Attractions / 05.07.2024

One day in Ancient Rome. Everyday life, secrets and curiosities. Alberto Angela One day in Ancient Rome. Everyday life, mysteries and curiosities Anglican Church of San Paolo Dentro La Mura

Alberto Angela

UNA GIORNATA NELL'ANTICA ROMA

Publishing CoLibri®

* * *

I dedicate this book to Monica, Riccardo, Edoardo and Alessandro, with gratitude for the light you brought into my life

Introduction

How did the ancient Romans live? What happened every day on the streets of Rome? We have all asked ourselves similar questions at least once. This book is designed to answer them.

In fact, the charm of Rome cannot be described. It can only be felt every time you examine an archaeological site from the Roman era. Unfortunately, explanatory plaques and existing guidebooks in most cases offer only the most general information about daily life, focusing on architectural styles and dates.

But there is one trick to help breathe life into archaeological sites. Take a closer look at the details: worn-out steps of the stairs, graffiti on the plastered walls (there are a lot of them in Pompeii), ruts carts made in the stone pavements, and scuffs on the thresholds of houses left by the entrance door that has not survived to this day.

If you focus on these details, suddenly the ruins will be filled with life again and you will “see” the people of that time. This is exactly how this book was intended: telling a Great History through many small stories.

Over many years of television filming of monuments of the Roman era - both within Rome itself and beyond its borders - I have repeatedly come across life stories and curious details from the times of imperial Rome, forgotten for centuries and rediscovered by archaeologists. Features, habits, curiosities of everyday life or the social structure of the now disappeared world emerged... The same thing happened during conversations with archaeologists, when reading their articles or books.

I realized that this valuable information about the Roman world almost never reaches people, remaining “captive” of special publications or archaeological sites. So I tried to present them.

This book aims to bring the ruins of ancient Rome to life through a story about everyday life, answering the simplest questions: how did passers-by feel as they walked along the streets? What did their faces look like? What did the townspeople see when they looked out from their balconies? What did their food taste like? What kind of Latin would we hear around us? How did the first rays of the sun illuminate the temples on Capitol Hill?

You could say that I pointed the camera lens at these places to show how they might have looked two thousand years ago, so that the reader would feel like he was on the streets of Rome, inhaling their various smells, meeting the gaze of passers-by, entering shops, houses or the Colosseum. Only in this way can one understand what it really meant to live in the capital of the empire.

I live in Rome, so it was easy for me to describe how the sun illuminates the streets and monuments differently throughout the day, or to visit archaeological sites myself to notice the many small details that I give in my book, in addition to those collected for years of filming and reporting.

Naturally, the scenes that will unfold before your eyes during this visit to Ancient Rome are not the product of pure fantasy, but, as already mentioned, are directly based on the results of research and archaeological discoveries, laboratory analyzes of finds and skeletons or the study of ancient literature.

The best way to organize all this information is to organize it into a description of one day.

Each hour corresponds to a specific place and character of the Eternal City with its activities. This is how the picture of everyday life in Ancient Rome gradually unfolds over time.

Only the last question remains: why do we need a book about Rome at all? Because our way of life is a continuation of the Roman one. We wouldn't be ourselves without the Roman era. Just think: Roman civilization is usually identified with the faces of emperors, marching legions and colonnades of temples. But her real strength lies elsewhere. This power allowed it to exist for an unimaginably long time: in the West for more than a thousand years, and in the East, although with some internal evolution leading from Constantinople to Byzantium, even longer, more than two thousand years, almost until the Renaissance. No legion, no political or ideological system could provide such longevity. The secret of Rome lay in its daily modus vivendi, a way of existence: a way of building houses, a way of dressing, eating, interacting with other people in the family and outside it, subject to a clear system of laws and social rules. This aspect remained largely unchanged over the centuries, although it underwent gradual development, and allowed the Roman civilization to survive for so long.

And has that era really sunk into the past? After all, the Roman Empire left us not only statues and magnificent monuments. She also left us the “software” that supports our daily existence. We use the Latin alphabet, and on the Internet it is used not only by Europeans, but by the whole world. The Italian language comes from Latin. To a large extent, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Romanian come from it. A huge number of English words also have Latin roots. And this is not to mention the legal system, roads, architecture, painting, sculpture, which without the Romans would not be what they are.

In fact, if you think about it, most of the Western way of life is nothing more than a development and continuation of the Roman way of life. Just the kind we would see on the streets and in the houses of Rome during the imperial era.

I tried to write the kind of book that I myself would want to find in a bookstore, to satisfy my curiosity about life in Ancient Rome. I hope I can satisfy your curiosity too.

So, fast forward to a Roman alley in 115 AD, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, when Rome, in my opinion, experienced an era of greatest power and, perhaps, greatest beauty. Day is like day. It will dawn soon...

Alberto Angela

The world at that time

Under Trajan, in 115 AD, the Roman Empire was larger than ever before or since. Its land borders stretched along the perimeter for more than ten thousand kilometers, that is, almost a quarter of the circumference of the globe. The empire stretched from Scotland to the borders of Iran, from the Sahara to the North Sea.

It united a variety of peoples, including those who were different in appearance: these were the blondes of Northern Europe, the peoples of the Middle East, Asians and North Africans.

Imagine the people of China, the United States and Russia, who today would be united into one state. And the share of the population of the Roman Empire in the total population of the Earth was even higher at that time...

The landscape in this vast territory was also exceptionally diverse. Moving from one outskirts to another, we would, upon reaching the warm Mediterranean shores and volcanoes of the Apennine Peninsula, encounter icy seas with seals, vast coniferous forests, meadows, snow-capped peaks, huge glaciers, lakes, and rivers. On the opposite shore of “Our Sea” (that’s what the Romans called the Mediterranean Sea – Mare nostrum), endless sandy deserts (the Sahara) and even the coral reefs of the Red Sea would await us.

No empire in history included such diverse natural landscapes. Everywhere the official language was Latin, everywhere they paid with sesterces, and everywhere the same set of laws was in force - Roman law.

It is curious that the population of such a large empire was relatively small: only 50 million inhabitants, almost as many as live in modern Italy. They were scattered across myriads of small villages, towns, individual villa farms throughout the vast territory, like crumbs on a tablecloth, and only here and there large cities unexpectedly grew.

Of course, all settlements were connected by an extremely efficient network of roads, the length of which reached from eighty to one hundred thousand kilometers; We still drive cars along many of them. Perhaps they are the greatest and most lasting monument left to us by the Romans. But a little to the side of these roads - and around there are endless wastelands of untouched wild nature, with wolves, bears, deer, wild boars... To us, accustomed to pictures of cultivated fields and industrial hangars, all this would seem like a continuous series of “national parks”.

The defense of this world was supported by legions stationed at the most vulnerable points of the empire, almost always along the border, the famous "limes". Under Trajan, the army numbered one hundred and fifty, perhaps one hundred and ninety thousand men, divided into thirty legions with historical names, such as the XXX Ulpius Victorious Legion on the Rhine, the II Auxiliary Legion on the Danube, the XVI Flavian Stalwart Legion on the Euphrates, near the borders of modern Iraq.

To these legionnaires we must add the soldiers of the auxiliary troops, recruited from the population of the provinces, with whom the fighting strength of the Roman army became twice as large: thus, under the command of the emperor there were about three hundred to four hundred thousand armed men.

Rome was the heart of everything. It was located right in the center of the empire.

It was the center of power, of course, but also a city of literature, law, and philosophy. And most importantly, it was a cosmopolitan city, like modern New York or London. Representatives of various cultures met here. In the street crowd you could meet rich matrons on stretchers, Greek doctors, Gallic horsemen, Italian senators, Spanish sailors, Egyptian priests, prostitutes from Cyprus, traders from the Middle East, German slaves...

Rome has become the most populated city on the planet: almost one and a half million inhabitants. Since its appearance, the species homo sapiens I have never encountered anything like this! How did they all manage to get along together? This book will help shed light on the daily life of imperial Rome, at the time of its greatest power in the ancient world.

The lives of tens of millions of people throughout the empire depended on what was decided in Rome. And the life of Rome - on what, in turn, did it depend? It consisted of a web of relationships between its inhabitants. An amazing, unique world that we will get to know by studying one day of his life. For example, Tuesday 1892 1
The first edition of the book was published in 2007. (Editor's note)

Ago…

Before dawn

Her gaze is directed into the distance, like those of those who are immersed in deep thoughts. The pale light of the moon falls on a snow-white face, barely touched by a smile. The hair is tied back with a ribbon, leaving only a few unruly strands to fall onto the shoulders. A sudden gust of wind raises a whirlwind of dust around, but the hair remains motionless. No wonder: they are marble. Like bare arms and thousands of folds of clothing. The sculptor who carved it used the most expensive marble to depict one of the most revered Roman deities in stone. This is Mater Matuta, the “merciful mother”, the goddess of fertility, “beginning” and the dawn. For many years now, the statue has stood on an imposing marble pedestal at a street corner. There is only darkness around, but in the diffused light of the moon one can discern the outlines of a wide street with shops on both sides. At this hour of the night, they are all closed with heavy wooden doors, recessed into the floor and reinforced with strong linings. This is the lower part of huge dark buildings. There are black silhouettes all around us, sometimes it seems that you are at the bottom of a deep canyon with stars shining above. These are houses of the poor, "insulas", similar to our apartment condominiums, but much less comfortable.

The lack of lighting in these houses and in general on the streets of Rome is striking. But perhaps we ourselves are too accustomed to modern comfort. For centuries, with the onset of twilight, all cities of the world were plunged into darkness, except for the occasional lanterns of taverns or the lights of lamps in front of holy images, usually located in places important for the orientation of night travelers, such as road corners, intersections, and so on. It’s exactly the same in imperial Rome. In the darkness, the outlines of such places can be discerned, thanks to the few “lamps”, that is, lamps that are not extinguished inside the houses.

The second thing that strikes us is the silence. Fantastic silence surrounds us as we walk down the street. It is disturbed only by the murmur of water in the quarter fountain, a few tens of meters from us. It is designed quite simply: four thick travertine slabs 2
Travertine– calcareous tuff. (Editor's note)

They form a square container, above which a stele rises. The light from the edge of the moon, barely breaking through between the two buildings, makes it possible to see the face of the deity carved on the stele. This is Mercury, with wings on his helmet, and a stream of water flows from his mouth. During the day, women, children and slaves rush here with wooden buckets to collect water and carry it home. And now everything is deserted and only the sound of flowing water breaks our loneliness.

This silence is unusual. After all, we are located in the very center of a city with a population of one and a half million. Usually at night they deliver goods to the shops, the iron rims of the carts rattle on the cobblestone pavement, exclamations, neighing, and inevitable swearing are heard... These are the sounds that are heard in the distance. They are echoed by the barking of a dog. Rome never sleeps.

The road in front of us widens, revealing an illuminated area. Moonlight highlights the grid of basalt slabs that pave the street, like the petrified shell of a giant turtle.

A little further away, in the depths of the street, something is moving. The man stops, then moves again, and finally, staggering, leans against the wall. He's probably drunk. Muttering incomprehensible words, he wanders down the alley. Who knows if he will make it home. After all, at night the streets of Rome are full of dangers: thieves, criminals and various scum - any of them will not hesitate to stab anyone with a dagger, just to profit from something. If the next morning someone found a stabbed and robbed corpse, it would not be easy to detect the killers in such a densely populated and disorderly city.

Turning into an alley, the drunk stumbles over a package on the street corner and, swearing, continues his difficult path. The bundle moves. But this is a living person! One of the city's many homeless people, trying to get some sleep. He has been living on the street for several days now, after the owner of his rented room kicked him out. He is not alone: a whole family huddles nearby, with their wretched belongings. At certain points of the year, Rome is flooded with such people - leases are renewed every six months, and many find themselves thrown onto the streets, in search of a new shelter.

Suddenly our attention is drawn to a rhythmic noise. At first unclear, then more and more distinct. It echoes off the facades of houses, making it difficult to determine the source. The sharp knock of the bolt and the light of several lanterns make everything clear: this is a night patrol of the guard service, the “vigila”. How should their responsibilities be defined? Actually, they are firefighters, but since they still have to constantly carry out inspections to prevent fires, they are also entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining public order.

The Vigils have a military bearing, this is immediately noticeable. There are nine of them: eight recruits and a senior in rank. They quickly descend the stairs of the large colonnade. These people are authorized to go almost anywhere, because anywhere there could be a source of fire, a dangerous situation, or negligence that could lead to tragedy. They have just come from inspection, and the elder says something. He raised the lantern high so that the recruits could see him clearly: his massive torso and stern facial features were consistent with his hoarse voice. Having finished with the explanations, he finally looks menacingly at the rest of the Vigils, his dark eyes flashing from under his leather helmet, then shouts out the order to move. The guard marches too diligently, like all newcomers. The eldest looks after them, shaking his head, and finally leaves after them too. The noise of footsteps gradually subsides, drowned out by the murmur of the fountain.

Looking up, we notice that the sky has changed. It is still the same black, but the stars are no longer visible. It was as if an invisible, intangible blanket had gradually enveloped the city, separating it from the arch of stars. In a few hours a new day will begin. But this morning in the capital of the most powerful empire of antiquity will be different from all others.

Curious facts

The Eternal City in numbers

In the 2nd century AD, Rome is at the zenith of its splendor. This is truly the best time to visit. Like an empire, the city is experiencing a period of maximum territorial expansion, stretching over 1,800 hectares, about 22 kilometers in circumference. Little of. It has one or one and a half million inhabitants (and according to some estimates, perhaps even two million, slightly less than the number of inhabitants of modern Rome!). It is the most populous city on the planet in ancient times.

In fact, such a demographic and construction boom should not be surprising: Rome is expanding all the time, for many generations now. Each emperor decorates it with new buildings and monuments, gradually changing the appearance of the city. Sometimes, however, this appearance changes in the most radical way - due to fires, which happened very often. This constant transformation of Rome will take place over the centuries and will make it already in ancient times the most beautiful open-air museum of art and architecture.

The list of buildings and monuments compiled under Emperor Constantine looks impressive. Of course, we will not give it in full, but even if we list only the most important things, the list is still amazing, taking into account the fact that the then city was much smaller than today...

40 triumphal arches

12 forums

28 libraries

12 basil

11 large thermal baths and almost 1000 public baths

100 temples

3,500 bronze statues of famous people and 160 statues of deities made of gold or ivory, to which should be added 25 equestrian monuments

15 Egyptian obelisks

46 lupanarii 3
Lupanarium- brothel. (Note per.)

11 aqueducts and 1352 street fountains

2 circuses for chariot competitions (the largest, Circus Maximus, could accommodate up to 400,000 spectators)

2 amphitheaters for gladiator fights (the largest, the Colosseum, had from 50,000 to 70,000 seats)

4 theaters (the largest, the Theater of Pompey, with 25,000 seats)

2 large naumachia (artificial lakes for water battles)

1 stadium for athletic competitions (Domitian Stadium with 30,000 seats)

What about greens? Incredible, but true: in this city, so densely filled with monuments and houses, there was enough greenery. In Rome, green spaces occupied approximately a quarter of its area: about four hundred and fifty hectares of public and private gardens, sacred groves, peristyles of patrician mansions, and so on.

By the way, what was the real color of Rome? If you look at the city from afar, what colors would prevail in it? It is possible that these two are red and white: the red color of the terracotta tiled roofs and the bright white color of the facades of houses and marble colonnades of temples. Here and there in the reddish tiled sea it sparkles greenish-gold in the sun: these are the gilded bronze roofs of temples and some imperial buildings (over time, the bronze, oxidizing in the air, became covered with a greenish patina). And of course, we would notice a few gilded statues on top of columns or on temples overlooking the city. White, red, green and gold: these were the colors of Rome at that time.

6:00. Domus, home of the rich

Where do the Romans live? How are their homes arranged? In films and plays, we are used to seeing the Romans in bright, spacious houses with columns, internal gardens, fountains and tricliniums; the rooms in these houses are painted with frescoes. In reality, everything is different. Only the rich and aristocrats can afford the luxury of living in small villas with servants. There are not many of them. The vast majority of the inhabitants of Rome are crowded into large multi-storey buildings, the living conditions in which are sometimes reminiscent of life in the Bombay slums...

But let's take things in order. Let's start with the houses in which the elite of Rome live, with the houses of the rich, called domus. In Rome under Constantine, authorities counted 1,790 such houses; the number is undoubtedly impressive. But they were not all alike: some were large, others were small, due to the chronic lack of space in Trajan-era Rome. The house we are going to visit is built in a classical spirit, “in the old fashioned way,” to the great pride of the owner.

What is most striking is the appearance of such a house: like an oyster, it is closed in on itself. It is best to imagine a rich Roman house as a small fortress: it has no windows, except for a few very small ones located high up. There are no balconies either: the outer wall protects the house from the outside world. It simply reproduces the structure of archaic family farms from the era of the birth of Latin and Roman civilization, surrounded by a protective wall.

This “detachment” from the bustle of the streets is clearly felt even when looking at the outer door, almost faceless among the many shops clinging to its sides, still closed at that time. The main entrance is formed by large double wooden gates with massive bronze hinges. In the middle of each door there is a bronze wolf's head. There is a ring in the mouth; it is used as a door knocker.

Alberto Angela

UNA GIORNATA NELL'ANTICA ROMA

Publishing CoLibri®

I dedicate this book to Monica, Riccardo, Edoardo and Alessandro, with gratitude for the light you brought into my life

Introduction

How did the ancient Romans live? What happened every day on the streets of Rome? We have all asked ourselves similar questions at least once. This book is designed to answer them.

I realized that this valuable information about the Roman world almost never reaches people, remaining “captive” of special publications or archaeological sites. So I tried to present them.

The best way to organize all this information is to organize it into a description of one day. Each hour corresponds to a specific place and character of the Eternal City with its activities. This is how the picture of everyday life in Ancient Rome gradually unfolds over time.

I tried to write the kind of book that I myself would want to find in a bookstore, to satisfy my curiosity about life in Ancient Rome. I hope I can satisfy your curiosity too.

Alberto Angela

The world at that time

It united a variety of peoples, including those who were different in appearance: these were the blondes of Northern Europe, the peoples of the Middle East, Asians and North Africans.

“All roads lead to Rome,” says the proverb. And according to this proverb, one of the roads once led me to this great city.

Entering Rome, I was amazed by its splendor: houses, temples, altars, columns. I was also surprised by how many people gathered there. I examined the hills between which the city stands, walked along the embankment of the Tiber River, and looked at the temple of the supreme god Jupiter. Then I went to the Forum to look at the rich Romans dressed in togas. A forum is a place where Roman citizens gather, on business or just because. I finished my walk near the Column of Emperor Trajan, erected in honor of the victory of the Roman legionnaires over the barbarians.

I sat down to rest near the aristocrat's mansion. Here I watched as slaves carried out a lektika - a stretcher with a tent - from the house. A rich patrician sat in them, all hung with jewelry.

The slaves carried the stretcher with the mistress along the street, followed by the slave guards. A little later, more slaves came out of the house with baskets and went towards the market. In general, I noticed that the Romans, even the plebeians, hardly work themselves. Slaves do everything for them.

I got hungry and bought some pies from a street vendor. He also turned out to be a slave, but a freedman. He gives part of his proceeds to the owner.

Of course, I also saw the Colosseum. Its arena and amphitheater amazed me with their scale. People were just flocking here. The emperor presented the people with the spectacle of gladiator fights in honor of the next victory of his legions over their opponents. Gladiators, whole squads, entered the arena. They were armed with spears, swords, and pikes. Slaves carried cages on wheels with predatory panthers and tigers brought from overseas countries. Today people and animals will fight against each other. The loser will die.

I realized that for the Romans a gladiator fight is a common sight. Spectators calmly munched on pies and sweets and held their children on their laps while blood flowed in the arena. I left the circus when Roman citizens bet money and cheered for “their” gladiators. Who will beat whom: the Germans or the Gauls? People felt like rulers of the world, citizens of a Great Empire that would never fall.

In Rome we had a long layover between flights, and we, naturally,... At one o'clock in the afternoon we were at Termini. We had about six hours at our disposal.

First of all, we decided to look at the Baths of Diocletian.

These baths are located very close to the station. Emperor Diocletian built them for his people in 305 AD. In area they exceeded all previous buildings of this type. Thus, the no less grandiose Baths of Caracalla occupied 11 hectares, and the Baths of Diocletian – 13 hectares and could accommodate up to 3200 people.

In addition to the washing departments themselves, decorated with all the luxury available at that time, they included libraries, collections of statues and paintings, winter gardens, and halls for physical education and sports. The premises were heated, that is, at any time of the year, any citizen of Rome, including the last poor man, could comfortably spend time there and, not only wash himself, but also improve, so to speak, his cultural level.

Needless to say, the Romans loved to steam. The building is grandiose by today's standards. Suffice it to say that now it houses the National Roman Museum with a collection of works of Roman and Greek art, two churches and a planetarium.

The dome of the planetarium located in the Baths of Diocletian

And many rooms are not used and are represented by Cyclopean ruins.

We approached the museum and upon entering the territory were subjected to a thorough check (due to the difficult situation with terrorism).

in front of the museum entrance

We did not buy a ticket to the museum, since in addition to the Baths of Diocletian, the ticket includes visits to several other sites: the Balbi Crypts, Palazzo Altemps and Palazzo Massimo. We decided that it would be more logical to buy a ticket when we have more time and can visit everything included in the ticket.

Thus, we limited ourselves to an external inspection of the grandiose ruins - truly impressive!

Having crossed a busy street, we found ourselves at Naiad fountain on Republic Square.

The fountain was designed by Mario Rutelli and opened in 1901. Four nymphs surround the sea god Glaucus. The Lake Nymph sits on a swan, the River Nymph on a river monster, the Ocean Nymph on a sea monster, and the Underground Water Nymph on a dragon. The god Glaucus, who according to legend was originally a man and who fights with a dolphin, is a symbol of man’s victory over the elements. According to tourist legend, if you walk around the fountain and make a wish, it will come true. We did this. We're waiting, sir.

When the fountain was opened, the naked statues seemed too erotic, and at first it was surrounded by a fence. Now, in the light of current ideas about morality, it is not entirely clear what caused this.

After visiting the fountain and admiring the semicircular buildings surrounding the square, designed by Gaetano Coch and decorated with magnificent sculpture,

we decided to go back and visit Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, located in one of the premises of the former thermal baths. I thought that you could only enter this church with a ticket. But no, the church is active, admission is free.

Entrance to the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Visiting the church, designed by Michelangelo himself, was a revelation for me. Imagine, Michelangelo built a church in one of the rooms of Diocletian’s Baths, not much smaller in size than St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. How big were these baths inside originally?! The length of the church is 90 m (St. Isaac's size is 100 by 100 m), the height of the vaults is 29 m.

The church was completed in 1556, after Michelangelo's death, and was rebuilt several times after 1700. On a tablet inside the church, it is written that Pope Pius the 4th ordered Michelangelo to rebuild the best preserved part of the baths into a church because Emperor Diocletian was a persecutor of Christians.

Michelangelo had great respect for ancient culture and approached the issue delicately, trying to preserve the ancient Roman heritage as best as possible and show its greatness. This is how this one of the most unusual churches appeared. It contains a lot of genuine masterpieces of painting and sculpture, not only Italian work, but also French, in particular, the sculpture of St. Bruno by Houdon. Moreover, wonderful music is constantly playing. The experience is unforgettable.

More. At the beginning of the 18th century, Pope Clement the 11th ordered the scientist Francesco Bianchini to lay a meridian along the floor of the church. There were three goals: 1st - to check the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar, 2nd - to obtain a tool for determining the date of Easter, and 3rd - the ambitious pope wanted to outdo Bologna, where a similar meridian already existed.

Due to the fact that the ancient baths were oriented strictly from south to north (in order to better use the sun's heat), the sun's ray from the round window in the dome at 12:15 was directed strictly along the meridian. The meridian, ordered for the new year 1700, was ready in 1702.

meridian in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

There is also a Foucault pendulum, showing the daily rotation of the Earth.

Who remembers, there was such a pendulum in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. But there, according to the Bolsheviks’ plan, he proved that there is no God. And in the Roman church he proves how great God is, having arranged everything so complexly and perfectly. As we see, opposite conclusions can be drawn from the same phenomenon.

The Chinese also showed up in the nice courtyard of the church, erecting a monument to Galileo Galilei. It is immediately obvious, in my opinion, that Galileo’s face was not sculpted by a European.

Galileo Galilei, sculpted by a Chinese sculptor

church yard

We leisurely walked around Rome, admiring the architectural masterpieces, which are countless in the Great City.

Fountain in Plaza San Bernardo

Church of San Bernardo, located in one of the corner rotundas of the Baths of Diocletian

Anglican Church of San Paolo Dentro La Mura

We went to the Anglican Church of San Paolo Dentro La Mura. The church is quite recent, from the end of the 19th century, but it is beautiful both outside and inside and is well worthy of being in Rome. Some of its mosaics were made by the Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones.

Feeling hungry, we started looking for somewhere to eat. We went into a diner where locals were sitting - this always speaks in favor of the establishment. When we ordered, due to mutual misunderstanding (both we and the employees of the establishment do not speak English perfectly) we took 2 pieces of meat for each instead of one. “Paris (in our case, Rome) is worth mass (we have lunch),” so we ordered 2 more bottles of wine, 0.25 liters each. We were afraid of a big score, but the result was only 13 for two. It turns out that in Rome you can eat cheaply (by European standards, of course) and satisfyingly.

Soon we found ourselves near the Police Tower.

Police Tower

I would translate its name as “Mentovskaya”, this is more consistent with its purpose. And that's why. It was not created in ancient times and therefore could not have been the place from where, as modern tourist legend says, Nero watched the fire in Rome. It was built in the Middle Ages, when gangs of local feudal lords operated on the ruins of the former imperial metropolis. It was built by the Aretino family at the end of the 12th century in order to control their area and monitor competitors who had fortified themselves in the castle of St. Angela.

Then it changed hands several times until it lost its military significance and became simply one of the city’s attractions. Now its height is about 50 m, but before the earthquake of 1348 it was much higher.

Church of St. Catherine of Siena

In front of the tower is the beautiful church of St. Catherine of Siena, one of the patron saints of Italy. As you can understand from the sign, this church is related to the Italian armed forces, which is probably why 2 soldiers were on duty on its steps.

Leaving the church, we found ourselves in front of the entrance to the Imperial Forums, which we went to for 11.5 euros.

“Forum” in translation means market. But this grandiose structure rather corresponds to the modern concept of a “shopping and entertainment center.”

This is what forums looked like in ancient times

The "Imperial Forums" include those of Caesar (46 BC), Augustus (2 BC), Vespasian (75 AD), Nerva (98 AD), Trajan (113 AD) and the Temple Mira. Despite the fact that almost nothing remains of the marble and other decorations, the forum still makes an indelible impression. It occurred to me that modern humanity still has a long way to go before the ancient Romans.

The forum (or rather, what is left of it) has several levels. We either climbed to the very top, then went down, moved from level to level, from the interior to the outside, along galleries, balustrades, and stairs.

The overall impression was spoiled by the modern abstract sculptures placed here and there; they kept getting into the frame. Like, “and we can do no worse.” I don’t know how it is for anyone, but compared to the background of Roman creations, they hurt my eyes. They are discordant with the perfect and strict ancient forms.

modern statue

This is by no means a simple cobblestone, but the creation of a Japanese sculptor

And it was warm outside, street musicians were playing Piazzola, very suitable for this not-so-November-warm evening. Downstairs, where it was free, crowds of people were wandering around (and on the forum, where there was money, there was almost no one).

Flocks of birds soared in the sky, cats ran on the ground among the ruins. And all this against the backdrop of Trajan’s Column, churches and other architectural wonders. By the way, the “Altar of the Fatherland,” which is usually scolded and compared to a typewriter, looked sublime and majestic from this angle (and even against the backdrop of the pre-sunset sky). How glorious it was in those moments!

Altar of the Fatherland

It was getting dark, and it was time to return to the railway station to go to the airport. We couldn’t help but once again pass by the Colosseum, where it was very crowded that evening.

From the Colosseum we climbed Oppio Hill, walked through Trajan's Park and soon reached the Church of Santa Prassede.

This church is somewhat in the shadow of its neighbor, the magnificent Santa Maria Maggiore, but is no less striking. Hidden in the depths of this modest church are wonderful, slightly naive mosaics from the early 9th century. Also kept here is such a Christian shrine as the “scourging pillar” to which Christ was tied when he was beaten with whips.

Of course, after Santa Prassede we also stopped at Santa Maria Maggiore.

And soon we were already at the station and looking for where the trains departed for the airport.

It seems like we spent only a short time in Rome, but Rome has many faces and is so full of masterpieces that even a short walk allows you to see a lot and leaves a stunning impression. How many wonderful creations are concentrated in Rome! How great and beautiful the Eternal City is!

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The route around Rome was hastily drawn up the evening of the previous day. On the map I asked for from the hotel, I drew a thick curve, marking with circles all the sights that needed to be seen. The result is a kind of zigzag diagonal, crossing the eternal city in the middle from southeast to northwest, from the Termini area to Villa Borghese.

In the morning there was an early rise. Having quickly gotten ready, we went down to the hotel lobby, where the final preparations for breakfast were being made. I liked the Mediterranean breakfast: tasty and cheerful. For those not in the know, it's usually coffee and a bun. But the coffee is not simple, but aromatic cappuccino with delicate milk foam sprinkled with cinnamon on top... And locally made buns are quite an appetizing thing =)

Having quickly finished breakfast, we rushed out of the hotel, walked fifty meters and stood up as if struck by thunder. Where should we go, actually? Where are we anyway? On which street? These questions put my mother and I at a dead end.
This is where my very-very-pur, but at least some English was needed. It turned out that most Italians understand English even less than me. That is, they don’t understand anything about it at all.

Despite mutual misunderstanding, we finally figured out what was what. We took the path to the Coliseum, but not directly, but through the ruins of the castle of Victor Emmanuel and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. We hadn’t really heard anything about the last two points before, they were just marked on the map and lay just (or almost) on the way to the Colosseum.

Our long, but, alas, fleeting, journey through Rome has begun. Life in the city was in full swing, although in August all the Romans (as, indeed, all Italians) take vacations and move on, leaving the city at the complete disposal of tourists.

On the road, along the sidewalks, all kinds of dirt are scattered everywhere - a constant companion of the city outskirts. Migrants from the countries of South Asia and Africa scurry up and down; Fit Roman girls, one of the few Romans left in the city, run past.
And we walk leisurely, looking around and marveling at the abundance of ancient ruins and their excellent preservation.

We reached the ruins of the castle of the first king of united Italy, Victor Emmanuel.
For reference: until the middle of the 19th century, Italy as a state did not exist at all, and the territory of the Italian boot was occupied by tiny republics and principalities warring among themselves. Only in 1848 did the process of unification of Italy begin - the so-called Risorgirmento, which lasted more than twenty years. Victor Emmanuel, the king of the Sardinian kingdom, which was the center of unification, was elected ruler of the already united Italy.

But so far we had not the slightest idea about this, nor that this was stretching out before us. This is how we would have stood and looked at the ruins of unknown origin, if not for the complacent Italian policeman, who told us a brief history of this building.

The castle itself resembles a small mansion; At the foot of it, ancient columns and slabs sleep peacefully, and around all this there is a vast park.

In the morning you can meet unfortunate guests here - immigrants who found some semblance of shelter in the city park. One boy slept carefree on the grass between four huge trunks. I clicked on him, in response to which he began to shower me with the latest curses, waving his arms indignantly. We instantly disappeared from the scene and wandered on calmly.

Soon it appeared before us - Santa Maria Maggiore, an extremely complex architectural church. It has two facades in plan, and they are so different from each other that it seems as if they are two completely different churches. The front façade is decorated with a slender clock tower (the tallest in Rome).

The rear facade is topped by two vaulted domes that rise on either side of the center.

The lack of a clear layout is immediately noticeable. It is clear that the church was built over centuries. This is evidenced by the variety of architectural styles: Gothic stained glass windows, luxurious baroque facades, domes in the spirit of the Renaissance and their conceivable and inconceivable interweavings.

We debated for a long time whether to come in or not. Finally, having made up their mind, they crossed the threshold and were petrified by what they saw. The cathedral is beautiful both outside and inside. It was definitely worth visiting.

Having left this quiet and majestic monastery, we rushed to the Flavian Amphitheater, or, in our language, to the Colosseum. Is there a person in the world who does not know what the Colosseum is? Perhaps the Papuans of New Guinea or the Eskimos of the Far North do not know this, but the entire civilized world has heard about it in full. Everyone except my mom.
To my joyful exclamation:
- And now we are going to the Colosseum! - she asks me a simply discouraging question:
- What is the Colosseum?
Having recovered a little from the shock, I began to explain.
I say: “The Colosseum is an ancient Roman amphitheater where gladiator fights and fights with wild animals were held.” So that a clear image of this structure appears in her head, I ask a leading question:
“Mom, do you remember the movie is called Gladiator?” The idea was a success, and I continued my impromptu excursion:
“The Colosseum was built in the 1st century AD by Roman emperors from the Flavian family, which is why it is called the Flavian Amphitheater. It could accommodate up to 80 thousand people, and everyone - from the emperor to the last plebeian - could be present at the spectacles. However, they were accommodated in the Colosseum according to social status. Aristocrats, rich and respected townspeople sat in the lower rows, and the imperial box was also located there. The lower the person’s position in society, the higher his seat was.
The spectacles here were not for the faint of heart. From a modern point of view, of course. Let's say they brought a man - a slave - into the arena and let a hungry lion approach him. And the spectators actively chanted and clapped, reveling in the bloodthirsty game unfolding before their eyes.
Now you have at least some idea of what the Colosseum is. Get ready to see it in person."

Soon he appeared in all his genuine greatness. He looked at us like something out of a photograph. I almost screamed with delight mixed with disbelief.

The previous day we had learned one very useful secret: how to get to the Colosseum without waiting in a long line for tickets. Nothing illegal, I say right away. The fact is that the ticket gives you the opportunity to visit not only the Colosseum, but also the forums and the Palatine Hill. And there is a ticket office not only at the entrance to the Colosseum, but also at the Palatine Hill, behind the Arch of Constantine.

We were lucky: there was no queue at this ticket office. And we, rejoicing that we would not lose precious time in tedious hours of waiting, bought tickets and went to the Palatine Hill. It was here, according to legend, that the she-wolf nursed little Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. It is from this hill that the almost three-thousand-year history of the city begins. It is green here and smells of history. The ruins of ancient ancient and medieval buildings are visible from everywhere.
It's easy to get lost if you don't know where to go. What we didn’t fail to do =) Having wandered around to our heart’s content and still not finding the Farnesian Gardens, we suddenly remembered time and the fact that we have a limited amount of it, and wandered off to look for a way out.

It was already around 11 am when we approached the Colosseum with tickets in hand. They looked with pity at the unfortunate people standing in the half-kilometer queue, which seemed to crawl slower than a snail. And in a few minutes we reached the inside of the amphitheater, even more battered by time than its appearance;

There is no arena in the Colosseum, but the basement rooms underneath are visible. There are no less people inside than outside.

I would come here at dawn on a cold November morning to sit here alone and breathe in this spirit of history, which, alas, is easily dispelled due to the abundance of contemporaries snooping here and there. I would walk through these torn remains of former power and see before me an angry crowd, a sleek emperor in a crown of thorns, surrounded by a dressed retinue, I would see gladiators rushing at each other with frantic fury. However, I was unable to stretch my imagination in the seething stream of people. These stones were just stones for me, and not witnesses to gladiatorial fights and staged sea battles.
Having walked around the lower gallery, we left the Colosseum.

We moved along the street of the Imperial Forums (via Fori Imperiali). This street is also a kind of landmark. What views of the ancient ruins open up from here! For confirmation, if you don’t take my word for it, a photograph.

Constantly looking around, we reached the so-called Wedding Cake, or the Typewriter, or, even worse, the Dentures. All these are loving nicknames given by the Romans to the monument in honor of the already mentioned Victor Emmanuel. The Italians themselves are not very fond of their first king, hence these funny nicknames (very accurate, if you think about it).

By the way, the official name of the monument is Vittoriano. Its other official name is the Altar of the Fatherland. An eternal flame burns here in memory of the Italians who died in the First World War.

In style, Vittoriano is pure baroque, lush, elegant and monumental. It's beautiful, you won't mind. Especially if you look at it after crossing the road in advance. Why? Bright green, sun-drenched grass shines in the foreground, and against this background the snow-white monument looks even more advantageous.

Then we went to look for Piazza Venezia. I tell my mother: “It is behind Vittoriano, as shown on the map.” She tells me the opposite: that we need to go forward, not backward. A heated argument ensues. Moving from side to side, now forward, now back, we asked a lot of people: “Where is piazza Venezia?” But all our respondents were just like us, unlucky tourists =) Fortunately, on the way we met a native Roman woman who literally stunned us with her answer. And she said this: “This is Piazza Venezia. You are in the Piazza Venezia.”
So, we suffered for so long in search of the cracked square, while we ourselves were on it? And we had a good laugh at ourselves. Although, in general, we had nothing to do with it. It’s just that on the map Vittoriano is shown incorrectly: it looks at Piazza Venice not in front, as it actually is, but backwards. So we are confused. Having warmly thanked the kind Italian woman, we headed for the Pantheon.
The Pantheon, along with the Colosseum and Forums, is a kind of calling card of the city. The Temple of All Gods, which was once pagan, turned into a Christian church in the 7th century.

You will not see such an unusual Christian church anywhere in the world. The whole point is that it's round. No Latin or Greek crosses, no naves, nothing from a Christian church. Moreover, there is a nine-meter hole in the dome. True, this is not a hole at all, it is a special hole through which light penetrates here. And sometimes it’s rain, and hail, and everything that comes close.

By the way, many outstanding Italians found peace in the Pantheon, including Rafael Santi. His grave is located in a separate niche; it is decorated with two sculptures: a bust of Raphael himself and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Who is depicted in the image of the Virgin Mary is an unsolvable mystery of history. Perhaps his bride is from a rich and noble family, or his beloved (read mistress) Fornarina, for whom he built a luxurious villa and whom he immortalized on his canvases?...

To be continued...

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