May 19, 2024 - Classic Italy
Ancient Rome

Yesterday the focus was on Vatican City (mostly).  Today the focus shifted to Ancient Rome.

We started the day by boarding the tour bus outside our hotel and headed into the Ancient Rome area.  We started with a driving tour.  The first thing we saw was the famous Roman Colosseum.

"This 2,000-year-old building is the classic example of Roman engineering.  Used as a venue for entertaining the masses,this colossal, functional stadium is one of Europe's most recognizable landmarks.  ... Built when the ?Roman Empire was at its peak in A.D. 80, the Colosseum represents Rome at its grandest.  It could accomodate 50,000 roaring fans."  ... Rick Steves
   
This side is in pretty good shape.
 
The four-story facade is decorated with mostly Greek columns -- Doric-like Tuscan columns on the ground level, Ionic on the second story, Corinthian on the next level, and at the top, half-columns with a mix of all three.  Originally, copies of Greek statues stood in the arches of the middle two stories, giving a veneer of sophistication to this arena of death.  ... Rick Steves
   

This side not so much.

Only a third of the original Colosseum remains.  Earthquakes destroyed some of it, but most was carted off as easy precut stones for other buildings during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.  ... Rick Steves
   
The next thing we saw from the tour bus is what is left of the Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 2,037 ft in length and 387 ft in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators.  In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The Circus site now functions as a large park area, open to the public and often used for concerts, meetings, and celebrations.
 
Want to see what the Circus Maximus looked like in its prime?  Watch the movie Ben Hur -- the Academy Award-winning 1959 version with Charlton Heston playing Ben Hur.  The nine-minute chariot race has become one of cinema's most famous action sequences.
 
The tower in the foreground is part of a medieval fortification.
   

Looking across the Circus Maximus at the Palatine Hills, the centermost of Rome's seven hills.  It is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire".

Many affluent Romans of the Republican period (c. 509 BC – 44 BC) had their residences there.  From the start of the Empire (27 BC) Augustus built his palace there and the hill gradually became the exclusive domain of emperors; the ruins of the palaces of at least Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), Tiberius (14 – 37 AD) and Domitian (81 – 96 AD) can still be seen.  Augustus also built a temple to Apollo here.  The Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 destroyed Nero's palace, the Domus Transitoria, but he replaced it by AD 69 with the even larger Domus Aurea, over which was eventually built Domitian's Palace.

The site is now mainly a large open-air museum whilst the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites.

Unfortunately we did not have time to tour Palatine Hills.  Next time.
   
A closer look at the Roman ruins on Palatine Hill.
   
The northwestern end of the Circus Maximus.
   
Artist conception of Circus Maximus.
   
Artist conception of Circus Maximus.
   
Artist conception of Circus Maximus.
   
Artist conception of Circus Maximus.
   
Artist conception of Circus Maximus.
   
A newer building built around ancient Roman columns.
   
Old Roman aquaducts?
   

Apartments on top of what looks like a mini-Colosseum.  It's the Teatro di Marcello, a Roman theater started by Julius Caesar & pre-dating the Colosseum, the setting for summer concerts.

Constructed around 100 years prior to the Colosseum under Emperor Augustus, the Theatre of Marcellus was built between 17 and 13 BC and was opened by Emperor Augustus around 12 BC. It was used until the early 4th century and could hold up to 20,000 people. In the Middle Ages, the theatre was used as a fortress. The theatre is located in an open-air archaeological park near the remains of the Temple of Apollo with its magnificent Corinthian columns.

Just on the other side of the threater is the Tiber River.
   

We get our first look at the imposing Victor Emmanuel II Monument.

From almost any vantage point in Rome one building stands out; huge, dazzlingly white and with black horses standing on the roof precipice. Up close it is even more impressive. On a sunny day the white marble really does dazzle and reflect the heat at you.  It is nicknamed the "wedding cake".
   
So who was Victor Emmanuel II and why does he deserve this magnificent monument?
   
This was as close as we got to the monument.
   
This photo from Wikipedia shows the front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  Wow.  Pretty impressive.  I can't believe we went to Rome and did not this view.   Next time.
   
Next to the Victor Emmanuel Monument is Capitoline Hill.  Here we walk up Capitoline Hill via Michelangelo's stairway to visit the highly-regarded Capitoline Museum.
   

Of Rome's famous seven hills, Capitoline Hill  is the smallest, tallest, and most famous -- home of the ancient Temple of Jupiter and the center of city government for 2,500 years.

Basically Capitoline Hill has a square named Campidoglio with an ex-palace now museum building on each side, with the mayoral palace at back center.

Here, we're looking at the building on the left side, the Palazzo Nuovo, which is one of the two palaces that now house the Capitoline Museum, where some of ancient Rome's most famous statues and art are housed.
   

The famous Marcus Aurelius on a horse statue sits in the center of the Campidoglio Square.   The original used to be here, but now is in the Capitoline Museum;  this is a copy.

Once the religious and political center of ancient Rome, Capitoline Hill is still the home of the city's government.  Behind the statue is the mayoral palace.
   
 
   
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