ABSTRACT
The Romans of the early modern period did not consider the Forum solely as a find-site of free and magnificent building materials. Karmon argues that Lanciani's motives for these accusations stem from his desire to distract from the destructive archaeological practices in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Rome. The use of the churches in the Forum, however, kept the site an active area in the life of the Church and for Roman Christians and pilgrims. The earliest renovations of this period occurred in the church of S. Adriano, a diaconia founded during the pontificate of Honorius I in the former seat of the Roman Senate. The final papal patron of the Forum church renovations, Paul V Borghese, commissioned the 160815 campaign at S. Maria Nova on the platform of the Temple of Venus and Rome. Various urban and architectural projects throughout the city, typically commissioned by the popes and other ecclesiastical patrons, attempted to revitalize the city of Rome.
