Rome Series, Post 3: The Roman Forum

The magnificent Roman Forum lies between the Colosseum, Domitian's Palace, the Vittorio Emanuele II monument, and the via Dei Fori Imperiali. The Forum was the seat of government in the Roman Empire, and the center of public life for the ancient Romans. Celebratory processions, feasts and banquets, and diplomatic meetings were all held within the Forum. There were striking classical temples erected to honor the Roman gods and deified Emperors, and sprawling public buildings. The remaining structures that we can see today are sadly only a small part of the original heart of the Roman Empire, thanks mostly to the Catholic Church and to a lesser but still significant degree, Benito Mussolini. Many of the temples have been reduced to unrecognizable heaps of rubble. The famed Temple of Caesar, where the funeral of Caesar himself took place, is easily missed altogether due to its destruction. All that remains of the Temple of Vesta is a small segment of the circular wall.

The Romans inarguably built their structures to withstand the centuries, as we can see by other architectural wonders such as the Pantheon and the Castel Sant'Angelo. This is what is so infuriating about the current condition of the Roman Forum--without the careless destruction wrought by Mussolini in the name of progress and modernity, and the prolific "borrowing" of building materials by the Catholic Church, there would most definitely be a lot more of the Roman Forum still standing. But enough of the indignant preservation-of-history soapbox.

Due to a combination of circumstances, including two small children who were getting tired--and a surprisingly in-depth crash course on the history of the Roman Forum given by our awesome tour guide (the one from our Palatine Hill tour), we did not enter the Roman Forum. Instead, we enjoyed a panoramic view of the Forum from the botanical gardens atop the Palatine Hill and then saw the ruins up close from the street.

 The massive arches belong to the Basilica of Maxentius. This was the largest building in the Forum, and at the time of its construction, it was the largest structure ever built. To the left is the Temple of Romulus, which was also built by Maxentius to honor his son.

To the left of the Temple of Romulus is the Temple of the Deified Antonius and Faustina. It was dedicated first to the Emperor Antonius Pius's wife upon her death, and then when he died the inscription was changed to acknowledge them both. The building contained within the original pronaos is the San Lorenzo in Miranda Roman Catholic Church, which was built in the early Middle Ages.

A closer view of the Temple of Romulus. The bronze doors are original to the temple, built in 309.

The Temple of Venus and Rome was a massive temple erected by two of the great Emperors of Rome: Hadrian and Antonius Pius. After it was damaged by fire, the Emperor Maxentius oversaw reconstruction. The Temple of Venus and Rome is believed to be the largest temple of ancient Rome. On occasion, the Pope has led public services from the temple.

This area was the Forum of Caesar. At least five Emperors created their own forum areas in addition to the central Roman Forum. The blocky brick building in the background is where the Senate met.

This shot is looking across Caesar's Forum and the Sacred Way, toward the Temple of Vesta and the Palatine Hill.

The modern and ancient clash discordantly, with the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II towering over the Roman Forum. This monument has been the source of much controversy due to its ostentatious appearance and poor choice of placement. The three columns standing are the ruin of the Temple of Venus Genetrix.

Another view of Caesar's Forum and the back of the Curia.

The Temple of Venus Genetrix alongside the Vittorio Emanuele II monument.

The Temple of Venus Genetrix. In the background is the Temple of Antonius and Faustina, and the Curia. The Curia was partially converted to the Basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro.

Though little remains of the Emperor Trajan's forum, his triumphant column is still standing. It is covered in pictographs of his conquest of Dacia (Romania).

Ruins of the Forum of Trajan.

The Roman Forum was an amazing sight to behold, although it evokes an equal amount of anger and awe because of the needless destruction that was inflicted upon this priceless site of world heritage.

While fact-checking for this post, I found a much more thorough guide to the Roman Forum by Rick Archer. You can read about his trip to the Forum here. He has also included wonderful comparisons between photos of the Forum today and digital recreations of what it would have looked like under the Roman Empire.

Rome Series, Post 2: The Palatine Hill

Our next stop on our tour of Rome was the Palatine Hill, located just across the street from the Colosseum. Be warned, the Palatine Hill is not exactly stroller-friendly. There are many uneven steps to climb to reach the top of the hill where most of the ruins can be seen. Our tour guide, as mentioned in the Colosseum post, was in training and doing the tour for free. And he was awesome! Very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of Rome, and he even threw in a little lesson on the Roman Forum at the end of our tour of the Palatine Hill! There was so much information to take in.

Legend states that the Palatine Hill is where the twins Romulus and Remus were found in a cave by the wolf who raised them. Later, Romulus would found the city of Rome atop the hill. In fact, several years ago archaeologists working near the Emperor Augustus' home came across a cave that seems to be the legendary Lupercal! You can read more about the discovery of the Lupercal here.. It is a fascinating read!

The ruins of the stadium, or the Hippodrome, are found in the Palace of Domitian which dates to 81 AD. Most people believe that the stadium was in fact used for foot races, though some historians think it served as an imperial garden made to resemble a stadium. The semi-circular structures seen above might have marked the turns in the track, or they may have been fountains. The stadium was originally completely enclosed by an arcade, but now only ruins of the columns remain. St. Agnes, according to legend, was martyred here within the arcade.

The front of the Domus Augustana, with the Circus Maximus in the foreground. Chariot races were held here. Stadium seating was originally erected between the palace and the track, and the Circus was ringed with brothels.

The palace was divided into two wings, the Domus Augustana and the Domus Flavia. The Domus Augustana was a , and the Flavia was private. Above are ruins of the Domus Flavia.

View of the room called the basilica in the Palace of Domitian. It's unclear whether this room was a true basilica in architectural sense, though the ruins do suggest it. Plutarch does mention a basilica in the Palace of Domitian, so this could be it!

Another closer view of the remaining foundations for the basilica.

Domitian's Palace was known across the ancient world for being unbelievably opulent and built on such a grand scale. These are ruins of a colonnade outside of the basilica and audience chamber.

This is what remains of the Palace of Tiberius (Palace of Caligula) which was built in the first century AD. In the 1500s, a cardinal filled in the ruins of the palace and built instead one of the first botanical gardens in Europe. The gardens are pretty, but we would have rather seen Caligula's palace!

The immense Basilica of Maxentius. Emperor Maxentius began construction on his basilica, which was to be the last of the grand basilicas in the Roman Empire, in 308 AD. He was defeated by Constantine, who later completed the basilica.

More ruins of Domitian's Palace.

The Imperial seating for Domitian's stadium events. These were the box seats from where the Emperor and his family or special guests could watch the foot races in the stadium.

The Arcus Neroeniani, an extension of the Acqua Claudia aqueduct. The Arcus Neroeniani was most likely rebuilt by Nero after the great fire of 64 AD. Nero used concrete, which quickly deteriorated, and both Domitian and Septimius Severus had to construct repairs.

The Palatine Hill is an intriguing place, wonderfully rich in the history of the Roman Empire. Wandering through the ruins really brings the old emperors to life. If you have a hard time picturing what the palaces must have looked like in their heyday, here's an artist's rendition of the Palatine Hill:

www.maquette-historiques.net

Rome Series, Post 1: il Colosseo

In October, we took a vacation to mainland Italy and toured Rome and Florence. We took an astounding 1,129 photos in total, and have yet to fully go through and organize them. Needless to say, there was a lot to see and do, and a ton of history to be learned and re-learned in context. For easier reading and to prevent enormous posts, we've decided to post each major location separately.

And so we begin with The Colosseum, or il Colosseo.

Credits for this photo go solely to Billy, he's very proud of it!

The Colosseum, or the Flavian Amphitheatre, was the largest amphitheatre in the Roman world and remains the largest in the world today. Construction began in 70 AD and was completed in 80 AD, though modifications were made over the next two decades. The Colosseum is a World Heritage Site, and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

We headed straight for the Colosseum as soon as we had dropped our backpacks in our hotel and grabbed a late lunch in the Piazza Republica. A quick cab ride took us straight to the end of the line for admission into the Colosseum.

Now this is the most important tip we have for tourists visiting Rome and other high-traffic sites: Pay for those skip-the-line tickets!!! Yes, it is significantly more expensive. Yes, you'll need to have the euro on hand in cash for most places. But it is well worth the added expense to just walk right up to the Colosseum or whatever site you happen to be visiting, instead of standing in line for, literally, hours. (Especially with small children!)

Our timing for getting inside the Colosseum couldn't have been more perfect. As we walked up to where people were milling about waiting to go inside, a young tour representative approached us and offered tickets for the last skip-the-line tour of the day which was beginning in ten minutes. Our total price for these tickets was 60 euro for the four of us, plus they threw in a free guided tour of the Palatine Hill with a tour guide in training.

You might think you have a good idea of the size of the Colosseum, until you actually see it and walk inside. It is built on a truly colossal (ha, ha) scale. In the above picture, you can see holes in the arches where bronze clamps were taken over the centuries. For a long period in the Middle Ages, after the Colosseum was partially destroyed by earthquake, many materials were removed to build other structures in the city. It was during this time that the interior stone and marble facade were stripped away.

Today, only the bricks that lay underneath the original stone and marble can be seen in the interior of the

Colosseum. Marble and wooden benches used to ring the sides of the interior, and it's estimated that the Colosseum could seat between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators. Some seats featured convenient holes in the center so that spectators wouldn't have to get up and miss any part of the events...

The interior walls of the Colosseum were constructed of brick and concrete, overlaid with stone and marble. This is how many of the walls appear today. It's hard to imagine how it must have looked when the whole structure shone in brilliant white marble.

The Colosseum is so enormous that it's very hard to get a shot of the entire arena and seating areas with a regular camera. The platform at right center was built to show where the actual floor of the arena would have been. The tunnels and rooms underneath were added after the Colosseum's completion, between 81-96 AD.

Gladiatorial fights were held for hundreds of years into the 5th century, and animal hunting continued into the 6th century. After the last animal hunt, a small church was built inside the Colosseum and the arena became a cemetery. The rooms and tunnels beneath the arena were rented out as housing and workshops until the 1200s, when the Colosseum was fortified as a castle. Eventually, beginning in the 16th century, the papacy of Rome began calling for preservation of the Colosseum.

The facade of the Colosseum is very weathered and damaged by numerous earthquakes and at least one great fire. The original pristine marble has also darkened from the pollution of modern-day Rome.

 Many original decorative structures in various states of ruin remain inside the Colosseum, including this inscription, "LOSEC." Who knows what it could have been meant to read?

More photos taken in and around the Colosseum can be seen on our Flickr photostream.