Rome, Day IV Part 1

The fourth day of our holiday was a blend of ancient and, well, just old.  But we did so much, I have ot split this day up into two posts!  During the day we visited some ancient Roman baths, the Christian catacombs, a Roman highway, and the basilica of St. John Lateran.  In the evening, we crossed the Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo off of our itinerary.

Circus Maximus
On our way to the Baths of Caracalla we passed by the Roman chariot race course, the Circus Maximus.  This ancient arena held around 150,000 people--three times as much as the Colosseum.  Most people know of the Circus (which means "circle") from the famous chariot race in the film Ben Hur.  There's not much to see nowadays, except a nice view of the Augustan palace on the Palatine.

Baths of Caracalla
These Roman baths are very well-preserved.  Even many of the floor mosaics are still there.  Roman baths were kind of like ancient shopping malls, in a sense.  People congregated there to hang out and swim, but there were also libraries, barber shops, and markets.  It was your one-stop social milieu.

The Appian Way

Still the longest stretch of straight road in Europe, the Appian Way was a Roman highway and military road that runs for 39 miles.  It was lined with monuments and tombs of wealthy Romans, and was the site of the crucifixion of Spartacus and his slave army.  Remains of the old Roman paving can still be seen.

The Circus of Maxentius

Inside the tomb of Caecilia Metella, wife and daughter to some very powerful Romans.  This tomb was also used as a fortress and gate to control the road.

Original Roman paving stones.

The gate into the city.

The Catacombs of San Sebastiano

Unfortunately, pictures are not permitted inside the catacombs, so I'll just have to describe it.  The catacombs were excavated by Christians in the first four centuries as a place to bury their dead.  Roman law prohibited burials inside the city walls, and pagans usually practiced cremation anyway, so the Christians, usually part of the lower classes, dug vast labyrinths of tunnels in which to lay their dead to rest.  The catacombs stretch on for miles, narrow, dark tunnels with alcoves dug into the sides for tombs.  These tombs will usually be marked with ancient Christian symbols, such as the icthus, a dove, or an anchor, making them easily identifiable.  The martyr Saint Sebastian was buried inside this particular set of catacombs, and a church dedicated to him sits on top of them.  The other notable part of this site was a small room with walls covered in ancient writing--graffiti to Peter and Paul.  Our tour guide told us that during persecutions, Christians were forbidden to celebrate their festivals.  As such, on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, Christians would meet here, in the catacombs, to celebrate.

Next time: St. John Lateran, the Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo!

 

Rome, Day III---Ancient Rome

Visiting the ruins of ancient Rome was the thing to which I was most looking forward.  Mandi, on the other hand, not being as acquainted with ancient history, got a little bored with all the piles of old rocks.  Our day in the ruins began with a walk past Trajan's Column and Market, situated right beside some small fora (forums) built by Julius Caesar and Augustus, but then we headed over to the granddaddy of all ancient ruins, the Colosseum.  It's actually in a pretty bad state of preservation, with only a (comparatively) small section of the outermost wall still present.  The floor has been removed to display the underground rooms and cages in which the gladiators and wild animals waited to fight for the tens of thousands of people the ancient arena held.

A slight correction to the video: there is actually no record of Christians dying in THIS arena, though it may still have happened.  The Colosseum was in active use for something like 300 years, and even after the games ended, it remained a major landmark in Rome all the way up until, well, now.  

The Arch of Constantine is right next to the Colosseum.  Constantine, you'll remember, was the emperor who legalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.

Next we walked through the Palatine Hill, which was a popular residential area for the wealthy, including emperors.  The Palatine has been inhabited since 1000 BC, and the legends say that this was where the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were nursed by the she-wolf.  Several emperors built palaces here, and the word "palace" actually derives from "Palatine."  I got extremely irritated by this place, because none of the maps seemed to bear any resemblance to where we were, so we just kind of wandered around with no idea what we were seeing for the most part.  

Reconstruction of the reliefs on the Cryptoporticus, a long underground passage built by the emperor Nero.

The stadium of the emperor's palace.

The Forum lies right next to the Palatine Hill, and is overflowing with ancient Roman ruins, monuments, and temples.  This was the center of life for the people of the city--here were the markets, the triumphal processions, the government buildings, the major temples.  Most of these are today little more than a few bricks, but there are still some significant structures around.

The Arch of Titus, built to commemorate the defeat of the Jewish revolt and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

Here you can see a menorah and other items being carried away from the Temple as spoils of war.

The courtyard of the House of the Vestal Virgins.  The Vestals were a very important group of priestesses. 

This Vestal Virgin's inscription has been erased as an act of shame.  This statue thus may represent a certain Vestal Virgin who converted to Christianity and abandoned the cult.

Ruins of the temple of Saturn.

Arch of Septimius Severus.

From the Forum we walked up a short path to the Mamertime Prison, which was said to have housed Peter and Paul as they waited for martyrdom.  According to the legend, the apostles converted their jailor, and a spring miraculously welled up within the prison to allow them to baptize him.  The place is tiny, and the multimedia presentation that goes along with it was...interesting.

We moved away from ancient Rome in the evening, heading across the Tiber to a neighborhood called Trastevere.  This place was full of gorgeous narrow streets and lanes, and is a very, very good place to find something to eat.  Unfortunately, the camera stayed home for this excursion, so you'll have to trust us: Trastevere is awesome.  

Next time: Roman baths, Catacombs, and the pre-Vatican heart of Christianity!

Rome, Day II

Day two of our Roman holiday was spent almost entirely in Vatican City, a small independent nation contained within the city of Rome.  Thanks to our special OMNIA passes, we didn't have to wait in the legendarily long lines, but everything was still really crowded.  REALLY crowded.  We took the tourbus across the Tiber River to our first stop, St. Peter's Square.

 

There are hundreds of statues of saints surrounding the enormous central area and the huge obelisk.  St. Peter's Basilica, built over the old Circus of Nero and probably over the site where Peter is buried (if the ancient graffiti on the tomb is correct) is the site of pilgrimage for countless Catholics.  The Pope gives audience here every week, but we missed him.  Pictures don't do justice at all to how opulent and grand in scale St. Peter's is--but you can get an impression.  

The papal altar

The dome of St. Peters

 

Peter's chair

 Heading out of St. Peter's, we stopped to make a short video about our time so far.

From there it was a bit of a walk around the walls to the Vatican Museums, a truly massive collection of artwork and cultural items, including ancient sculptures, mummies, Babylonian inscriptions, early Christian artwork, painted rooms by Raphael, and of course, the Sistine Chapel.  We felt like sardines in a can here.  The exhibit we most wanted to see--the early Christian gallery--was mysteriously closed, but we made do.  

In front of my namesake, Caesar Augustus

The School of Athens!

Sistine Chapel

Overall, a fun and exhausting day.  Next time: ANCIENT ROME!!

Heading out of St. Peter's

Rome, Day I

Mandi and I got back from the Eternal City on Sunday, having stayed for a week and thoroughly exhausting ourselves.  There was so much to do in Rome that we felt like breaking the vacation down day by day would give our friends and families a better (and more manageable) way of keeping up with our adventures.  That being said, the first two days of our trip were rainy, and thus perhaps not as exciting as the subsequent days!  Hang in there!

Rome, Day One

We arrived at our bed and breakfast on the Via Nazionale after several hiccups in travel and a ride on a rather shaky-looking old elevator.  Since the weather was not cooperating today, we decided to make a large loop around the area of our B&B, taking in the significant sights in the immediate vicinity and saving the good stuff for the sunshine.

We visited the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, which houses Michelangelo's famous horned Moses statue and the alleged chains of St. Peter's imprisonment.  The church itself was not so elaborate as some others we would visit, but it was a good start.

 

After that, we headed to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the cathedrals of Rome.  This church was supposed to have been built on the site of a miracle, in which the founder was told by Mary to build a church on the site where he found snow.  He found a patch of snow here, and it being the middle of August he accepted the miracle and started building the church.  The miracle is commemorated every year when a snowfall of white flower petals covers the interior of the church.

 

From there we walked to the Quattro Fontane, the four fountains.  Each of the fountains represents a different deity or virtue, and is situated at the four corners of a crossroads.   

 

We then trekked to the world-famous Trevi Fountain.  It's said that if you throw a coin into it, your return to Rome is guaranteed.  This was one of Mandi's favorite parts of Rome, and for good reason.  It was really something to behold.

 

Our last stop for the day was the Quirinal Palace.  It was originally constructed by a pope concerned to improve his health by building a house outside the main area of the city where the air was cleaner.  The palace eventually moved into the hands of the kings of Italy and finally became the President's house.  An obelisk from the tomb of Caesar Augustus sits next to two gigantic statues of the twin gods Castor and Pollux right outside the palace.