Saturday, May 01, 2004
Rome trip - Day 2
OK, Buon giorno all. I'm feeling a little more refreshed this morning! The thing about these short trips is that by the time you get to know your way around it's time to leave. We are still at the preliminary stages of Rome orientation.
We are also getting a little bit of 'Big City Fatigue' (refer to earlier posts about Big Church Fatigue as well). Rome is another city with magnificent buildings, monuments and churchs. Our next trip is going to be to a smaller place where we can relax and enjoy the environment more, i.e. not have to worry about getting to all the sites so that we can tick them off in our 'Sites to see' list. (don't worry, we don't actually have a list like this!).
Having said this we are enjoying Rome. Yesterday we went to the coliseum and the Forum area. We were lucky enough to latch onto a free tour at the Forum ruins. This was a bonus as we felt a little out of our depth with regard to ancient Roman history. Sure, we've heard of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Brutus et al but I forget what happens to whom.
Rewind....
The coliseum
Forgive any mistakes I make as I'm attempting to document this with out my guide book at hand. The coliseum is where the Gladitorial fights took place. When it opened for business the Emperor Augustus held a festival for 100 days to celebrate. In that time 2000 gladiators (mostly slaves) and 900 animals perished. Not my idea of celebrating! So basically the coliseum represents death and torture for sport (Joseph's gloomy words). I must say that I had a nasty taste in my mouth whilst imagining how the slaves must have felt. You can see the corridors and cells under the arena floor where the unlucky ones would have waited for their moment of glory and ultimately death. Eeesh.
The structure was only a shell. We are quite lucky as the Romans built their structures with bricks then covered them with a marble veneer. The marble has since been quarried however it means that the brick structures still remain for us to see. Apparently the Romans got the marble idea from the Greeks. The Greeks built the whole of their structures in marble and that's why there is not much in the way of ancient ruins there.
The Roman Forum
The Forum complex was where all the business of ancient Rome took place. Yes, that's right, all the backstabbing and power struggles. As mentioned before we caught a free tour so learnt a little more about those times.
We saw the final resting place of Julius Caesar. Apparently the Senate never wanted one person in power so initially they had two people (plus the Senate underneath them). However Caesar was very ambitious and wanted all the power for himself. The Senate sent him out to what they thought was certain death. This was to fight the Gauls (in what is now France). The Gauls had never been defeated before. However Caesar conquered and formed his own army with which he marched back to Rome and took over. The Senate dudes weren't too happy about this and invited him to a meeting where they promptly stabbed him in the back. The people went up in arms and made Caesar a demi god. So he got what he wanted in the end!
Other highlights in the area is the place where the eternal flame was kept. The Vestal Virgins looked after this important symbol and lived a life of luxury in exchange for their celibacy for 30 years. There is also the spot where Mark Antony gave his famous speech "Friends, Romans,Country men, lend me your ears...."
Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain and more churches
We stumbled upon the Spanish steps whilst walking down the main shopping street. Also the Trevi Fountain was in that area. It was very grand. We didn't throw a coin into the fountain to ensure our return as we are not sure if we will have time to return. Rome (and the Vatican) is the home of Catholicism and so it has many beautiful churchs. One has a chapel designed by Raphael. It was very beautiful. It's great to see great art in the places they were created for...not out of context in some art gallery.
Off to see more stuff now.
OK, Buon giorno all. I'm feeling a little more refreshed this morning! The thing about these short trips is that by the time you get to know your way around it's time to leave. We are still at the preliminary stages of Rome orientation.
We are also getting a little bit of 'Big City Fatigue' (refer to earlier posts about Big Church Fatigue as well). Rome is another city with magnificent buildings, monuments and churchs. Our next trip is going to be to a smaller place where we can relax and enjoy the environment more, i.e. not have to worry about getting to all the sites so that we can tick them off in our 'Sites to see' list. (don't worry, we don't actually have a list like this!).
Having said this we are enjoying Rome. Yesterday we went to the coliseum and the Forum area. We were lucky enough to latch onto a free tour at the Forum ruins. This was a bonus as we felt a little out of our depth with regard to ancient Roman history. Sure, we've heard of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Brutus et al but I forget what happens to whom.
Rewind....
The coliseum
Forgive any mistakes I make as I'm attempting to document this with out my guide book at hand. The coliseum is where the Gladitorial fights took place. When it opened for business the Emperor Augustus held a festival for 100 days to celebrate. In that time 2000 gladiators (mostly slaves) and 900 animals perished. Not my idea of celebrating! So basically the coliseum represents death and torture for sport (Joseph's gloomy words). I must say that I had a nasty taste in my mouth whilst imagining how the slaves must have felt. You can see the corridors and cells under the arena floor where the unlucky ones would have waited for their moment of glory and ultimately death. Eeesh.
The structure was only a shell. We are quite lucky as the Romans built their structures with bricks then covered them with a marble veneer. The marble has since been quarried however it means that the brick structures still remain for us to see. Apparently the Romans got the marble idea from the Greeks. The Greeks built the whole of their structures in marble and that's why there is not much in the way of ancient ruins there.
The Roman Forum
The Forum complex was where all the business of ancient Rome took place. Yes, that's right, all the backstabbing and power struggles. As mentioned before we caught a free tour so learnt a little more about those times.
We saw the final resting place of Julius Caesar. Apparently the Senate never wanted one person in power so initially they had two people (plus the Senate underneath them). However Caesar was very ambitious and wanted all the power for himself. The Senate sent him out to what they thought was certain death. This was to fight the Gauls (in what is now France). The Gauls had never been defeated before. However Caesar conquered and formed his own army with which he marched back to Rome and took over. The Senate dudes weren't too happy about this and invited him to a meeting where they promptly stabbed him in the back. The people went up in arms and made Caesar a demi god. So he got what he wanted in the end!
Other highlights in the area is the place where the eternal flame was kept. The Vestal Virgins looked after this important symbol and lived a life of luxury in exchange for their celibacy for 30 years. There is also the spot where Mark Antony gave his famous speech "Friends, Romans,Country men, lend me your ears...."
Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain and more churches
We stumbled upon the Spanish steps whilst walking down the main shopping street. Also the Trevi Fountain was in that area. It was very grand. We didn't throw a coin into the fountain to ensure our return as we are not sure if we will have time to return. Rome (and the Vatican) is the home of Catholicism and so it has many beautiful churchs. One has a chapel designed by Raphael. It was very beautiful. It's great to see great art in the places they were created for...not out of context in some art gallery.
Off to see more stuff now.
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