Now We Are Free...

Two nights ago and yesterday my friend Pepe visited me (he began my European trip with me and is currently studying abroad in Florence). I spent the whole night that he arrived talking with him about our experiences so far and walking around and showing him almost all of the amazing sights of Rome. We walked from my apartment (which is in the heart of downtown), to the Victor Emanuel monument, then to the Capitoline hill which Campidoglio rests on and behind which is an amazing view of the Roman forum, then the Imperial Fori including Trajan's column and Market, followed by the Colosseum and seeing the Circus Maximus and the Trevi Fountain on our way back. He was awestruck when he first laid his eyes on the Forum (as I was when I first saw it) so I made sure to record his face and reaction during that moment =). Seeing the Forum for the first time literally leaves you speechless... especially if you have any sort of sense and admiration for the history that took place there and the beauty it still holds. It was a long and enjoyable night of sightseeing with good conversation, and by talking to him I realized how much we have changed even from each other just by living in two different Italian cities. I hadn't realized it until then, but I was confident to cross busy streets with cars zooming by as all the locals do, and Pepe was still used to the small and calm town of Florence so was much more timid to cross the street. Also, when I was walking on a sidewalk he was walking on the street until I pointed it out to him because even though he had plenty of room to walk on the sidewalk he was used to the small sidewalks of Florence. Italian cities can be extremely different from each other even if there are only an hour away from each other, whereas most American towns tend to be the same. For instance, I could go to the Greek island of Capri, the Rennaisance town of Florence, the bustling and historic city of Rome, or the Medeival town of Seina and have completely different experiences in each town. I've been learning about Seina and its Contrada in my Italian culture class... the Contrada are basically small communities that you are born into that are extremely prideful and competitive amognst each other; the climax of which is the Palio, a horse race between all the differenct Contradas of Seina. I will talk more about the Contrada and Palio after I visit Seina in a few weeks and experience some Contada culture for myself. But going back to how different Pepe and I were just from the month we've spent apart in two Italian cities within 3 hours from each other... I have obviously changed in some American ways as well. From what I've noticed, I am eating in smaller portions, I'm eating much slower and actually am enoying my food to the point where I am often the last one to finish amongst my friends. I was at a restaurant with Pepe last night and noticed an obsese man reaching across the table and eating from the plate of his girlfriend. The couple appeared to be Italian or possibly Spanish but none the less it surprisingly disgusted me even though I remember seeing this before in America and it never had the same effect on me. Also, I see some young Italians trying to be "cool" by wearing baggy N.Y. labeled clothes like some American rappers, and I can't help but think of how silly they look to be wearing clothes that don't fit them. I am much less impatient and am able to enjoy myself even if I am waiting in line for long periods of time. I have become so accustomed to eating pasta, pizza and gelato, and drinking from the abundant Roman fountains that I start to have major cravings when I go without it for a while. And although I always appreciate the beauty of the architecture and sculpture around me I am no longer shocked by its magnificence but have started to expect it. Speaking of which, I went inside the Vatican and climbed to the top of St. Peter's dome (the biggest Christian church in the world) and greatly appreciated the sights but wasn't taken aback by it. Although part of the reason why I wasn't impressed by it was because the marble that was used to make the church was stripped from the Ancient Roman palaces on the Palatine hill (where my heart truly lies). Haha.
But anyways, after sightseeing we woke up the next morning to take a tour of the Roman Colosseum, Palatine hill and Forum. Wow... needless to say this was one of my best days of my life. It was the first time either of us had been inside any of these places so it was an awesome moment for both of us, and I enoyed every second of it. I made a point to listen to all the information that the tour guide was telling me because I'm sure I will come back to these areas many times before I leave. So let me drop some knowledge on you guys... The Colosseum was not actually called the Colosseum but the Flavian Amphitheatre, named after the dynasty of the 2 emperors reigns under which the Colosseum was built. When it was first built there were games for 100 straight days and ove tens of thousands of foreign animals were imported from Africa to be slain. Not only would the Romans import African animals but also seeds of plants and trees so they could grow and place these plants in the Colosseum during the animal fights to create a realistic scenery/backdrop. The vast majority of gladiators were slaves, especially Jews when the Roman Empire conquered the Middle East. Slaves would often earn money from fighting as a gladiator and if they won enough times they could eventually purchase their freedom. Unlike it is portayed in the movie Gladiator, there was no thumbs up or down, but rather a closed fist for "live" and an open hand with fingers pointing the ground for "kill." Also, there were referees next to the gladiators monitoring the fight and when first blood was drawn the referee would stop the fight until it was determined whether or not the gladiator could continue to fight, and if he couldn't then the audience and ultimately the Emperor would decide the gladiators fate. Realistically though, it is unlikely that the Emperor could estimate the number of "kills" and "lives" shown by the audience's hands so he would have likely made his decision from the sound of the crowd. There are 4 special entrances/exits that normal citizens couldn't use, including the entrance where the gladiators would enter the amphitheatre, th entrance of the senators, the entrance of the Emperor, and the exit of death where gladiators were carried through after dying. The Emperor had his own special balcony close the the ground floor and had a net placed in front of it in case any wild animals tried to jump up and attack him. The Roman fans had wooden or terracotta tickets with their section number on it and the Roman numerals of each of the 76 sections are still carved above its corresponding arch on the outer layer/ring of the Colosseum. Men would sit on the lower sections closest to the fights with teh Emperor of senators having their own separate and specials places to sit, while slaves and women were forced to sit at the top of the Colosseum where there wasn't marble seats but rather wood scaffolding. Speaking of which, when looking at the Colosseum's walls you can see some large and small holes. The large damaged-looking holes on the white travertine stone (such as that found on the entire exterior facade of the colosseum) are from large metal "staples" that were used to hold the blocks in place, the large square holes in the brick were constructed on purpose in order to hold the wooden scaffolding during contstruction, and the small damaged-looking holes are from torn out brackets that once held up the marble slabs that covered the brick and all of its holes. In fact, the Romans were the first to use veneers (or surface covers) on their buildings. They wanted to copy the wonderous marble architecture of the Greeks, but did it in a much cheaper, faster, and grander scale than the Greeks by constructing their buildings out of brick and then covering them with a marble veneer.
After the Colosseum we took another tour (with a different guide) of the Palatine hill. This was a perfect opportunity to see how the Romans constructed their buildings because the marble had been completely stripped from the Emperors' palaces in order to construct St. Peter's, leaving only the brick with its holes showing. This tour was especially delightful for me because the girl was extremely knowledgeable and personable, and she was talking about one of my greatest passions, the founding of Rome and its history on the Palatine. It was apparent to her that I already knew a lot about the Roman Empire from answering most of the questions she was asking our group so we started talking about how she got her job and I mentioned that I could see myself doing the same thing. Being a tour guide of any Ancient Roman site would be a dream temporary-job for me... Although if I were to really ever pursue that path I would probably be an archaeologist since it is much more professional, academic and established. If I could make up and have any job in the world it would be to learn about the history and uncover and discover the ruins of Ancient Rome (or any other ancient civilazation for that matter), then create new cities in the Ancient Roman/classical style, with some buildings the height of skyscrapers, in an environmentally-sustainable way. A sort of Roman-Indiana Jones-Green Architect... I can dream on... =).
I saw the HUGE ruins of the Flavian palace that took up over a square mile in surface area and was almost completely indoors and covered with marble. From what they uncovered of it so far it was 6 floors high with most of the floors underground. It had its own circus (horse racing arena and gym) attached to it, and it was completely covered in expensive marble. Most Roman buildings were made from the local white or gray marble or the travertine stone (gathered from the stone quarry which I passed on my way to Tivoli... and it's still in use today)! Marbles with much more vibrant colors were therefore much more sought after and expensive. The most rare and expensive marble is of a deep purple color, and it was located only in a small part of Egypt. However, if you want to find that kind of marble now your best bet is Rome because the quarries are now empty and the Roman Empire imported the vast majority of the marble when they ruled over Egypt. The largest solid piece of that kind of marble is a couple of square meters and it was once part of Emperor Nero's bathtub... it is worth approximately $250 million euros (no lie!) and is now housed in the Vatican museum.
I also saw the House of August (where he and his wife Livia lived... although only a small portion of it is remaining) which contains the oldest known frescoes in the world and the site became open to the general public only a few months ago. (I couldn't stop taking pictures and video of this place... if you have any knowledge of Augustus you know that he basically created the greatness of Rome (although Julius Caesar paved a helpful beginning path) so I wanted to document every square inch of the ancient palace in which he lived). And the Palatine hill provides the best view of the Forum, so I spent a significant amount of time taking in the view there. A funny fact is that the Temple of Vestal Virgins and their bathing pools were located right beneath the edge of the Palatine hill, and there's a viewing platform right on the edge of the hill so the Emperors could easily watch the sacred women while they bathed.
We finished off the day with a tour of the forum from a guide who is basically a walking encyplodia on the Roman Empire. There is a massive amount of sights to see and learn about in the Forum so we barely scratched the surface, but some things I learned and re-learned are that Caesar was deified by the Roman people after he died and a temple to him was built in the middle of the Roman Forum (imagine if we had a temple to George Washington or George Bush). In fact it eventually became common practice for every Emperor to be deified after death, even though almost everyone in Rome (even including the Emperor himself) didn't belief that it was actually true. One of the Emperors (Vespasian I believe) was known for his sense of humor and jokingly said the following last words on his deathbed: "Be still, for I am about to become a God!". There is simply too much to else to write about the Forum that I will have to cover it in another blog later.
After the long day of tours Pepe and I had a nice 2-course dinner for a reasonable price at a restaurant which looked like it used to be a wine cellar, located by the Trevi Fountain. I had spaghetti for Primi and chicken with potatoes for Secondi, washed down with a carafe of some house/table wine. It was a scrumptious ending to an amazing day... one that will likely stay in my memories for the rest of my life. =)

Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Column, and the Victorio Emannuel Monument

The Arch of Constantine on my left, with the Via Sacra (Sacred Road) passing under the Arch of Titus on my right.

Il Colosseo (formerly the Flavian Amphitheatre). The platform is what the ground level upon which the gladiators fought once looked like. Below is where the gladiators waited and ate meals before their fights, weapons were sharpened, and animals were stored in cages and lifted up through shafts... all invisible to the public eye). The main entrance ahead is where the emperor entered, above which was where his viewing platform used to be. The marble seats remaining tot he left of the entrance is where senators would sit.

Me giving the "kill" hand gesture (thumb and fingers spread out and pointing down).

Il Foro Romana (Roman Forum) with the Arch of Titus and Colosseo on my right and Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine on my left.

What it looks like without myself in the way. These views are taken from the Palatine hill.

Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine on the right with the Temple of Romulus (an emperor's son, not the famous found of Rome) onthe left. Its bronze doors are still functional with the original key, all 2000 years old!

Ruins of the Temple of Vestal Virgins on the bottom left. It was circular and open roofed, and the 3 Vestal Virgins had to keep the fire in the center lit 24/7, otherwise they would be punished to death!

Temple of Vestal Virgins in bottom center, with temple of Divine Caesar just above it and between the large group of people (the monument that Augustus built for Caesar when he was deified, located in the spot where he was cremated), above which (the tall brick building) is the Curia (senate house) where the senators would meet.

Temple of Vestal Virgins in the center with their living quarters below. They would bath in the pool of water (obviously the emperor at the time would have a nice view of it as well). The statues surrounding the pool area were of the famous/best Vestal Virgins that preceded them.

Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine. (That's small thing at the bottom of the picture isn't a bug on your screen... but me! The basilica is HUGE! In fact this is only about 2/3 of its original height. You can see the beginnings of the main/central vault at the top of the picture).

Domus of Augustus (the first Emperor of Rome)! It's located at the top of the Palatine hill and was recently opened up to vistors a few years ago.

Some of the oldest frescoes in the world... located in the Domus of Augustus.