Tourists Stripping Ancient Rome Bare

Rome’s ancient monuments are so poorly guarded that tourists are taking away mementos of their visit to the Eternal City with impunity.

Archaeologists said last week that Trajan’s Forum, in the heart of the city’s classical ruins, had been stripped of all the fragments of statues and shards of amphorae that adorned the site until recently.

To highlight the problem, a reporter from Il Messaggero newspaper carried away large boxes full of ancient artifacts during the daytime without being challenged.

The newspaper blamed the 20 million tourists who pass through the city each year for the looting. “Who knows how many of these small fragments now adorn living rooms all over the world?” it said.

The forum was built in AD 112, followed by Trajan’s Column in the following year. The whole area is currently undergoing reconstruction, including the insertion of a raised walkway for tourists.