Roma 29 Dec 2007
Well, not so much funny as annoying. Also, it didn't happen on the WAY to the Forum. It happened IN a way that forced us to go TO the Forum. I'll get to that. Today was the second opportunity for us to go to Rome. What made this day different was that Katie, Maggie, Aaron, and I (the young folks who didn't drive to Naples) took a train into Rome. That meant that we were on foot. Needless to say, I got a lot of exercise. Some of that exercise was unnecessary, disappointing, redundant walking. I blame siesta. Again, other people taking naps has become my nemesis. I had exactly two places that I ABSOLUTELY had to see in Rome: The Capuchin Crypt and Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. Seemingly conveniently, these two places are on the same block, north of the Termini station. That was where we went first. The annoying part was, after walking about 10 blocks to the place, we discovered that BOTH museums closed from noon-3pm for lunch and siesta. It was 11:55. Shit outta luck. This "forced" us to go places that would not be closed, randomly, in the middle of the day, so we trekked south and west toward the Forum (hence, the title of this blog).
The good thing about many of the ancient sites in Rome is that they are outside and open to the public. Siesta cannot stop me, now! After stopping off for some pizza and a beer (to go - I love non-the USA), the first ancient structure we reached was the Colonna Traiana (aka the Column of Trajan). It's smack dab in the middle of the Mercati di Traiano (or Markets of Trajan or Forum of Trajan). Neat.
Mercati di Traiano
Mercati di Traiano
From there, we marched down the Via dei Fori Imperiali toward il Colosseo. Now, the Colosseum is not spelled like a coliseum. It's named for a nearby colossal statue of Nero (later remodeled into a statue of Apollo). The proximity of the statue had an eponymous effect on the more accurately named Flavian Amphitheater (so named, as it was built during the Flavian Dynasty: Emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian). You can just call it the Amphitheatrum Flavium.
Arch of Constantine. It's right across from the Flavian Amphitheater.
Above is a photograph of the actual Forum. People tend to refer to this area as the "Forum Romanum," or "Roman Forum." Well, there are many fori in Rome, so, to call this one the Roman Forum is inaccurate. One could call it the Forum Magnum (or Great Forum), as it is much larger than the other fori, however, the ancient Romans just called it the Forum. On the right you can see the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina (the columns on the right), the Curia (aka the Senate) behind that, and the Memorial to Victor Immanuel in the background (on the Capitoline Hill). The Palatine Hill is off the frame to the right.
Palatine Hill
Neat frieze.
Above is a view of the Forum from the north. From this view, the Palatine Hill would be on the right. The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina is on the left. The Flavian Amphitheatre can be seen in the background. This view illustrates something really cool about the Forum: most of it is open to the public and completely accessible. I really like being able to touch history. It's not behind a velvet rope, or poorly reproduced in a textbook, it's right there where I can touch it, walk amongst it, and truly feel like I am a part of it. I suppose I would have to thank the sheer amount of archaeological treasures in Rome. A single manmade structure of equivalent age in Columbus would necessitate its own national park. In Rome, there are enough ancient column ruins just lying around that we can be allowed to climb on them. I think that's really cool.Next stop: Medieval Rome!
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