Giuseppe Tomassetti. - Medieval historian of Rome, born in Rome on 4 April 1848 and died there on 21 January 1911. After completing his classical studies at the Collegio Romano and earning a law degree at the University of Rome, he began his historical research under the guidance of G. B. De Rossi, L. F. Bruzza, C. L. Visconti, and G. Henzen.
He was entrusted with reorganizing the archives of several patrician families, including those of the Orsini and Colonna, thereby deepening his expertise in palaeography and diplomatics. He extended his research to the State Archives and those of the Roman Chapters and Confraternities. A high school teacher, he later obtained the libera docenza in the history of Rome and the Middle Ages at the University of Rome. In 1873, he published the monograph *L’influenza degli Italiani sui loro conquistatori*, notable for the original judgments it expressed. This was followed by studies such as *Il progresso delle colonie europee*, *La pace di Roma dell’anno 1888*, *Documenti feudali della provincia di Roma*, *Antichità della Sabina e della Campagna*, and *Tavole per uso della scuola di epigrafia latina*.
Tomassetti’s major work, the culmination and fruit of thirty years of labour, is his history of the Roman countryside, begun in 1892 with the illustration of the Via Nomentana and Via Salaria in the volumes of the *Archivio della Società di storia patria*; he then proceeded to the Via Appia, Via Latina, Via Aurelia, and Via Casilina. Tomassetti had revived the design of A. Nibby (v.), adopting the more rational system of traversing the consular roads. The work was conducted with a stricter critical method and a greater abundance of information compared to previous works of its kind, under the title *La campagna romana antica, medioevale e moderna*. He was able to complete the first volume (General Introduction) and the second (Via Appia, Via Ardeatina, Via Aurelia), published in 1910. His death prevented him from bringing the project to completion. His son, Dr. Francesco, continued the work, publishing the third volume (Via Cassia, Via Clodia, Via Flaminia, Via Tiberina, Via Labicana, and Via Prenestina) in 1913; a fourth volume (Via Latina) was published in 1926.
A distinctive feature of G. Tomassetti’s work is the connection he draws between antiquity and the Middle Ages; moreover, what he describes was seen by him during continuous excursions in the Roman countryside. Tomassetti was one of the most ardent founders of the Società Romana di Storia Patria, secretary of the Accademia di S. Luca, and a member of the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology and the German Archaeological Institute. Of fertile versatility, sound wit, and prodigious memory, he was a remarkable teacher, especially for his ability to bring to life with his words the men and things of the past. His steadfast religious faith sustained him throughout his life amid the vicissitudes of satisfaction and adversity.