When in Rome...

Rome was so fascinating to us. As the historical capital of the Roman Empire and the current capital of the Catholic church, Rome has so much to see. I feel like it was so similar to Berlin as a historian's dream, just that the history is much older. Unlike Greece, though, Rome's sights still feel fresh. I constantly found myself reminding myself that the column, or building, or fountain in front of me had been there for almost 2,000 years!

To really enjoy Rome, you have to know a bit about the the guys that occupied it for a thousand years. While I am sure I learned a bunch about them through high school, most of the information came back to me through our tour guide Stefano and our trusty leader/deity Rick Steves.

The Roman empire lasted a thousand years, between 500 BC and 500 AD. It's hard to imagine that they're that old because a lot of the things they did are the model for society today. In fact, much of what they did was so ahead of their time that during the period after the empire fell ("The Dark Ages") society pretty much regressed. The government was a representative republic, freedoms of religion and speech were all ideas encompassed in Roman society and protected by Roman laws. They built massive stadiums for entertainment and even had assigned seats in the Colosseum. They threw parades, questioned their leaders, payed taxes, went to horse races. After learning about the Romans, it is easy to see why the thousand years after their departure from Europe were called "The Dark Ages." Society regressed post-Romans, and when it got back on track, it reverted to much of the things that the Romans had already pioneered.

So... 1600 years after the last Roman emperor took off, the three of us trekked around to see how awesome they really were. On day 1, our free tour guide, Stefano, took us around to one of the most recognizable ancient landmarks: the Pantheon. Built nearly 2,000 years ago, this was a temple to all of the gods that Romans worshipped. It was the first temple of its kind- devoted just to spirituality and not to one god or religion in particular. It is really incredible to walk through, imagining that it was built in a time without electricity or machines- it is so unbelievably constructed it looks like it was built yesterday. The dome is one of the greatest engineering achievements; made of solid concrete, thinning out as it rises and capped with a huge hole in the center that allows natural sunlight (and rain) in to the inside of the temple. In fact, its the only source of light in the Pantheon. Its really a sight to behold.





On day two, the three of us headed to the famous Roman Forum and Colosseum for what was easily the most awe-inspiring sightseeing of the trip. The Forum was the center of life for the Romans, hosting the markets, political and religious centers of everyday life. It was "Main street" if you will. With Rick Steves cued up on the iPod, we listened to really interesting commentary about what life was like, while walking through the ruins. The ruins, by the way, were not very 'ruined'. They are so well preserved, and so well understood that it is not a stretch to imagine walking around a thousand years ago. Personally, I enjoyed seeing the arc of Titus, the giant victory arch constructed by Jewish slaves after the conquering of Jerusalem and burning of the temple by the Romans. This, as you may know, was the single event that caused the fleeing from ancient Israel and the formation of the Diaspora that we have today. I have been to Israel many times, and seen the Jerusalem part of the story... But to see it from Ancient Rome, a place where the sacking of the temple was not a travesty but a cause for celebration... It was very weird and different. It reminded me that all of these historical stories truly are linked.


After the forum, we walked a few hundred yards to the ancient Colosseum, the center of entertainment. It is easily the most recognized landmark in all of italy and is even more "awesome" in person. Again, I was so impressed with the ability of the ancient Romans to do pretty much exactly what we do today. For those who haven't been to see this amazing thing, this was no small stadium! It held 50,000 people! It has a huge network of underground tunnels that was used as backstage, as well as public bathrooms, stairwells, concourses, even places to buy food other things while at the event. This is the NFL 2,000 years ago (minus labor discussions and Brett Favre). We did another free Rick Steves audio tour, loved it, and then just walked around ooohing and aahing at the incredibleness of the site. The Romans had their stuff together, it's amazing how between the fall of their empire and a thousand years later, the world managed to screw it up pretty badly.


Our third day in Rome was dedicated to seeing the capital of an entirely different Empire: the Roman Catholic Church.

Christianity was just one of many different religions in ancient Rome... And it grew pretty quickly. Our tour guide made a point of repeating that in only 100 years Christianity grew from being a religion that you could be punished for practicing (because Romans viewed the emperor as one of many gods, and christianity is monotheistic) to the official state religion of the Roman Empire. Big change. This dominance of Christianity in Rome went nowhere, even after the fall of the empire, and that is why Vatican city is located where it is. Vatican City is its own country- it is not in Italy. It has its own police, post office and its own head of state, who is, as you might guess, El Papa- The Pope.

The "country" is pretty tiny by country standards, but includes some great must-see's... Namely St. Peters square, the incredibly large open oval that is featured in every shot of the Vatican. In front of the square is St. Peters Cathedral with the largest dome in Europe (designed by Michelangelo). The church takes your breath away. It is just simply so gargantuan and beautiful. It defies logic. I was so impressed that I converted to christianity for about 15 minutes; you see since it was Sunday, the only way to get close to the Altar is to be in attendance for mass which is open to the public. I walked right up to the guys guarding the entrance to mass, about 3/4 the way down the church, asked if I could attend, tried to look as Christian as possible, and was admitted. And so it can be said: the three of us attended mass at the most famous church on earth.





On a sad note, we did not get to see the big man in the awesome hat... As he was leading mass somewhere in Germany that sunday morning. When we arrived to the square, we were able to see him leading the service on the monstrous Panasonic Pope-Vision boards. But I was pretty sad, since when he is in town he comes out on the balcony on Sundays and does the whole pope thing. We will have to return.

While at the Vatican, we also climbed St. Peters dome which was a claustrophobic 500-ish step trek up to the highest point in Rome. The views were incredible as you might imagine, looking out at a city so old and so riddled with history that is known as "The Eternal City."





It wouldn't be fair if I ended this blog without talking about the food. We got incredible pasta and pizza every night while in Rome. On the first night we were sent by Stefano to a local spaghetti place which turned out some of the best noodles I have ever had. On nights 2 and 3, we went to a place recommended by the Let's Go guidebook people which served amazing pizzas for impossibly low prices. I said to Dave before landing in Rome that my week in Italy would be a failure if I did not gain 5 pounds in carbs. After Rome, I was safely on my way to that goal.

Rome is something else. You can't walk more than a few blocks without seeing a massive Bernini fountain, a church older than most rocks, or a towering egyptian obelisk that was built before Christ. If dropped in the middle of Rome, having no idea where we were, I feel like it would be easy to figure it out within seconds. We walked all throughout the city, from the Spanish steps to Piazza Navolo and back a hundred times. I will truly remember Rome for its incredibly preserved history. Never before has so long ago seemed so recent. For that feeling alone, I would come back again and again.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad