Mosaici dal fronte: notizie sugli scavi italiani in Tripolitania nella corrispondenza di Roberto Paribeni (1912-1922)

Since the beginning of his career, the archaeologist and historian Roberto Paribeni (1876- 1956) was directly involved in archaeological missions in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea; even when the direction of the Museo delle Terme kept him more engaged in Rome, he did not fail to follow and support with great participation the archaeological activities of his colleagues abroad. The correspondence he kept with the most important archaeologists and art historians of the time, constitutes an important source for learning in greater detail and firsthand information, scientific objectives, and ideological aims underlying the Italian archaeological missions in the territories that in the early decades of the twentieth century were the subject of very specific political and military interests. In this paper, we will concentrate on the discoveries of mosaic pavements made at Ain Zara (1911) and Zliten (1913): for both archaeological sites the letters kept in the Paribeni Archive – sent by officials involved in these discoveries, like the general Gustavo Fara, or by archaeologists in charge of the excavations, like, for example, Lucio Mariani and Ettore Ghislanzoni– testify the moment of the discoveries of mosaics; they also offer precious and unknown information about the execution techniques, the state of conservation and the programmed interventions for the detachment and the restoration of the pavements that came to light.