On March 29, 1944 the German occupying forces in Rome killed 335 civilians, Italian soldiers, political prisoners, Jews and ordinary detainees in retaliation for the partisan attack on Via Rasella. The action of the German army took place in old pozzolana quarries near Via Ardeatina, chosen as the place for the execution and for hiding the bodies of those killed.

Because of its brutality, the high number of victims and the tragic circumstances that led to its perpetration, the event is remembered as the massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine. 

Sapienza University stands by the memory of the victims of the Fosse Ardeatine, on a day that has become a symbol of the defence of democratic constitutional values.