Rome – the Roman Empire’s Capital
A friend of mine who lives about 20 km from Rome invited us over to visit Italy. It was the perfect excuse to visit Rome and to spend some quality time with her. It has been my dream for years to visit Rome and this vacation promised to be the perfect one.
Today Italy’s capital, Rome was once the capital of the Roman Empire, the largest and longest lasting empire in Western Europe, as well as the most powerful. The city’s history extends for almost 3000 years. Now, Rome is one the biggest cities in Europe, having a population of about 2.5 million, within the city limits.
I am sure most of you have heard the “unofficial” names of the city. Romes is also called La Città Eterna (The Eternal City), L’Urbe (Italian for “city”) and “The City of the Seven Hills”, because central Rome is dominated by the seven hills (Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, Capitoline and Palatine Hills).
My friend told us that, while in Rome, we should miss visiting the Colosseum (also spelled Coliseum), The Roman Forum and the Capitoline Hill. So we started walking towards Piazza del Colosseo (I love to walk while visiting foreign countries, it gives me an opportunity to examine the real life as well), as we all agreed the Colosseum should be start point for our “journey”. Plus, the Roman Forum and Capitoline Hill are located close by.
The Colosseum was originally known as Flavian Amphitheatre (in Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium) and in Italy is still known as “il colloseo”. It was the biggest amphitheatre built in the Roman Empire, being able to seat 70000 spectators. As seen in the movie “The Gladiator”, the arena was used for gladiator combats.
The construction of Colosseum was started in 72 AD by Emperor Vespasian and was completed by his son, Titus, 8 years later and later improved by Domitian. The arena was used until 217, when it was damaged by a fire, as a result of a lightning strike. In 238 it was restored and the gladiator fights continued until Christianity put an end to those which ended in death of humans. Later in history, the Colosseum was badly damaged by four major earthquakes (in 442, 508, 847 and 1349). A small Christian church was built and the arena was turned into a fortress in the Middle Ages.
Just as impressive as its history, the Colosseum is impressive as a build. It’s 48 m high, 188 m long and 156 m wide and has a total of 240 arches. Its elliptical shape didn’t allow the fighters to retreat to a corner and, meantime, allowed the spectators to be closer to the action.
The time spent visiting the immense site was not enough but we had to go continue our “journey” to Roman Forum, the central area around which ancient Rome developed. It is located between the Colosseum and the Capitoline Hill. The Forum (as it is most often called by Italians) is a square surrounded by the most important ancient Roman monuments: Temple of the Castors, The Arch of Titus, The Arch of Septimius Severus and The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, to name just a few. In all, it comprises 22 monuments. Even as early as the 8th century, reports showed that the Forum was already falling apart. Only in 1803, archeologist started to clear the site and by early 20th century it was fully excavated.
We spent quite a lot of time admiring the ruins of what once was the heart of center of commerce, business cult, administration and justice in ancient Rome.
Next on our list was the Capitoline Hill (Capitol Hill), today hosting the Municipality of Rome. It is the highest hills of the seven hills of Rome (remember that Rome s also called “The City of the Seven Hills”?) and the most famous. The Capitoline Hill was the site a temple for the Capitoline Triad, considered one of the most beautiful temples in the city. It was also the largest. Today, however, little remains of the temple. The remains of the Roman insula are also still visible.
The existing design of Piazza del Campidoglio was created by Michelangelo Buonarroti. He reversed the classical orientation of the Capitoline to face the Christian church of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Papal Rome instead of the Roman Forum. He also restored the existing palazzi (Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Senatorio) and added Palazzo Nuovo. Nowadays the three palaces host the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums), home to a vast collection of archeological remains from ancient Rome. He also created Cordonata, a monumental wide ramped stair, wide enough so that nobles on horseback could ascend the hill without dismounting.
There is a lot more to visit in Rome - e.g. the vaticane could be a whole days experience. I believe that a life time is not enough to visit all the remains of the Roman Empire, let alone a short vacation.