Rome at Last!

I have been dreaming about Italy for as long as I can remember, if you’ve been reading all the posts you’ll have seen my excitement at Venice, and Pompeii was a thrill. And now, Rome. Just incredible. 

A lot of my knowledge about Rome does come from reading historical fiction. I never studied it or anything. Although I often will Google people or events to try and understand what is really happening during the events of the novel. (I can’t recommend enough Roma by Steven Saylor)

Anyways. I was staying reasonably close to the Roman Forum so on my first day I walked down to have a look. It’s kind of a thrill to be standing on a street corner, turn around and see the Colosseum was right behind you!!  And a short walk from that is the Palatine hill, the forum and the Capitoline hill. 

Rome was built on seven hills. They don’t look that impressive now. Though I think ground level was at least two meters lower and the hills have probably been shaped so much over the years.   The modern road cuts through the forums, but gives a great vantage point down to look at them. 

My first full day I decided to take the hop on hop off bus around town. It was great to drive around and see these sites I’ve read about so much.  Some is so well preserved- like the Theatre of Marcellus that was made in the time of Augustus. It is actually an apartment block now that has the curving facade similar to the colosseum.  Others are a jumble of low brick wall and fallen pillars uncovered below ground level were the guide mentions it as the probably site of the murder of Julius Caesar. 

The bus tour also helped me find places I’d forgotten about. They mentioned the church of Sam Maria della Vittoire that houses Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St Teresa. Not only was Bernini a master sculpture, but the story of St Teresa’s is a pretty funny one. I had first heard about it in Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. 

I also walked to the Trevi Fountain where I tossed my coin over the left shoulder to ensure my return to the Eternal City.  Then I found the Pantheon, an absolutely beautiful church. Originally built as a Roman temple by Marcus Agrippa, the Catholics couldn’t bare to tear it down so they just removed the Roman gods and made it a church. It has the worlds largest unsupported concrete dome, with a large hole, “oculus” in the middle that lets in the light. 

Funny little side fact. I heard a tour guide explaining how it was made for Emperor Hadrian with the guide pointing out Agrippa’s name on the front as his architect. But Agrippa lived in the time of Augustus. It confused me enough I did a quick check, and Hadrian did renovate the temple but that was all!!  I did hear a few times guides giving credit to Hadrian though!

One of my last stops on the bus was back by the forums, the area around the original forum boarium.  There was a little church with a huge line to pose with the statue of the Mouth of Truth. Inside I found there was a little crypt. A pope decided he wanted to dig down and create the crypt and found ancient building blocks. It is believed due to the location that this is the site of Rome’s first temple. The Alter to Hercules was created to give thanks to Hercules, they say that before Rome was founded there was a settlement on the banks of the Tiber. They were terrorized by a man/monster called Cacus. It was Hercules who slew him and saved the people of the village, so they built the alter to give thanks to their first God.