Ancient Rome

Today was a yet again a very busy and exhausting day! We woke up a little late at around 9 and had breakfast. After that, we headed towards the Coliseum. We took the metro since it is on the opposite side of Rome from Vatican City, where our hotel is. When we first saw it, we were astounded. It is a huge structure! There were tons of people taking pictures. We couldn't even figure out where the entrance was. As we walked around the side, we noticed a guy offering guided tours in English. We were very tired of the audio guides and decided that we wanted a live guide this time. He told us that it was 11 euros admission, plus 10 euros for the tour. The tour included the Coliseum, and nearby Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. And we didn't have to wait in line at all since we were going with a group. The individual line was about 45 minutes long! We were already planning on seeing Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum after the Coliseum, so we went for it. We were both a little nervous because it seemed kind of sketchy. I mean this guy was just standing outside the Coliseum yelling out "English tours!" But it worked. And we were so happy we did it. The tour guide knew everything not only about the Coliseum, but about ancient Roman life. He described to us the different social classes in ancient Rome and all about the training of Gladiators. I thought it was all fascinating. I couldn't begin to tell you everything we learned, but here's some of the highlights:

The Coliseum was built around 70 AD and it took 8 years to build. It can hold 50,000 spectators. Each level was for a specific social class, with women of all social classes sitting at the very tippy top. Tickets didn't cost any money. The Emperor paid for it all. When the Coliseum opened, there was 100 straight days of games and festivities. There were 80 separate gates that people could enter through. We learned about gladiators too: They were runaway slaves, or convicts, or soldiers that deserted. Being made into a Gladiator was a serious punishment. They had to endure hours of grueling physical training every day and were fed only barley and wine to make them big and strong. After winning 11 or 12 fights, they were sometimes awarded their freedom by the Emperor as a reward. But most of the time, they didn't survive that long or weren't good enough to ever get that many victories. The games consisted of gladiators fighting each other, or wild animals, or reenacting a hunt of some kind. They shipped in exotic animals from all over the world like tigers from India and lions and ostriches from Africa to be used in the fights. They starved the animals so they would be hungry. The animals and gladiators were kept under the stage and there were 40 elevators that could raise up an animal or gladiator to the stage. Our guide especially liked describing the gory details of the games that took place in the Coliseum. It was a terrific tour and we really enjoyed it.

At the end of the Coliseum, our guide told us that we would meet our next guide at the top of the stairs. A girl named Jill came over and introduced herself. She sounded like she was from the U.S. Later we found out she was from North Carolina. She walked us right next door to Palatine Hill. We already had tickets to get in and didn't have to wait in line again. She told us all about the ruins. Palatine Hill was the place that all the Emperors built their palaces. We saw the remnants of arches and temples that they built. She also explained a little about the history of the Roman Empire and how it came about. She made it sound like a juicy soap opera. Emperor Augustus, the first emperor, divorced his wife on the day she gave birth to their first child and then ordered his best friend to divorce his wife so he could marry her to gain more power and prestige. That was just part of the story. All the following emperors built on top of the previous Emperor's palace to associate themselves with that Emperor and gain more prestige and fame. When they became Emperors, they became Gods. So when the people went to the temple, they prayed to the Emperor and paid money to gain favor with the Gods. In addition to taxes, the emperors had this great source of income to pay for the army and keep their kingdom. This was why they didn't like Jews: Jews only had one God and therefore would never pay money to worship the Emperor. It was all so interesting! So she showed us where the cobblestones were that Romans walked on thousands of years ago, and where the houses were of all the rich and famous ancient Romans. One of the most astounding things she told us is that ancient Romans were very small. They were only the size of a 10-12 year old child today! Can you believe that? Julius Caesar was a giant to them, and he was 5'6"! So she told us not to be afraid of Gladiators, because we could beat them up in a second.

So after the tour was over we wandered around the grounds a bit more to discover some of the ruins Jill didn't mention. It was already about 1:00pm by the time we were done with the tour. Our hotel receptionist had told us that just across the river was the best area to find good restaurants, so we walked there for lunch. By the time we got there it was past 3. We found a restaurant that was still opened and got a quick lunch. Then we explored the neighborhood a bit. It's called "Trastavere." We looked inside a church and discovered a wedding taking place. This church was the site of the very first Christian church. We walked up a big hill and sat at a fountain. Daniel dipped his feet in. It was so unbelievably hot today. All day we went out of our way to stay in the shade and went through bottle after bottle of water. It must have been 95 at least. And obviously very humid. The fountain helped cool us off. I was so tired from walking all day and the heat I just wanted to rest for a while.

About 5:00 we left the fountain and walked back across the river to catch the metro back at the Coliseum. We took the metro over to Plaza de Spagna to see the famous Spanish steps. We were pretty unimpressed. We didn't quite understand why the steps are so famous. They were much smaller than I pictured. The plaza was so crowded with people and the same annoying people selling junk. After 4 weeks, I am sick and tired of people begging for money and even more sick of people trying to sell junk. They get up in our faces and try to convince us that we need this little toy or a flower for the pretty girl. We just want to be left alone! Anyways, we didn't really understand what all the hype was about. But we took some pictures and then walked through the streets trying to find a place to eat.

We found a little restaurant a couple blocks away and got some dinner. The service was pretty terrible. I think they only had one waiter for about 8 tables, so he was really busy. But the food was good enough that we still enjoyed it. And once the sun went down, the heat wasn't so unbearable.

Overall, it was a great day. I enjoyed the ruins so much. My favorite part of history is learning about everyday people and that's exactly what we heard about today. It's fascinating to think about how those people lived and walked on the same steps that we walked on. It's too bad they weren't more well preserved. The Coliseum was severely damaged by an Earthquake in 1430-something and the Popes encouraged people to take whatever they wanted off the building for a couple hundred years (they didn't like the Pagan symbol it represented, so they wanted to get rid of it). Imagine what it would look like if people didn't take chunks of the marble out for their own houses!

Tomorrow we are spending the whole day in Vatican City. We are going with the same tour group through the museums and the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's Basilica. So no waiting in lines for us! I'm so excited.