The Caetani: honor and science at the end of the Eighteenth Century

CYCLE: Nobles in Rome
SPEAKER: Marina Formica
DATE: Thursday, April 23, 6:00 PM

The lecture will illustrate the historical, cultural, and scientific events that characterized one of Rome's most prestigious families of feudal origin at the end of the 18th century: the Caetani. It was thanks to the Duke of Sermoneta that the capital of the Papal States was able to play a leading role in the debates on "new science" sweeping through European Enlightenment circles. The Specola Caetani on Via delle Botteghe Oscure became a hub for both Romans and foreign travelers on the Grand Tour. Only a few years later, right within Palazzo Caetani, this very experience would lead to the rebirth of the Accademia dei Lincei.
 

Marina Formica is a Full Professor of Modern History at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Formerly the president of the Italian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, she currently coordinates the "Roma 800" Research Center.Her research focuses particularly on the political, social, and institutional aspects of the revolutionary era at the end of the 1700s and the socio-political landscape of the Papal States during the early modern period. She has also explored the formation of European identity between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Italian patriotic movement during the 1796–1799 triennium, and Risorgimento themes.Among her most recent publications are Roma Romae. Una capitale in Età moderna (Laterza, 2019), Roma, città di libertà (secc. XVIII-XIX) (Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani, 2019), and I “Misteri di Roma”. Personaggi e stereotipi della Roma ottocentesca (Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani-LuoghInteriori, 2022). She also co-authored Resilience in Papal Rome, 1656-1870. A City’s Response to Crisis with D. Strangio (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), which has recently been released in Italian as L’Araba fenice. Crisi e resilienza nella Roma pontificia (1656-1870) (Viella, 2025).