ROMA – Day One

So begins my account of the most wonderful adventure upon which I ever embarked, a four-night odyssey to and through the eternal city of Rome. In less than a week I breezed through two-and-a-half millennia of history, from the ruins of the Roman Republic, to the fountains and churches of the high Baroque era, to the monuments of Italian nationalism.

More photos can be seen on Facebook. Here for ancient stuff – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018166&id=1232460105
and here for the rest, stuff like churches and fountains – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018168&id=1232460105

So here we go!

Alitalia is a nice airline, especially in that English is treated second class to Italian. Sleeping on international flights is always difficult, especially when the yahoo next to you is watching, out loud, the movie “2012″ on his portable DVD player. Just as I managed to fall asleep, he turns on the bloody reading light. Not much later, the crew literally shoves breakfast into my face. But I didn’t mind, because Italian coffee is AMAZING, and set things right.

Anyway, took the train in from the airport, and the first thing I see is part of an aqueduct. Bits of these arched water systems are all over the city.

Did I mention that I nearly cried when I saw the Mediterranean out the plane window? To think that was the legendary sea that Odysseus and Aeneas sailed. And then I saw land…

When I left the train station I got intentionally lost, and good thing because I stumbled upon the Arch of Gallienus, built in the 3rd century CE. It had the first Latin inscription I had ever read on a real Roman monument. It read “To Gallienus, the most merciful prince, whose unconquered valor is only surpassed by his piety.”

From there I made it through on-and-off rain to my hostel. Wasn’t there long because I was eager to get down to the Forum. But first I stopped for some pizza, and accidentally ordered a whole one that I couldn’t possibly eat in one sitting. So I proceeded to walk through the Imperial Fora with a box of pizza in my hands. This column capital made a nice dining surface.

Did I mention that there’s Latin written EVERYWHERE. Every monument, church and temple has Latin written all over it, and thanks to Mussolini, the letters SPQR are also ubiquitous.

First thing was to walk through the Imperial Fora, those of Trajan, Augustus and Julius Caesar. All had ruins of temples, but Trajan’s forum had the remains of a marketplace and of course his perfectly-preserved column.
Then I walked into the Forum Romanum. I was absolutely spellbound. Photography doesn’t do justice in giving you a sense of how HUGE these monuments are. The Temple of Saturn and the Arch of Septimius Severus are monolithic to the extreme.

I spent forever in the forum. So much to see. But I eventually went over to the Palatine, the imperial palace complex, which is mostly brick ruins after most of the pretty stone and marble was recycled in the Middle Ages.
The Palatine complex is quite extensive, fit for a king (or at least a de facto king), with the Circus Maximus on one side, and a great view of the Forum on the other: a perfect vantage point to view one’s domain.

After a lengthy tour of the Palatine Hill, I descended to the Arch of Titus, built by Domitian in honor of his late brother (r. 79-81 CE) who was victorious in a war against the Jews, with the spoils to prove it.
Continuing down the Via Sacra landed me in front of the Flavian Amphitheater, now known as the Colosseum. Talk about massive!
After a tour through the Colosseum’s massive interior, I made a southerly trek to the largest bath complex in Rome, those of the emperor Caracalla (r. early 200′s). This is where Romans exercised in the palaestra, got massages, then got clean in a series of baths, starting at the caldarium (hot water),  tepidarium (warm water) and frigidarium (cold water) before swimming some laps in the natatio.

So concluded Day One, as I was so sleep-deprived and sore from so much walking that I crawled back to my hostel (after getting a big bowl of gelato!) and passed out.