Today we took some steps forward and went back in time. We woke up and took the subway to the Colosseum metro stop to meet up with a walking tour of Ancient Rome.
Our tour guide, Sarah (like you, Mom!) was an Italian archaeologist who has done some work in the Forum. We walked to the roman Forum to begin our tour but it was closed due to a strike until 11am so Sarah made a half time adjustment and started us with the Colosseum. Apparently, strikes in Italy are fairly routine but they are never devastating, just a few hours at a time.
So we walked a little ways to get to the Colosseum (just what we needed, more walking). After a brief introduction, we went inside. Now, it should be said that Matty is a HUGE Ancient Rome fan and loves to learn more and more about their advanced society, as well as their amazing engineering skills. Needless to say, he was very excited for the day. Matty even talked about movies like Gladiator, Spartacus, and Ben Hur several times. If you haven't seen them, make it happen.
We entered the building (it is not much smaller than an American NFL stadium of today, it is that big). We went right up to the middle level so that we could look out at the structure. When we came through the portico to see the stadium it was incredible. All of the TV footage we had seen did not prepare us for the sight. Our minds wandered back to the time to try to recreate how it must have felt to sit in the stands, hear the roar of the crowd and feel the excitement.Sarah had a book that showed re-creations of the ruins to show us what it looked like back in the day. It was all marble and even had a "retractable roof" that a group of sailors would collapse or expand depending on the weather conditions that day.
After the fall of Rome, the Christians looted the building for its marble to build their churches and that is why we see only the base structure today. Quite unfortunate.
After walking around the Colosseum for several minutes and hearing Sarah's magnificent stories about the shows that took place, we left and headed for Palatine Hill, the Palace of the Emperor. Of course it was on a hill (why didn't the Romans install any escalators???) which overlooked the Colosseum and the Forum.
The palace was astoundingly large. We walked through ruins of large rooms and halls, as well as a
VERY large play area for the kids, probably about 2 acres. Sarah painted pictures in our minds of what it may have looked like with marble, statues, and fountains everywhere. From a particularly advantageous location, we looked down into the Forum, which was much bigger than we expected. It was a great view and we can see why the emperor built the palace above the Times Square of ancient Rome.We descended down to the Forum floor to walk the main street where greats like Julius Caesar and Cicero walked. We saw arches that were tributes to victories abroad. When the army would return home from battle, they would march triumphantly into Rome up the main street through the arches (3 of them) as the crowd and Senate cheered.
We passed a Roman temple that still had all of its columns standing because a Christian church was built inside of it (see picture). The picture does not show how large it really is. Quite impressive.Sarah showed us where the Senate used to hold their meetings and their votes as they decided the course of action to take for the dominant civilization of their time. Their decisions that were made in the building we saw effected most of the known world.
After a few more words about ancient Rome, our tour was over and we bid arrivaderci to Sarah.
From the Forum, we climbed up several steps to the street level. Ancient Rome is several feet below the current street level because of the 1,500 years of earth settling.
We took a short walk to another ancient Rome building, the Pantheon. This building is known to be the most preserved ancient Roman building around because the Christians left it alone since they turned it into a church for their worship. The Pantheon is most notable for being a dome - something that no one else figured out how to do until Brunelleschi did it for the Duomo in Florence (see our previous post below). It has a hole in the center and there are many theories why but nobody truly knows the exact reason. What is truly amazing is that the floor is still the original floor so we walked on the marble of the Romans. Very cool.By this time we were very tired and we decided to head back to the hotel to relax. After a nap, we headed to the Bosco hotel, one of Rome's nicest hotels, for our massage! Although Matty was a little nervous as it was his first professional massage ever, he ended up loving it. Savannah really enjoyed hers as well. After days of walking and climbing steps, it was soooo relaxing to have our massage. Sensational. We think Matty will be doing this again.
Tonight is our last night in Rome and tomorrow we head for Milan. Look for our post from Milan tomorrow.
2 comments:
Isn't it amazing to walk through ancient Rome, and to be just a few steps from the Rome of the middle ages and modern Rome!?
The photos are truly amazing, and really add a lot to your stories. Thanks for taking the time to share your awesome adventures with us.
Love,
Mom :)
Hey guys! We just had a great idea, although we may be just a little late. If you think of it, and if it's not too difficult, you should leave something in Rome for us for when we visit in a month. Sounds kind of crazy, but you could find a little corner of the city somewhere, and leave us a note under a rock or something. It would be kind of fun, like our own little scavenger hunt when we get there. Just let us know what to look for once we get there. We're only spending one night in Rome, but it could keep us occupied. Anyway, it's great that you guys are having a great time. We're so excited to follow in your footsteps. Enjoy the rest of the trip!
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