With Audrey Hepburn in Ancient Rome

Today (Wednesday) started slowly as our tour of ancient Rome didn’t begin until 3:00 p.m., so we slept in a little bit to ward off the touch of jet lag we seemed to have. After breakfast, I learned that Cheryl was channeling Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday” as she felt compelled to stop in at a nearby stylist and get her hair cut. The stylist looked a bit puzzled when Cheryl told her that she came 4,000 miles for her work!

On the way to the tour office, we stopped at Santa Maria Basilica which was designed by Michelangelo as his last architectural project at age 84 in the mid-1500’s. Having been lucky enough to see magnificent churches in France, I can honestly say I think the Italians may have them beat. It was simply beautiful and awe inspiring inside.

We boarded our tour of ancient Rome with 4 other English-speaking persons (a couple from Connecticut, and another from Nottingham, UK where daughter Jenny lives), and a bunch of Spanish-speaking people with loud children who fortunately were off in their own group once the tour started.

Driving through downtown Rome on the way to the first stop – The Colosseum (the Flavian Amphitheater) – we saw the palace of the Italian President, guarded by his spit-and-polish soliders, as well as their own version of changing of the guard. We also passed by what was a simple brown building that was Benito Mussolini’s headquarters for the 20 years he was in power. A small balcony seen in other pictures elsewhere was where he gave his many speeches which were designed to motivate the Italian people to restart the Roman empire (or so said our guide). Unfortunately, they didn’t buy in and he, along with his wife, were hung by their heels in public in Milan in the closing years of the war.

Our bus dropped us off outside the Colosseum. It was built by two successive emperors over an 8 year period from 72 AD to 80 AD with about 80% of the structure remaining as part of the original building. One thing that surprised us was that it is more likely a myth that Christians were martyred there. Yes, they were persecuted in Rome (look it up on Google), but very likely not in the Colosseum which was used more than 200 days a year for “games” held morning and afternoon.

Act 1 consisted of men demonstrating hunting against small game in the morning, while Act 2 began the afternoon with the killing of criminals (murderers, thieves) by the beasts, and Act 3 was the gladiator battles. Some of the gladiators were slaves trying for their freedom and others were “professional” doing it for money. Seating was preferential with the rich and elite in the lowest section, progressing to the poor (who got in for free) and women in the fourth tier. Women had to stand, though, and could not sit with men. That was only allowed at Circus Maximus, the nearby theater for chariot racing (which held 250,000 to the Colosseum’s 25,000!). And overlooking the Colosseum was where all but one emperor lived, an area called the Palatine (now under excavation).

The exterior of the Colosseum was actually marble brought from 25 km away. The original exterior has holes in it where the locals looted the metal (often bronze) used to hold the stones together. The floor was wooden and covered the staging area underneath, with early elevators used to bring combatants and animals to the floor. It was so impressive I could obviously go on forever, so have some fun and read more on Wikipedia or elsewhere.
After the Colosseum, we went to see the famous Moses statue carved by Michelangelo who our guide told us really grooved on sculpting and often had to be pulled back to the Sistine Chapel where he wasn’t having as much fun as carving Moses. The statue is in a church called St. Peters in Chains because the chains which held St. Peter just before his crucifixion are kept there in a glass case below the altar. We could only see them from afar because there was a Mass underway. Amazing.

Our last stop of the day was through the Forum, the largest public gathering place in ancient times, and mostly a collection of temples – Zeus, conquering heroes, and emperors. And, one of interest was the temple of the Vestal Virgins whose sole job was to guard the flame that allowed Rome to retain its power over the world (and stay a virgin, of course, before completing service at age 40 by being burned alive – hope they were well paid!).

Pizza for dinner last night beget pasta tonight at Berzitelle across the street from our hotel. Tonight started with some of the best calamari I’ve ever eaten, and Cheryl had spaghetti with mussels and clams, while I knocked down linguini with Sicilian prawns. That concluded a great day for us, with tomorrow up and at ‘em early for a trip to the Vatican.

Our report on that coming soon!