Today was a very full day of a wide span of history. We traveled back in time to the Biblical times of the Roman Empire as we walked to the Colosseum and the Forum. Anthony estimates we walked about 6 km. today in all.
We started out early and headed down to the Colosseum to be there as it opened. What an amazing sight! At its height the colosseum held 50,000 people. It was complete with a covered awning to help shade the people in the stands. Exotic animals like lions, tigers, bears, hippos and crocodiles were shot up through trap doors in the floor to fight against slaves or POWs. The main event of the colosseum was the gladiators. If a gladiator was hurt to the point where he couldn't get up, the emperor could let the crowd determine his fate. This was most likely done with a thumbs up or thumbs down. The term vomitorium was used to describe the colosseum because they could evacuate all 50,000 people in 15 minutes! This is where we get the word vomit (aren't you glad to know that?! haha)
After touring the colosseum we grabbed some lunch at a local food truck and then headed in to see the Forum. The arch of Titus was one of the first things we saw. It was created after the fall of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD. The Romans had the captured Jews build the arch to show their demise and their defeat by the "powerful empire of Rome."
We then headed from the forum up to San Giovanni de Laterno Church. This is one of the tallest and ornate cathedrals I've seen. It is the Roman Cathedral and before the Vatican used St. Peter's Basilica, this was the Papal Cathedral. It had beautiful statues of the saints and paintings of the major and minor prophets of the Bible. It was beautiful. At the entrance to the Cathedral are the 2,000 year old original bronze doors to the Roman Senate.
Since we'd walked so far, we decided to try an adventure on the Roman metro. We had bought a Roma Pass the day before (such a good investment). It gives you free entrance to your first 2 sights and then 30% off your additional sights and you get 3 days of transportation around the city free. We used the metro to take us from San Giovanni to the Colosseum so we could see the Victor Emmanuel Monument. We climbed to the top of the monument where we paid to go up even higher to the very top of the monument to see an amazing 360 degree view of Rome. After that we grabbed a soda and sat and rested for a minute while looking out over Rome. The Victor Emmanuel Monument also houses multiple exhibits on Italian war campaigns through WWI. It was really interesting to see the Italian history of war through their eyes. It sort of reminded me of the American History Smithsonian (but not as good).
We made the trek home and then took a nap before going out to dinner.
We are literally walking out the door and the sunshine has disappeared and it is now POURING rain. We were hungry so we ventured to the Campo de Fiori for some yummy Italian food. I ordered Roman style artichoke (Mom it was soo good! I totally thought of you. If I knew how to make it, we could add it to our dad's gone meals! hehe), Lasagne, and homemade Tiramisu. YUMMY!
Well I'm headed to bed. Tomorrow we are hoping to beat the weekend crowds and go to the Vatican and St. Paul's. I'm excited to see the Sistene Chapel in person! :)
the Roman Senate doors
the view towards to colosseum with some of the Forum in the shot as well.
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