Ancient Rome

Friday, October 10

Today it was Ancient Rome, which is quite close to our digs, just across the river. Regardless of how many times we see this area. We are always impressed by the fact that these ruins still exist.

Anyway, we began the day with a walk over to Circus Maximus, walking through the field where they staged chariot races for up to 300,000 people. We used an audioguide on our MP3 players to help us understand the significance of what now looks like a sunken field.

Then, on to the Colosseum, which we entered with our Roma Passes, bypassing the long ticket line. The place is hard to describe, but we had a downloaded Rick Steves commentary to guide us. The Colosseum is a ruin with some walls obviously rebuilt but the fact that it is still standing is amazing. Yankee stadium has been there~100 years and will be gone as soon as they close it, but the Colosseum has been standing there for 2000 years and was used for over 500. (Note from MER: A couple of weeks ago, I saw a column in the NYTimes reflecting on 45 years of memories at Shea Stadium; we must be joking!)

From there we entered the Palatine Hill-Roman Forum complex, which is all on a combined entry ticket with the Colosseum. We climbed the hill to look at the ruins on the Palatine. These were the palaces and houses of the emperors and their families and are mostly ruins with little explanation (unless you get the audio guide). We also ran into our first pickpocket attempt of this trip, which was unsuccessful.

Then down the hill to the Forum, along the Via Sacra from the Arch of Titus to the Arch of Septimius Severus. Audioguides again helped us understand what this place once was; we needed no help to appreciate the monumental construction skills of the Ancient Romans.

It was a hot afternoon and, after cooling off in the Campidoglio, the gorgeous Michelangelo-designed piazza at the top of the Capitoline Hill, we headed off to see the ruins of the Imperial Forums, which lie alongside the sidewalks that Romans pass every day. This aspect of the city, the coexistence of the ancient and the routine of daily life, is always so striking to us.

We pressed on to the see Michelangelo’s Moses at the Church of St. Peter in Chains, which also houses the chains that held the imprisoned Peter, and the mosaics and reputed relic of the crib of the Infant Jesus at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

We walked a few blocks to Termini, the city’s main train station, and luckily, just before collapsing, we found a bus that took back to Trastevere and “home”.