Italian History Week

            Italian History Week was from April 9^th to April 19^th (I’m not sure on the ending date, since I was gone for it).  Anyway, even though it’s obviously over a week, all the major historical and archaeological sites were free—the best four letter word in the English dictionary.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take advantage of it as much as I had hoped, but I went on Monday, April 11^th.  I was up at 5:25 a.m. to go to the station church, which was in Trastevere that day.  Afterward, Morgan Rosand, Matt Northenscold, and I went to the Coliseum first and then to the Roman Forum.  The Coliseum was pretty cool, but we couldn’t go to the top level, though what we were able to see was fairly impressive.  Ordinarily it would have been 12 euro for that and the Forum, but, like I said, it was free for the week.  We were first in line a few minutes before 8 am, which was the time that it was supposed to open, but we were on ITALIAN time, which means that everything opens up much later than advertised, so we entered at 8:30.  Farther back in the line we saw the Coulters (sans Dr. Coulter and Maddie) and Maria Z., and we toured the Coliseum with them.  We did get up to the second floor, where there were better views, including one where the sun was beaming through the uppermost openings of the façade, which made it easier to imagine the magnificence of the building when it was gilded in white marble on the outside, along with a lot on the inside.  Anyway, on the second level, we all packed snacks, so we got those out, and enjoyed a nice 20 minute break.  I had several mini cheese sandwiches with what was essentially Hawaiian bread, along with Galetti, a type of Italian sugar cookie.

Road along the Forum Romanum.

            Unfortunately, most of the seats are gone, but you could see how the arena was able to hold about 50,000 people in its day.  You could just imagine the sights, sounds, and smells of the hundreds or even thousands of animals and people would fight and die in even one day of games.  Most of the floor is gone, but very visible are the underground chambers that held the gladiators and animals right before they rose to the arena floor to fight (although I guess the animals were just massacred—many to, or near, extinction).  This place (in addition to the Circus Maximus) was the center of ancient Roman entertainment, as politicians, emperors, or generally wealthy people paid out the wazoo to entertain the masses.  Regrettably, when the emperor would put on games, he would tend to drain to treasury just a bit.  So, we spent about a total of an hour taking in the Coliseum, and then went to the Forum for a half hour, although the Coulters went to one of the ruined baths.

Caesar's supposed grave.

            The Forum is more in a state of ruin than the Coliseum, but there are a few arches and buildings that survive.  There are columns from various temples, which would have been just massive, and the roads and paths there were paved with what must have been expensive stone.  Plus, according to tradition (or myth/legend), Julius Caesar’s grave is right in the middle of the Forum, and people are still leaving flowers and pictures there. It is like a very shallow grotto into which you can walk, with a wall blocking a direct view of the stone covering his grave, in addition to a small opening to let a few people in at a time.  I wanted to get into the Curia but wasn’t able to, which is fine anyway since we were short on time and had to get to the Angelicum for class.
        I forgot to mention on the first go around that I also went to Trajan's Markets with Jonathan, while we were killing time before lay guys' formation on Tuesday afternoon, April 12th.  They were kind of cool, but probably not worth the 7 or 8 euro that it would have normally cost to get in there, so I'm glad that we got in for free. The interesting aspect of the markets lies in what they were like back in the day--each individual stall filled with vendors selling food, trinkets, clothes, and everything in between.  Just to see all that going on would have been spectacular.  Also, our Italian class (with Ana Maria) and the other (with Marta) went to Castel Sant'Angelo, which was/is the pope's fortress whenever Rome is attacked, as there is a secret passage from the Vatican directly to the castle.  There is a huge bronze statue at the very top, which is the exact position in which Saint Michael the Archangel appeared atop the then-Mausoleum of Hadrian to signal the end of the plague in 590 AD.  You can see pretty most of Rome from the top, and you also get a great history lesson along the way, while seeing the weapons used, like an original (I think) ballista.