Day 9: Roma Antica

Rome, Italy

Another incredible day in Rome! Today our tour guide took us to the many famous ancient sites, and we enjoyed every minute of this tour! We started our tour at the Fountain of Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) in the middle of a Piazza Navona that sits on top of the ruins of the Stadium of Domitian. As if this impressive sculpture is not enough on its own, our tour guide pointed out that the masses of travertine each marble statue sits upon is the shape of the four known continents at the time (Europe, Asia, Africa & America). The Egyptian obelisk in the middle is a unique reminder of how the Roman Empire blended the architecture of Greece, Egypt and the Renaissance. From here, we passed the Basilica of Neptune (possibly used as a support structure for the Pantheon) where you can spot scenes of dolphins and fish on some of the ancient remains. This is also where we learned the brick structures we see today is not how the Romans viewed these sites. Bricks were simply the foundations and were covered by marble (a mix of plaster/iron, etc. as needed and a peg shape like modern day Legos anchored the marble to the brick). Our tour guide has truly been wonderful, but there’s been a few times in mid thought/sentence where he’d wonder on for us to follow then continue an explanation somewhat fragmented. Today he explained the laborious process of becoming a true “student of Rome” as he’s one of the 400 tour guides to pass the test/certification (keep in mind it covers the entire Roman Empires history (Egypt, etc./Not just Rome)) that ~6,000 people take! Yesterday we could tell Andrea was extremely knowledgeable, but today just proved to us what that really meant! We turned the corner, and the Pantheon was immediately in front of us! Another amazing site. The doors on it are the original and weight ~14 tons total! They’re massive and you’re reminded of the size of this structure as you walk inside. Looking up into the “eye” of the dome almost made me dizzy…but, it was beautiful. This opening at the top of this structure is the same size as a three story building to give you and idea on the size of the Pantheon! It’s now been turned into a church. Unfortunately it’s very dark in here, so hard to get great pictures. Here are a few neat take aways from this site: – The artist Raephel remains are here. – There are drains discretely constructed in the floor to drain water when it rains (the eye is wide open at the top of the dome). – A sphere is what was used to represent the world at the time, and the diameter of the Pantheon could fit a perfect sphere. – The first dome burnt down (due to a fire) and was rebuilt as scene today. – During the Solar Eclipse the sun shines through the eye of the dome and cast light toward the doors (which Alexander the Great intended to lead toward his burial site). – The exterior pillars were constructed and transported from Egypt, and when they arrived they were actually 9 ft shorter than they should have been. You can see if you look carefully from the side of the dome and compare the roof lines out front! – Bronze was removed from the exterior ceiling to construct pillars inside St Peter’s Basilica. Our next stop was at the gorgeous Saint Ignatius church. This is the true work of a Jesuit painter. The pictures don’t do this one justice, but the artist was able to paint in dimension creating optical illusions. This fresco ceiling is meant to appeal to the common/poor, and not the rich. When you stand in the rear of the church the appropriate dimensions come to life. When you move to the front where the rich would sit and look back the painting is distorted. This dome is also unique and was painted because money became limited to the family paying for the construction. The lantern (style of architecture when an enclosed layer was added to the top eye of a dome) shifts side to side as you change where you stand! The dome is usually viewed best in person without light (natural light); but, you can pay to have the light turned on to see in more detail. While we were there someone did just that and you could see the waves in the painting from the warped wood that were beneath. We also passed the church of Santa Maria which has the first known “La Bocca della Verità (the Mouth of Truth).” This is marble carved into a man-like face, and is thought to be part of a first-century ancient Roman fountain, or perhaps a manhole cover, portraying one of several possible pagan gods (I.e. Oceanus). Most Romans believe that the ‘Bocca’ represents the ancient god of the river Tiber, and this is the first site of (very decorated) manholes. Next, we approached the remains of Circus Maximus. This is where chariot races took place and would lap this massive track seven times. When the structure was full, it could hold 375,000 people! The largest stadiums in the US can fit only about 1/3 of that (I.e Dallas Cowboy’s capacity is ~ 110,000)! As we turned the corner from here we could spot the Coliseum! Another beyond fascinating piece of history. Throughout this tour we learned so much about the advanced Roman society. They really had a passion for learning and showcased many of their vast libraries…one in Egypt was featured that sadly had a fire resulting in the loss of over 425,000 books! Think of all the knowledge that was lost (even more so, how when the Roman Empire was lost and civilization was essentially “reset”). Some other signs of their advanced culture is steam power used to open heavy doors, elevators, and the sophisticated architecture (numbers on entrances to the Coliseum to enter based on social class, a retractable roof to cover the Coliseum, and research has found that the Coliseum could be emptied quicker than arena used in Beijing for the Olympics). We have also learned there were certainly some disadvantages to being amongst the wealthy over the last two days. The poor’s teeth were in perfect condition, while the wealthy had dental problems due to the various meats they ate. Many rulers also eventually went crazy from the lead found out the glass they drank from. Now on to the use of the Coliseum! There’s drawings etched into the marble that show this was quite the experience! It was originally used to show naval battles and they’d fill the wood floored area with water. From here, they added the below chambers and the primary activities included executions in the morning followed by hunting games and then the battles of the gladiators! People brought food to cook (like Rhinos and chicken) into the amphitheater at their seats (actual name of the Coliseum is Flavius amphitheater) which was the first signs of “tailgating.” Animals (from elephants to bears to tigers) were brought in to the tunnels below to create a surprise for the audience when they’d be released in the main arena for events. Gladiators decorated in more armor were actually stronger than their opponents and the heavy metal was meant to slow them down to level out the fight (helmets were used to make them warm). Women gladiators fought midgets and over time those that owned the gladiators wanted to keep them heavier to “protect their investment.” They learned skinner gladiators had less of a barrier to organs and the added fat could allow them to bleed to provide entertainment to the crowd, but they could still sustain life. Also, as most know, slaves that fought and won could become free men. So much more to share, but in effort to not write a novel, I’ll simply out the areas we moved on to explore in the Roman Forum: Arches of Titus and Septius Severus, Curia (seat of the Roman Senate), Basilica of Emilia & Basilica of Julia, Vesta Temple which housed the Vestal Virgins (if they could remain virgins and keep the flame going for 30 years they could pick their husband…if not, they were buried alive), Temples of Antoninus and Faustina, Vespasian and Saturn, and Arch of Constantine One fascinating fact about this area is that they named it “Capital Hill” (sound familiar?) after they discover the remains of a decapitated head when beginning to build out the area in 400AD. Another is the artwork created by the Pagans found in one of the arches that shows a menorah and the doors that protected the Ten Commandments, showing evidence of the religious history (as they’d have no interest in creating things they did not actually see). After several hours of taking in so much impressive history, we grabbed lunch near the Spanish Stairs. I was highly unimpressed by these…maybe it was the hectic crowd, but I’ve enjoyed so many other parts of Rome/other areas we’ve seen much more than by these!. We did a little shopping in this area and explored some of the major designer stores and window displays. This is also where I caved and had to buy some Italian leather/cashmere lined gloves at a famous leather stand in town – Sergio Di Cori! From here, we made the adventure up the Spanish Steps as we fought the crowd! At the top of the steps was a cool view of the city, but we found the more impressive view to be one level higher from the Villa Borghese gardens (kind of like Rome’s Central Park). We enjoyed relaxing and people watching here as many people were on bikes, rented pedal bike/cars, roller blades and little trick bikes! Tonight’s dinner may have been our best yet, or at least best in Rome! Many of the places we tried to reserve were closed on Sundays, so we decided to wonder back toward the neighborhoods we explored close to the Trevi Fountain/4 River Fountain we had found our first couple nights in Rome (seemed like a nice spot). What we found to have great reviews on Yelp was also closed, so we turned the corner to find one other highly reviewed place and ran into a dead end, only to find a cool looking/more casual spot that we decided to check out. The hostess was beyond helpful and although was eager to seat us explained it was their first night open and they were only serving pizza. Before we knew it she was directing us to a local favorite (Maccheroni) just down the street (happened to be the place we were trying to find when we hit the dead end – we don’t think GPS works great in these dense streets)! We thanked her and headed there just in time…we watched several others get turned away without reservations. Tonight we were just all feeling to full from all the other meals to order an antipasti, so we all started with our own pasta dish (Ameritrica for Mom, a chili & olive oil based sauce for Bryan, Aribiatta forJeff and Pasta Crèche (Essentially Margherita style pasta) for me) with our favorite house red yet! Jeff and Bryan both had Roman Style Chicken (spicy chicken) and mom and I shared Chicken Cacciatore …we had panned a leisurely walk home with a stop for gelato and cafe, and a drink out! However, we decided to stop back at our first restaurant of the night for a drink and to tell the hostess thanks again. We quickly started to notice all the fresh ingredients at the bar and soon witnessed a true mixologist in action! Jeff had an Italian version of the Manhattan, Bryan had a Italian signature drink with Bourbon replacing Gin, Mom sipped on lemon cello while I enjoyed a ginger-lemon cocktail! These hand crafted drinks were spectacular and have the fun was watching them be made – it literally looked like our drinks bent around the body of our bar tender. Such a hip new place that was rocking 90’s hit (same latest trend Jeff is seeing at new openings in Chicago)! We felt like real Italians finding the newest hopping place in town and a locals favorite all in the same night 🙂 After such a positive experience we decided to make a reservation for dinner for when we’re back in Rome Friday night before we depart on Saturday (full menu gets rolled out this week)! Such a fun day & night in Rome!