Mick Jagger Gets Antiquities Protection for Old Stones in Rome
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When the Rolling Stones announced in March they’d be playing a concert in Rome’s ancient chariot stadium, tickets sold out within hours. Just as quickly, archaeologists expressed alarm at the possibility that tens of thousands of fans flocking to the Circus Maximus would finish off what the sacks of Rome hadn’t.
The oval-shaped park is flanked on one side by the Palatine Hill, whose fragile, red-brick ruins make perfect viewing perches for freeloaders. A fenced-off excavation site occupies the back of the venue itself -- opposite the stage that’s been erected for the June 22 concert by the legendary rock group led by 70-year-old Mick Jagger.