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!
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