It’s early when we leave the flat, despite my jet lag. I can’t wait to get out into the city and explore the ancient ruins of Il Foro Romano. After stopping for an espresso, we head to the Colosseum. There’s no line and we get right in. We wander slowly through the exhibit, peering closely at the models and the drawings before we step through the archway and look upon the expanse ourselves.
Meandering around the circumference, taking photos, enjoying the sunny morning
I’m in awe of the construction. The archways, the columns, they defy technology. From somewhere in the back of my mind, from an architecture history class in college, I pull out some random facts about the Colosseum. It used to be called the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the Flavian dynasty. It incorporates all three classical orders (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.) It’s significant in Christianity and Catholicism.
There are hardly any people there. It’s December, so despite the warm weather and the sun, the crowds that normally flock to the famous city have thinned. At night, the Christmas lights sparkle on the city and stores light up their windows with Christmas displays. But here, in the Colosseum, I find that time has stood still. I can see the gladiators nervously awaiting their turn. I can hear the roar of the crowd as fighters fall upon each other, savagely ripping one another apart. And I can imagine the crowd’s approval as condemned men are sent to their death by vicious animals in the arena.
We walk slowly along the ancient concourse, admiring the Travertine structure, the brick and mortar arches that have stood the test of time. When we tire of Il Colosseo, we leave, pausing outside to take more photos of the highly recognisable exterior: its original exterior wall and the interior wall which is now the exterior. We cross the courtyard and then the street, heading for the near gate into Il Foro Romano.
The entrance we choose is along the Via Sacra and we immediately turn left, away from the main Forum. We climb the Palatine hill toward the archaeological ruins at the top, where we find the church of San Sebastian and the ruins of Bonaventura, a medieval church.
Hand in hand, talking
Every so often, we stop to take a picture or point at something. Past the Domus Augustea and through the Farnese Gardens. Down some steps and back to where we started. We turn left now on Via Sacra and enter the lower forum, the picturesque ruins that sit in the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills. The Forum grew organically; emperors built temples and villas and arches during their reign and others came along after and did the same thing.
il foro romano
I have two particulars to see. I want to visit the Basilica Julia and the Arch of Septimus Severus. My travel companion and I have both been here before. We are here as much to explore as to spend time with each other and he has no problem with taking our time going through the forum. We both know that it will get more crowded as the day goes on; it’s almost noon now and the Via Sacra is heavily trafficked with crowds of Asian tourists. I spot two girls fawning over a cat.
(This is the only cat I will see in Rome, and my mother will not believe me. When she was in Rome in the 1960s cats were everywhere, she says. I tell her about this one, and how the girls were crouching over it making peace signs and taking pictures with it.)
I wonder, is this the only cat they have ever seen? Or do they worship cats? Maybe Italian cats are like Italian men? We sidestep the girls and their cat and keep going. We both walk fast, naturally, and are soon ahead of the crowd as we make our way into the forum proper. The Basilica Julia is ahead of me, its graceful columns soaring over the ruins below it as if to say, I am still here.
We go slowly now that we are ahead of the crowd. We read the signs, we take pictures. I enjoy the fact that in Rome – as in Athens – the ancient city is mixed with the modern. I love the juxtaposition and I take several pictures that show the rooftops of Rome above the crumbling forum. My favourite is one in which you can see the top of the Vittorio Emmanuel monument above the domes of the churches outside of the forum.
below my feet
The marble paving stones bear the weight of thousands of years of human traffic; they are worn in places where Caesar, Marc Antony, Sulla, Augustus, and many others walked and where I walk today. We admire the senate building, the basilica, the temple of Castor and Pollux. Then we walk toward the arch. For some odd reason, the Arch of Septimus Severus holds a special place in my heart. I don’t know why; probably some subconscious fact that I can’t remember from architecture history. I find the structure so ornate. It’s no more ornate than the Arch of Constantine, but maybe, to me, it’s a symbol of Rome.
We take our leave of the forum here, leaving through the gates near the Church of Saint Luca and down a narrow little street toward the Via dei Fori Imperiali. Across the street is Trajan’s Forum, and the Forum of Augustus. We walk through, from the street along to Trajan’s Column, and we overlook the forum below. There is no one here, bar a few businessmen, little Italian grandmothers, and students that hurry along the promenade that separates the forum from the street. We have exhausted our time among the dead empire, we can both feel our bodies fighting against walking further. My jet lag has caught up to me and I know I need a nap. It’s also past lunch time, and without words, we turn back toward the flat. We’ll relax for some time, and then we’ll head back out to continue meandering Rome’s cobblestone alleys.