius' local bus stop! Welcome to his Rome, as the first stop of many in situ!

Introducing Travel: In Situ with Darius Arya. This is a podcast hosted by archaeologist Darius Arya. Each episode finds Arya on location discovering and uncovering elements of the past - from the back streets of Rome to the bazaar of Cairo, from the Agora of Athens to the Medina of Tunis, and from the Vatican Museums to the Roman emperor Diocletian's palace of Split. He's as comfortable selecting fruit in Campo de' Fiori and zipping through traffic on his scooter in Rome as he is lecturing on site, crawling under ruins, and excavating and preserving the past. Find him each Monday exploring sites and museums, with a whole range of colleagues and friends offering new insights on art, culture, architecture, and just plain living the dolce vita in historic cities. He'll get you to dig history in a whole new way! Be sure to subscribe! And please support Travel: in situ at Patreon.com/dariusarya.