Roma - Where at Least the English is Close

I loved Rome. There is a style and flavor to Rome that is beautiful and I have been interested in ancient Greek and Roman history, art, architecture, mythology and culture since I was a girl.

This photo is from Trajan's Market and it shows a glimpse of the former beauty and detail of their architecture.




There are two small temples left standing within the city itself. You cannot go inside them and the marble is deteriorating badly on the outside, but they have a simple beauty I enjoyed.






This is the one next door to the round one above. It looks sort of gray/white, but they are starting to clean and renovate it and where they have already worked it is in reality a medium golden brown colored marble.

Exposure to sunlight and weathering lightens the marble. It must be sanded to renew the color. One thing that is helpful when viewing old outdoor sites is to take some of the water from your bottle and pour a little on the marble floors - you will get a small idea of the vivid colors of the marble in its original state.





It isn't just the old stuff that has style. A lot of the modern apartment buildings which are functional in form often had terrace gardens planted by their occupants. This one was especially beautiful to me.



Trajan's Market and Forum was an interesting place because here are the fairly intact remains of a marketplace and apartment building of ancient Rome. Each of the little arched alcoves on the ground level was its own little shop. It was maybe a 6 by 6 foot area. The floors of each was tiled in a simple geometric pattern, but each floor was unique. It is not only still standing after almost 2000 years but.....




....it is still sturdy enough for visitors to go up into it. this photo was taken from the second floor which was used for apartments. They are also simple one room affairs. The Romans just used their apartment for sleeping. Bathing, eating, other bathroom functions were all done in public facilities.









This photo was taken inside one of the apartments looking out onto the hallway which had large openings overlooking the market.








The forum is another interesting place. This photo is taken towards one end of the forum facing several churches and the Capitoline museum which is capped by the statue in the middle of the background. The forum begins and ends with a triumphal arch. The one at this end shows Titus' sacking of Jerusalem and the temple Menorah as part of his spoils of war. You can see a bit of this arch on the left.



The forum was lined with temples and was also where the senate building and other aspects of government were located. It was also the area where the house of the Vestal Virgins was. Here is what is left of the courtyard of their home. It was lined with columns topped with statues and in the center was a large decorative pool.


Here is an aerial view of the House of the Vestal Virgins as seen from the Palatine Hill which overlooks the Forum area.

Vestal Virgins were women chosen from good families to tend the sacred fire of Vesta. They were brought into the order usually in the preteen years and had to serve for 30 years. During that time they were compelled to remain a virgin or be punished by being buried alive with 3 days food and water. After release from service they could marry if they wished.

Interestingly, Vestal Virgins had far more rights and freedoms than normal Roman women. They could attend banquets with men. They were allowed to sit in special seats down front at the coliseum. I guess that fire tending thing didn't take up too much of their time.


This is what is left of the famous Circus Maximus where the great chariot races were held. The circuit was a Roman mile which is slightly shorter than the modern one. To the left the slope of the hill conceals with dirt some of the seating.

In the foreground are what is left of stables and storage facilities for the Circus which means circle.

Now this wide open area is used as a jogging and walking path or as a place to lie on the hill and enjoy the sunshine.




This is part of a remnant of a palace on Palatine Hill. This was the grand hall and it is so large that private gladiatorial games were fought in it.


Down the hill a bit is where the modest palace of Caesar Augustus was. The buildings are mostly in ruin, but some still retain their roofs and there are bits of frescoes left on the walls.





The palace wasn't just huge in floor space, it was also many stories deep. This photo was taken from what would be the main floor looking down into what would have been servants quarters and the utilitarian parts of the house such as storage areas and food preparation areas.

I think they said it was five stories deep. Not sure though.



This a view down on to the forum from the Palatine Hill, In the center is a small temple which has survived. It survived, as did any temples to do so, because it was converted into a Christian church at some point. This temple was originally built by the parents of a five year old boy who died. I believe it was named for the boy. What is unique about this little building is that it still contains its original bronze doors with its original functioning lock and they even have the key!

This is a close up of that little temple.

I would love to have seen inside the building, but the doors are mostly closed and the steps are roped off so you can't get close enough to see.

Most bronze doors didn't survive because bronze was useful for forging cannons and also the Renaissance was hard on the ancient relics. As much as the Renaissance artists and architects admired the work of their ancient Roman counterparts they had no respect for these ancient things. Many buildings survived fairly intact until this time and it was then that the marble was stripped from the face of the buildings and the bronze was looted.

Why go quarry your won marble when there is so much so close at hand. So where is the marble? To see ancient Rome's marble you need to visit the plethora of churches and palazzos in the city.






This is another temple which survived intact within the forum. Note the cross surmounting the roof. Proof that it had been converted into a church and therefore spared.








Most of the forum lies in ruins. Some remnants of buildings are only a mere collection of columns or a bit of their foundation. Some are composed of less than that. At one point, the forum which had originally been built on drained swampland, gradually filled in with dirt and sediment until what was left of the buildings was mostly covered. Cattle used to graze where Caesars trod and the fate of the western world was decided. (Sorry for this underlining, I cant seem to get rid of it.)

So where is the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, the Baths of Caracalla and the famous Appian Way?

Those are for next time!