Trip to Italy Part 4c: Rome, Coliseum and Roman Forum

In this old area of Rome there are a lot of ruins mixed in with the modern buildings.  We were thinking of Rome's city council budget and wondering how much they have to spend to keep up all these ruins so they can keep attracting tourists.  And there is the Coliseum in the distance!  It was so unbelievable that we were actually there, seeing it.

 We learned that there were four levels underneath the floor for storing things and keeping the lions (and many other kinds of animals) and the prisoners.  During a "battle" different animals or people could be lifted up in elevators to the floor level and appear from behind blinds onto the arena floor to challenge the gladiators.  Rick Steves says that the Coliseum was inagurated with a 100 day festival where 2000 people and 9000 animals were killed.   

Behind us is the Arch of Constantine commemorating Constantine's victory over some other guy.  The night before the battle he had seen a vision of a cross in the sky.  His mother and sister were Christian and so when he won the battle and became sole Emporer he legalized Christianity.  I had always wondered how the Rome that threw Christians to the lions became the center of Christianity.  And now I know.

Next we walked into the Roman Forum, which is right next to the Coliseum.  This was like a city center with some temples, the Senate building, judicial buildings, etc.  Later the Christians converted some of the pagan temples into Christian churches.  That huge building in the back with arches was a Basilica, which was a Roman Hall of Justice.  Later the style and name were taken by Christians for their religious buildings.  The Senate building is still complete and standing but we couldn't go inside because of restoration.

There were triumphal arches all over the place.  This one is the arch of Titus at one entrance to the Roman Forum. It commemorated the victory of Rome over the rebellious province of Judea.  Here is a carving on the arch showing soldiers bringing home slaves and booty from Jerusalem.

Below is the remains of the Temple of Vesta.  It was a small, circular temple where the sacred flame was kept burning all the time by priestesses called the Vestal Virgins.  There were 6 at a time, chosen from noble families before the age of 10 and serving for 30 years.  They were very revered and had their own box at the Coliseum opposite the Emporer's box.  They had a big house to live in right by the temple.  If they remained a virgin for the whole 30 years they were given a  huge dowry and allowed to marry.  If they didn't they were paraded through the city on their way to be buried alive in a crypt with a loaf of bread and a lamp.

Below is the temple of Julius Ceasar.  It was erected over the sight where his body was burned and where his funeral services were held.  It's covered with a modern roof because if you walk up close and look behind the partial wall that you can see in this picture you'll see ....

... fresh flowers!  I wonder who does this?  Rick says there are always fresh flowers here. 

As we were on our way somewhere one day we saw this church.  We thought, what the heck, let's go inside.  We passed many, many churches like this on the streets of Rome.  There were two on the street where our apartment was. 

 

Inside it was ornate and beautiful and there was a Michelangelo statue of Jesus.  Right in this random church we happened to go in.

Only Pompeii left from our trip to Italy last April.  Maybe I'll get it on here before a whole year has passed.