2016 ITALY Rome 25 - More Piles of Precious Ruins in Rome

After exiting the Forum grounds we meandered our way toward the Jewish ghetto for lunch. It was a bit of a walk, but still interesting with more stories of excavations and ruins.

Everywhere you look you see fencing around dug out areas, parts of columns, aqueducts, ancient housing...most below current street level. Often when subway lines are being constructed, important ruins are discovered, which holds up the whole project until they are investigated. Maybe for years!! Here are some sites along the way.

There were lots of columns, mostly remnants.

This one was special--Trajan's Column. It is a triumphal column honoring Emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars between Rome and the Dacia (currently Transylvania or Romania). It was completed in 113 AD and is famous for its spiral bas relief, artistically documenting the history of the wars. The base is also the mausoleum for Emperor Trajan. Scholar's believe the column was originally painted in bright colors.

The structure is 98 feet (30 meters), not including the bronze topper. It is comprised of 20 colossal Carrara marble discs, each weighing 32 tons. The diameter of the column is 12 feet (3.7 meters). The historical commentary winds around the shaft 23 times and is 620 feet (190 meters) in length. Inside the shaft is a spiral staircase of 185 steps, which lead to a viewing platform at the top. The column depicts warrior Emperor Trajan 58 times, along with 2,662 other figures and 155 scenes.

We passed by the "wedding cake" again.

The Cordonata Steps (1582 AD) on the right were built originally as a roadway to accommodate people, horses, and donkeys...so not as steep as those on the left. Both connect Piazza d'Aracoeli (originally the Market Square) to the Piazza del Campidoglio at the top of Capitoline Hill.

This square at the top of the hill was designed by Michelangelo and is considered one of the most beautiful in Rome. It was originally filled with government buildings. Today they mostly house museums.

Near the capitol were more ruins, said to be "apartments" four stories tall, but today half buried. Beautiful murals and brickwork though.

We came across theTeatro of Marcellus, a mini version of an open air colosseum. It was completed in 13 BC (yes, BC). Diameter is 364 feet (111 meters), with a capacity of 11-20,000 spectators. It is the earliest datable building to make use of fired Roman brick, a process borrowed from the Greeks. The structure was originally completely sheathed in white marble and was used for drama and song. Today the upper floors are divided into apartments and the outside area is used as a small concert venue in the summer.



Next was the Portico d'Ottavia. This was an entrance and pathway of sorts to the Jewish Ghetto. In the Middle ages, the area was filled with houses, churches, monasteries, and convents. We saw the remains of the 8th century church Sant'Angelo of Pescheria (Church at the Fish Market).

Graves in the church cemetery were layered one on top of the other between the 9th-13th centuries. As one layer was filled, a new floor was built to accommodate the next generation of dead.

The Jewish community was forced to attend services here in this Catholic Church. Sabrina mentioned that they would put stones in their ears, so they could not hear the spoken words. Here is the back side and path.

Near the end of our walk we saw this guy and many others with this same modern, dual rider "chariot!" I guess you just hop on the back and he takes you where you want to go like an open air taxi. Wish we would have seen him earlier. As our feet were tired and achy, we would have treated our whole group to this wheelie transportation.

Aside One: I often saw the letters SPQR carved on buildings or monuments. I asked Sabrina, our tour guide about the symbol. It is "initials" for the Latin phrase Senatus PopulusQue Romanus (The Roman Senate and People) and refers to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It is still used today as a modern day emblem of the government, shown on currency, at the end of legal documents, government buildings, etc.

Aside Two:  Romans were not racists. Septimius Severus (193-211 AD) was the first black African-born emperor. His eldest son Lucius Septimius Bassianus or "Caracalla" (211-217 AD) was the first black Italian-born emperor. The long list of other black / Moorish / African emperors of Rome continues with Caracalla's brother Geta, Maximinus, and others. To learn more about this topic, search "black emperors of Rome."

We didn't see them, but the second largest Roman public baths were developed by Caracalla and were in operation for about 300 years. The building and waters were heated with underground coal and wood fires. Capacity was thought to be 1,600 at a time or 6-8,000 per day. Even the ruins of these baths are so beautiful that they were inspiration for New York's Penn Station and Chicago's Union Station.