©IOC

Amedeo Maiuri, well known for his studies on the Roman site of Pompeii, was inspired by representations of torches seen on ancient monuments (reliefs, paintings) or on ceramics to develop his project. Furthermore, it was not the only link to the ancient world forged by the Rome Olympic Games. Indeed, the Torch Relay highlighted the two poles of classical Mediterranean civilisation: Athens and Rome. Besides this, this Relay travelled through a number of sometimes little known archaeological sites in Greece and Italy (Corinth, Megara, Eleusina, Crotone, Metaponto, Tarento, etc.) thus recalling the glorious past of these two countries.