When in Rome- Day 4

Day 4- The Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum

So...the weird Roman time warp happened again that night.  We made SURE that the watch and clock were the same when we went to sleep and not only did the alarm not go off, but they were an hour apart when we woke up!  What the heck??  So no breakfast again, but we still KILLED it that day and saw some amazing things.  First, we made our way south to Palatine Hill, where we continued to use our Roma Pass to get a cheap combo ticket to Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum.  We started at the lease crowded of the three, Palatine Hill.

Me at Palatine Hill

Drinking from the aqueducts

something so "Secret Garden"-y about this....

I loved this tree and archway

So, this was probably a garden in one of the many palaces that dotted this hill in Ancient Rome.

I wonder just how long this column has been standing.....

The huts of Romulus.  We are talking OLD.

Truly lovely.  It was very peaceful on this hill.

The imperial palace courtyard.  See the stubs of all the columns?  And the circle at the end was a personal gladiator ring.

After some peaceful walking around the hill, we decided to go to the Colosseum.  On the way, we saw the huge and significant Arch of Constantine.  It signifies a turning point in history: when Christianity became mainstream under the rule of Constantine.  You used to be killed for being Christian, and after this arch, you could be killed for NOT being a Christian.

Through the archway

From the top of the colosseum

On the way to the Colosseum....

So, we made our way (very quickly) through security and took a tour of the Colosseum courtesy of Rick Steves and my ipod.  It was amazing in a really sad way.  The things they did to people here were HORRIBLE.  Not just killing each other to the death.  Since this is a happy blog, I won't go into it, but its bad.  What is amazing about it is how ancient it is, and how you can still see the underground maze that was used to hold the prisoners and animals.  It was an elaborate system that maximized the theatrics of it all using trap doors so that the challenger never knew where the opponent was coming from.  Fun.  Very Hunger Games--except not at all fiction.

From the air--we couldn't get this high....

I was feeling merciful.....

Jordan was not....

From the upper deck of the Colosseum we could get a great shot of where we were headed next: the Roman Forum.

To be honest, I didn't think I would like the Roman Forum as much as I did.  It is amazing that you can actually walk the road (Via Sacra- Sacred Way) where Caesar walked.  Pieces of the ancient buildings are literally just LAYING on the ground for you to sit on.  Its amazing.  And, to imagine how much bigger and grander it all was in ancient Rome, you can't help but be impressed.

One end of the Roman Forum is started by the Arch of Titus

Titus made the Jews that he conquered build this arch depicting the event.

Starting the walk down the Via Sacra

The first thing we saw was the colossal skeleton of what used to be the Basilica of Constantine--and they only represent one third of how big it used to be.  Look at the top of building and see that the center hall of the building was an EVEN TALLER ceiling.  The three niches were replicated on the other side too, but they are no longer standing.  The room arches that are visible are 75 feet tall and the original central hall was 130 ft high.   It was as long as a football field and served as a hall of justice.

Yep that's me.  Thumbelina.

Continuing on the walk, we passed the temple of Romulus, where Rome was born.  The legend is that Romulus (Rome) and Remus were orphaned and raised by a she-wolf on Palatine Hill.  They kidnapped some women from a nearby tribe and, boom, Rome.  And yes, I believe those are the original bronze doors.

We kept going until we saw the Temple of Julius Caesar, where Caesar's body was burned after his assassination.  This was also where the funeral was held, and he was the first Roman to become a god in Roman theology, when Emperor Augustus dedicated this temple to his name.

Via Sacra

Temple of Julius Caesar

 Next, the temple of Vesta, where the Vestal Virgins (women chosen around age 10 who committed a 30 year term to virginity) kept the sacred flame of Rome lit.  They were honored by the Romans and were given power to pardon people and their own special boxes to watch the "games" at the Colosseum.  They lived next door to this temple.  At the end of their term, they were given huge dowries and married very well, but if they had been "unfaithful" during their term, they were dragged through the streets and buried alive with a loaf of bread and a lamp.

As you can see, this temple was round.

The House of the Vestal Virgins

This is the Curia or Senate House.  Its still a full building!

The original mosaic tile floor.

The Curia

The Temple of Saturn was the Forum's oldest temple (497 BC).  

Temple of Saturn

Dang! Those are some old columns!!

This column of Phocas marks Rome's fall.  It is the Forum's last monument (ad 608).

Here are some other photos of the Forum:

Yep, just laying around!!

Honestly, I don't know what these are....

The end of the Roman Forum is marked by another arch, the Arch of Septimius Severus (and YES, I think of Harry Potter every time I say that).

After all this, we were, of course, STARVING, so we wandered around and finally saw that the Victor Emmanuel Monument had a cafe AND bathrooms.  Score.  But first, we had to do a silly Roman tradition of drinking from Il Nasone (the big nose) water fountain.  You plug up the nose and drink up.

Now, through the piazza housing the Capitoline Museums to the Victor Emmanuel Monument.

Behind me is one wing of the Capitoline Museums (which we did not go to)

The view from partway up the stairs of the mammoth monument

You can't do justice to just how humongous this building.  The soldiers are guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier.

After lunch, we took some stellar pictures from the top of this monument.

Trajan's Forum and Market (same idea as the Roman Forum)

Trajan's Column (but replaced with St. Peter on top instead of Trajan)

Then we decided to take "the long way" back to the Metro station so we could see a few other sights:

A lot of stairs....

So...we actually only walked DOWN these....there was a shortcut from the memorial

I call this the "Church of the Chandelier," but its actually the Santa Maria in Aracoeli Church--check the lighting!!

Bocca della Verità- "The Mouth of Truth"- the legend is that if you are a liar when you stick your hand in the  mouth, it will be eaten.  Luckily, the church was closed so we could only take pictures :)

This is the oldest temple in Rome-- it is known as the temple of Vesta since it looks like the real one in the Forum, but it is actually dedicated to Hercules Victor and its made of greek marble.  This stands in the Piazza Bocca Della Verita, across from the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, where that sculpture sits.

This is the Circus Maximus, once a chariot course.  That's Palatine Hill in the background.

Obviously, we killed it today and did a ton!!  We took a quick nap before going out to a small diner called Ristorante da Giovanni.   It was cozy and yummy.  Thanks everyone for making it through this mammoth post!!  On to Day 5!