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

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I hope this series of photographs will bring you even closer to the “correct” Rome. So, this story is about my Rome on July 13, 2014.

I am called to rise with the first rays of the sun by duty and conscience towards my clients - couples in love from different countries of the world who come to Italy before or after their wedding, and sometimes just for their anniversary or birthday. I am convinced that only at this time can you truly enjoy the city and take beautiful pictures. On my official website jakutsevich.ru you will find more photos and ideas for walks at dawn, and not only in Italy. But today my story is not about lovers, but about love for Rome.
Most often we meet with friends and clients at the Arch of Constantine near the Colosseum. Literally at the beginning of July it was finally freed from the scaffolding.

This is what the square near the main Roman attraction usually looks like at 6.30-7.00 in the morning. All public excursions start at 8.30-9.00, and before this time most people are not interested in it. This is why we schedule ours so early.

This morning I walked with Holly and Jordan, who flew to Rome from the USA six months before the wedding. For those who are interested, maybe a story about the guys.

On this day, according to all forecasts, even on the iPhone, weather forecasters promised heavy rains.

Of course, I don’t like getting wet, but as a photographer I simply adore this kind of light and clouds. Moreover, any rain tends to end, and in Rome it usually rains for a short time, but “like a bucket.” In any case, you can always pass the time in one of the many cafes with a cup.

A minute after the photo above was taken, it started pouring from that same bucket, and we jumped into a taxi and moved to . Here we had to wait for about 20 minutes under a canopy.

And, as usual, the clouds quickly cleared.

We admired the embankment and decided to go down to the river.

Who knows, but seagulls can be found in any weather.

Bridge of Umberto I - the second king of Italy.

In front of the Pantheon there is only us and a lonely umbrella seller, who during the day turns into a water or scarf seller.

Not far from the Pantheon is the Church of Sant’Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio. We advise everyone to look there and admire the incredibly beautiful painting by the famous Andrea Pozzo, which creates the illusion of a dome, although the ceiling is flat.

Early in the morning after rain, even the central streets are completely deserted.

How do you like this Via del Corso without hundreds of shopaholic tourists?

And the most glamorous Via Condotti leading to.

We headed towards the People's Square.

Here we met several bored workers dismantling fencing after a recent concert.

The final destination of our morning walk was the Pincio hill and one of the most beautiful Roman parks. It is from here that one of the best free views of the panorama of Rome opens. This is where hundreds of tourists crowd during the day. In the distance you can see, as you can see, at 9 am there are not very many people who want to admire the panoramas of the Eternal City. And rightly so, in the morning there is no such suffocating heat that everyone loves so much in July-August, and it’s boring to be alone.

View of the People's Square.

It was here that we met with Holi's mother and brothers for a small family photo session.

It seems that the Vatican is just a stone's throw away.

And this is how proudly the city is located on Venice Square.

You can admire the Roman churches endlessly.

What's a morning without coffee? – you ask and you will be absolutely right.

Our entire delegation is in a cheerful and positive mood, and life is generally good with the chocolate croissant!

Editor-in-Chief of “ITALY FOR ME” Yana Yakutsevich is always happy to join us.

Our entire walk took about 4 hours and we were a little tired, but impressed by the beauty we saw, we went for a well-deserved rest to meet in the evening in one of the most atmospheric areas of Rome. Surprisingly, many tourists still haven’t heard of or ignore this gastronomic paradise – you won’t find such a concentration of bars and restaurants anywhere else in Rome.

It was especially deserted that evening, as most tourists were glued to the TV screens in the bars, which were showing the World Cup final in Brazil.

The bars themselves are very small and sitting inside is not particularly customary, so most of the fans hang out on the street.

It is in this format that most Italians while away their evenings if they want to socialize and have a drink. Sitting inside and throwing a feast for the whole world is not particularly customary. More often than not, everyone stands with glasses on the street next to the bar and after drinking a glass they move on to the next establishment.

This was my day in “proper Rome”. As you can see, no one stopped us from having a delicious and inexpensive breakfast and dinner, as well as comfortably enjoying the most popular places and attractions. You can love this kind of Rome and you can fall in love with this kind of Rome for life!

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Early in the morning at dawn, the first sounds of a new day were heard in Roman houses. The slaves polished the marble floors with beeswax, rattled the dishes in the dining room, lit the fire in the stove, opened the shutters and prepared the details of the masters' daytime toilet. All Roman houses were happy in different ways, depending on the wealth of the owners. The owners themselves also woke up early, except for those cases when the parties turned into night festivities with friends.

The Romans were in a hurry to get to work. True, they worked until noon and a day or two later, since holidays in Ancient Rome prevailed over weekdays, and on weekdays after lunch the Romans organized holidays for themselves. How?

The pleasure principle 2000 years ago

In contrast to the principle of deprivation and suffering, legitimized several centuries later by the Church, the pagans of ancient Rome followed the principle of pleasure. They discovered it long before Freud's theory. If there was no god who could become the patron of pleasure in all its forms, the Romans borrowed it or invented it themselves. They were in a hurry to live. This innate impulse was creative and destructive for those times, but no one thought much about it.

The ritual of morning washing was performed over a basin or bronze bowl, but without soap - the Romans did not know it. Instead, beech ash, crushed clay and lye or bean flour were used. To make the skin smooth, it was then softened with an oil balm. They dried themselves with a linen towel. Men shaved every day, the elderly, oddly enough, did not hesitate to dye their hair black, and the bald ones did not neglect wigs. The slaves were responsible for ensuring that the men were clean-shaven, starched and dressed in a clean toga, and the women were fashionably combed, made-up and dressed in the best possible way. Wealthy Romans had slave hairdressers (tonsors) and ornatrices for matrons. The hair was curled with a hot iron rod - an analogue of curlers.

The Romans made their first breakfast hastily, very often on the way to work, buying cold or warm snacks in one of the many shops. After this, women either started household chores or visited friends and relatives. There were few working women in ancient Rome and they were mainly employed in craft workshops.

Roman Forum 2000 years ago - the meeting place could not be changed

At first they were places of lively trade or, simply put, ordinary markets. During the imperial period they became centers of attraction for the Romans. Basilicas were erected and Senate curiae appeared. Ceremonial processions of conquerors and demonstrations of loot from conquered territories took place here. The latest events could only be found on the forums. Former markets gradually turned into fairs, and then into cultural and political centers of the city.

Ordinary Romans who lived in multi-story buildings insulah, often in small rooms without sanitary facilities and water, gladly rushed to the forums in the morning: it was a way to join the good and feel like a resident of a great empire. Here verbiage and oratory were allowed in unlimited quantities and for everyone. Anyone could address the crowd from a makeshift platform and make a speech on any topic, except those that questioned the greatness of the empire and the status of the existing government.

There were at least eleven such forums in Rome during the imperial period. Both bread and circuses - everything could be given and received here to a resident of the ancient city in the rhythm of a rapidly changing daily life. Here trade agreements were concluded, prices for tradable and non-tradable goods were set, and the splendor of the colonnades and painted statues filled the hearts of the inhabitants and guests of Rome with pride and aesthetic satisfaction. After work (at about one o'clock in the afternoon), the Romans, having washed and changed clothes, flocked to the squares in the hope of getting a chance, a good offer, or buying first-quality overseas goods at the best price.

Healthy :

Roman bathing 2000 years ago

The ancient Romans believed that truth is in water. They even worshiped the goddess Veritas, daughter of Saturn, who was believed to live in the depths of wells. However, the Roman emperors, with the help of an army of thousands of slaves and noble craftsmen, allowed the inhabitants of the ancient metropolis to literally bathe in the true moisture of bliss. Aqueducts and baths were built, which completely changed the Romans' understanding of the properties of water and its political significance.

The famous baths of the emperors became the focus of a new culture and way of life in Ancient Rome. The Baths of Diocletian and Caracalla were visited daily by thousands of Romans, young and old. Libraries, playgrounds, health treatments, following the example of the ancient Etruscans, alternated with relaxation and solar treatments, and the fate of the republic was decided “on the sidelines” of the thermal baths or directly in the swimming pools.

Baths in the afternoon became an alternative to forums and circuses. Especially after Agrippa's greatest decision to make them free for everyone. You could see mimes, dancers, sellers of flowers and amulets, you could eat and drink plenty, you could bet on gladiators, have a love affair, or simply choose one of the priestesses of love. You could play sports or read ancient manuscripts.

The sophisticated mechanism of water procedures is only partially preserved today for reasons of economy. Meanwhile, Roman baths had their own rules for enjoying water. At first, visitors entered tiepidarium- a spacious pool with slightly heated water, in which they stayed for about an hour. Then it was the turn caldarium: here the water was heated to a temperature of approx. 40° C. Finally, the bather chose laconicum - a pool with hot water in a room with heated air (a prototype of a sauna). For final hardening, a tonic was used frigidarium with cold water.

The Colosseum and circuses 2000 years ago

Everything new is well forgotten old. Two thousand years before the advent of modern boxing, wrestling, fencing, horse racing and even football, Roman civilization enjoyed the confrontation of male power in its rawest form in numerous arenas and stadiums. The sight and smell of blood excited and intoxicated crowds of thousands of spectators, and the victorious gladiators became idols. Contrary to popular belief, the death of a gladiator in the Colosseum arena was not a common occurrence. The Romans were merciful in their own way, but at the same time practical: buying and training a gladiator cost a lot of money.

Roman inhabitants, unfortunately, did not experience the same sense of compassion for the wild animals that were included in the performances of the Colosseum. According to contemporaries, it is known that at least 5,000 wild animals were killed during the 100-day holiday in honor of the opening of the Colosseum.

Big Circus, or Circo Massimo, which could accommodate up to 300 thousand spectators, shook with exclamations and roars of an enthusiastic audience Roman skies almost every day. If you believe the legend, then the abduction of the Sabine women and the subsequent clash between the Latins and the Sabines, which miraculously ended in a strong union of the two tribes, occurred just after one of the equestrian competitions in the arena of the Circus Maximus.

But this was only a small part of the entertainment industry in Ancient Rome. There were stadiums - structures with a purely sports focus, among which is the famous Domitian Stadium, an exact copy of which is the current pearl of Rome - Piazza Navona. There were circuses in which battles were held on water and on life-size ships. Among them is Naumachia Augusta in the area of ​​the current Trastevere quarter.

End of the day and dinner in Rome 2000 years ago

Tired of the sun and celebrations, the Romans ran into taverns before going to bed (analogous to today's fast food) or hurried home, where a dinner heated by slaves awaited them. They often dined in the presence of slaves huddled in the corner of the refectory. If guests were received, according to all the rules, dinner became an elastic concept. The slaves' job was to see off satisfied guests, light the way with a torch, or personally harness themselves to the cart.

After dinner, the couple retired to their chambers. In Roman families, if possible, spouses slept separately and only spent the night in a bedroom with a wide bed when necessary. This is one of the mysteries of the Eternal City. But the morning is wiser than the evening.

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 it all 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 a 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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Therefore, we will not only visit the most important sights in the city center, but also take a closer look at the inhabitants of this city - how they talk, how they eat and drink coffee, which churches they prefer for concentrated prayer, and what they remember when they quickly glance at the buildings of Ancient and Modern Rome.

We will begin our walk in Piazza Venezia, where, according to the Italians, “you can feel the heartbeat of the Eternal City.” Here, a true Roman will certainly drop into a bar, and, having drunk his coffee while standing in one sip, will go about his business. Meanwhile, we will slowly climb the Capitoline Hill to the Basilica of the Virgin Mary, built on the site of the Roman temple of the goddess Juno. Devout Italians believe that you can get rid of all diseases if you pray to a wooden figurine of the Baby Jesus (Bambin Gesu), carved by the angels themselves from a tree growing in the Garden of Gethsemane.

On Capitol Hill I will tell you the legend of the founding of the Eternal City, and we will admire the famous Capitoline She-Wolf, who nursed the twins Romulus and Remus. Not far from the sculpture of the she-wolf there is a fountain with drinking water, Aqua Marcia, which to this day is loved by all Romans for its taste and coolness. I will show you how real Romans drink water, holding the spout of the drinking fountain from below so that the stream of fresh and cold water touches your lips, but not your hands. Against the backdrop of the opening panorama of the Roman Forum, I will tell you stories about a brilliant commander and a talented architect who conquered not only nations, but also the forces of nature.

Then we will go to the legendary Trevi Fountain, where we will find out how many coins need to be thrown into it to make all wishes come true, and we will drink water from lovers’ straws, because every Italian has done this at least once in his life to meet his love and live a long, happy life life together.

After wandering through the narrow streets, we will end up at the Piazza Rotunda in front of the Pantheon, where we will try to unravel the mystery of the unfinished portico of the temple to all the gods, like the Romans throughout all centuries. On the way to Piazza Navona, I will tell you about the philosophy of coffee in Italy, because in this country coffee is an indisputable unifying factor. All true connoisseurs of this drink will tell you that the best coffee in Rome can be tasted in St. Eustachia is not far from the Pantheon, and over a cup of coffee we will learn the legend about this saint and why all the walls of the coffee shop are decorated with images of a deer with a cross above its head.

The last point on our route is Piazza Navona, a meeting place and evening recreation for Roman youth and couples. I will tell you the history of the square and its name, we will admire the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Lorenzo Bernini and the Church of St. Agnes, created by his eternal rival Francesco Borromini. And since Catholic Christmas is very close, I will tell you how this holiday is celebrated in a traditional Italian family. As Piazza Navona becomes the most iconic market in the city during Christmas, it is sure to captivate you with its atmosphere and chic stalls selling traditional sweets!

And, of course, what would it be without the cherry on the cake? At the end of our walk, a sweet surprise awaits you - a delicacy that, as the Italians themselves say, will make you lick your whiskers like a cat! I will look forward to our acquaintance and will try to give you as many joyful moments and vivid impressions as possible!

Organizational details:

• Coffee and sweets are not included in the price of the excursion and are paid separately.
• For a group of 4 people the cost of the excursion is 120 euros

+5

Book a tour on any of the available days on the calendar

• This is a private tour in Russian, the guide will conduct it for you and your company.
• On the site you pay 23% of the cost, and the rest of the money goes to the guide on the spot. You can

Alberto Angela

UNA GIORNATA NELL'ANTICA ROMA

© O. Uvarova, translation, 2016

© M. Chelintseva, translation, 2016

© Edition in Russian, design. LLC "Publishing Group "Azbuka-Atticus"", 2016

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 Steadfast 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 the 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.