Sagrantino Ballooning Trip 2019 - Rome      9th August:

    Our final day in Rome would be jam packed. We caught the Metro to Circo Massimo and walked in the already stifling heat to the Terme di Caracalla or Roman Baths.

Majesty of the Roman Baths

    The Roman thermal baths can be found along the ancient Appian Way, and in their time they were Rome's second largest public baths. Built between the years 212 - 216 under the direction of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, more commonly known as Emperor Caracalla, the Baths of Caracalla were one of the greatest and most spectacular thermal complexes in ancient times. In spite of the fact that today only the brick walls and large collapsed vaults remain, the remnant of the splendour of the Baths of Caracalla is still preserved.
    The gardens are still there to be enjoyed. We decided to hire a pair of virtual reality guides each on entry. These were clever devices that allowed the display of a map, an audio description of key points along the route, and stunning images that followed the movement of the head. These images displayed how the baths would have looked at the time, showing the sumptuous different coloured marble interiors decorated with valued works of art, the fountains, statues inside niches, vaulted ceilings etc., allowing us to wrap our imagination around the carcass of the remains of the vast complex. These were indeed splendid interiors - that is until the devices packed in working due to the heat.

    The baths provided two basic functions for the ancient Romans. Most of the population of Rome lived in crowded tenements without running water or sanitary facilities and the baths provided much needed sanitisation facilities, and as a bonus a great opportunity to socialise and network at all levels.
    Broadly, there were three large bathing rooms. A cold pool, a lukewarm pool and a hot pool. These baths, which could hold up to 1600, allowed bathers to roam freely from one pool to another, meet up with friends and generally network. There were also other facilities to relax and indulge in such as doing exercise, visiting the library, walking through the gardens or worshiping to the god Mithras and other pagan divinities by visiting the temple.

Just a Sample of the Decorative Splendours of the Roman Baths

    The baths make up an architectural wonder when you keep in mind the date of their construction, since they included effective water supply systems, as well as heating and drainage systems. The wood-fired ovens that were fed by the slaves served to heat the floors and walls of the baths, in addition to the water.
    After remaining in operation for more than three hundred years, the baths were closed by necessity in the year 537, when the aqueducts that supplied water to the city were destroyed by the barbarians. The sculptures and valuable materials that decorated the baths were plundered and subsequently, in the year 847, an earthquake shook the building and destroyed part of it. In spite of the passing of centuries and of the lootings that the baths suffered, the ground floor of the buildings and a large part of the impressive walls that formed the precinct remain, emphasising the sheer size and scale of the facility.

    We could not loiter, we needed to get to the Colosseum.
    The Colosseum was started in the aftermath of Nero's extravagance and the rebellion by the Jews in Palestine against Roman rule. Nero, after the great fire at Rome in 64AD, had built a huge pleasure palace for himself (the Golden House) right in the centre of the city. In 68, faced with military uprisings, he committed suicide, and the empire was engulfed in civil wars.
    The eventual winner Vespasian (emperor 69-79) decided to shore up his shaky regime by building an amphitheatre, or pleasure palace for the people, out of the booty from the Jewish War on the site of the lake in the gardens of Nero's palace. Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty commissioned the building by Jewish slaves of the massive stone amphitheatre known as the Colosseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, in 72AD as a gift to the Roman people. It was completed by his son, Titus, in 80, with later improvements by Domitian, Titus' brother and successor. The Colosseum became the greatest Roman amphitheatre, a huge ellipse measuring 188m in length, 156m in width and 57m in height.

Colosseum

    Our guide there, a tallish chap with a keen sense of humour, wasted no time in taking us onto a section of the arena floor that Colosseum officials reconstructed a decade ago to give some sense of how the stadium looked in its heyday. The real arena floor would have gone a long time ago, and the tunnels underneath would have been filled with rubble. It gave us chance for a photo opportunity, and a first view of the bewildering array of masonry walls shaped in concentric rings, whorls and chambers, like a huge thumbprint, that was the basement. But the heat was fierce, and he was keen to escape it.
    Soon we were descending a long stairway to the working end of this vast structure, the ruins that were hidden beneath a wooden floor during the nearly five centuries the arena was in use, beginning with its inauguration in 80AD. These were well preserved, the rubble had prevented looters stealing the stones and protecting the latter from the elements. He pointed out the arches above the narrow passageways and dungeons. No mortar had been employed, just precision, with the key stone fitting perfectly. It is believed that the stone masons who constructed these arches had been trained by the Etruscans, a civilization of ancient Italy which lasted from the 8th century BC to the 3rd and 2nd centuries AD.

    A stream passed by close to where we stood. Given the site, in a valley where there was previously a lake, it had to be planned carefully. For example, drains were built 8m underneath the structure, to take away the streams that flow from the surrounding valleys and hills. When in use, blood running down the walls from the arena above, urine and excrement from the caged animals, slaves and prisoners about to die, would have all been swept into these drains.

Precision Stonework in the Dungeon Tunnels

    In this confined space, terrified animals and their keepers, fighters, slaves and stage-hands toiled in the almost total darkness, enduring the stench and noise, to bring pleasure to Romans. For the unfortunate ones, their torment would have lasted typically 4 hours before they were raised by manually operated hoists through trapdoors into the airy arena above. A series of winches and the capstans would have allowed teams of slaves to pull in unison and hoist heavy animals and groups of victims from the basement to the main arena, and this machinery has been reconstructed, in part, from ancient drawings, aided by the bronze fittings that still survive in the basement's floor. The rope-burns of the hoists are still visible in the stone of the lift-shafts. Our leader pointed out a diagonal slot angling down from the top of the wall to where the cage would have hung. "A wooden ramp slid into that slot, allowing the animal to climb from the cage straight into the arena," he informed us. The arena itself was probably covered by a good 15cm of sand (harena), sometimes dyed red to disguise blood.

Blood, Urine and Excrement Disappeared into the Drainage System

Internal Corridor

The Basement Over Which the Arena Lay (Reconstructed Floor at the Far End)

    We returned to ground level to continue the story. After nearly a decade of construction, a relatively quick time period for a project of such a grand scale, Titus officially dedicated the Colosseum in 80AD with a festival including 100 days of games. His aim was to gain popularity by staging deadly combats of gladiators and wild animal fights for public viewing. Massacre was on a huge scale. At the inaugural games over 9,000 wild animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed.
    So, what did the 50,000 spectators expect to see on a daily basis? Each day was well choreographed. The official spectacle, known as the munus iustum atque legitimum ("a proper and legitimate gladiator show"), began, like many public events in Classical Rome, with a splendid morning procession, the pompa. It was led by the editor's standard-bearers and typically featured trumpeters, performers, fighters, priests, nobles and carriages bearing effigies of the gods.

    The first major phase of the games was the venatio, or wild beast hunt, which occupied most of the morning: creatures from across the empire appeared in the arena, sometimes as part of a bloodless parade, more often to be slaughtered. They might be pitted against each other in savage fights or dispatched by venatores (highly trained hunters) wearing light body armour and carrying long spears. Literary and epigraphic accounts of these spectacles dwell on the exotic menagerie involved, including African herbivores such as elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and giraffes, bears and elk from the northern forests, as well as strange creatures like onagers, ostriches and cranes. Most popular of all were the leopards, lions and tigers, the dentatae (toothed ones) or bestiae africanae (African beasts), whose leaping abilities necessitated that spectators be shielded by barriers, some apparently fitted with ivory rollers to prevent agitated cats from climbing. The number of animals displayed and butchered in an upscale venatio is astonishing: during the series of games held to inaugurate the Colosseum, in 80AD, the emperor Titus offered up 9,000 animals. Less than 30 years later, during the games in which the emperor Trajan celebrated his conquest of the Dacians (the ancestors of the Romanians), some 11,000 animals were slaughtered. The arena was also sometimes decorated with elaborate stage scenery, so that the ritual murder could be varied with theatrical tales.
    The basement played a vital role in these staged hunts, allowing animals and hunters to enter the arena in countless ways. Eyewitnesses describe how animals appeared suddenly from below, as if by magic, sometimes apparently launched high into the air. The basement allowed the organisers of the games to create surprises and build suspense. A hunter in the arena wouldn't know where the next lion would appear, or whether two or three lions might emerge instead of just one. This uncertainty could be exploited for comic effect. Emperor Gallienus punished a merchant who had swindled the empress, selling her glass jewels instead of authentic ones, by setting him in the arena to face a ferocious lion. When the cage opened, however, a chicken walked out, to the delight of the crowd. Gallienus then told the herald to proclaim: "He practiced deceit and then had it practiced on him." The emperor let the jeweller go home.

Up With the Gods

    During the intermezzos between hunts, spectators were treated to a range of sensory delights. Handsome stewards passed through the crowd carrying trays of cakes, pastries, dates and other sweetmeats, and generous cups of wine. Snacks also fell from the sky as abundantly as hail, one observer noted, along with wooden balls containing tokens for prizes-food, money or even the title to an apartment, which sometimes set off violent scuffles among spectators struggling to grab them. On hot days, the audience might enjoy sparsiones ("sprinklings"), mist scented with balsam or saffron, or the shade of the vela, an enormous cloth awning drawn over the Colosseum roof by sailors from the Roman naval headquarters at Misenum, near Naples. During this pause, should the ground have become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand.
    At the ludi meridiani, or midday games, acrobatic displays would have been performed before criminals, barbarians, prisoners of war and other unfortunates, called damnati, or "condemned," were executed. Some damnati were released in the arena to be slaughtered by fierce animals such as lions, and some were forced to fight one another with swords. Others were dispatched in what a modern scholar has called "fatal charades," executions staged to resemble scenes from mythology. The Roman poet Martial, who attended the inaugural games, describes a criminal dressed as Orpheus playing a lyre amid wild animals; a bear ripped him apart. Another suffered the fate of Hercules, who burned to death before becoming a god.

Ready to Do Battle

    Following the executions came the main event: the gladiators. Roman gladiators were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals. Most were men, but there were a few female gladiators. While attendants prepared the ritual whips, fire and rods to punish poor or unwilling fighters, the combatants warmed up until the editor gave the signal for the actual battle to begin. Some gladiators belonged to specific classes, each with its own equipment, fighting style and traditional opponents. For example, the retiarius (or "net man") with his heavy net, trident and dagger often fought against a secutor ("follower") wielding a sword and wearing a helmet with a face mask that left only his eyes exposed.
    Contestants adhered to rules enforced by a referee; if a warrior conceded defeat, typically by raising his left index finger, his fate was decided by the editor, with the vociferous help of the crowd, who shouted "Missus!" ("Dismissal!") at those who had fought bravely, and "Iugula, verbera, ure!" ("Slit his throat, beat, burn!") at those they thought deserved death. Gladiators who received a literal thumbs down were expected to take a finishing blow from their opponents unflinchingly. The winning gladiator collected prizes that might include a palm of victory, cash and a crown for special valour. Because the emperor himself was often the host of the games, everything had to run smoothly. The Roman historian and biographer Suetonius wrote that if technicians botched a spectacle, the emperor Claudius might send them into the arena: "[He] would for trivial and hasty reasons match others, even of the carpenters, the assistants and men of that class, if any automatic device or pageant, or anything else of the kind, had not worked well."
    To spectators, the stadium was a microcosm of the empire, and its games a re-enactment of their foundation myths. The killed wild animals symbolized how Rome had conquered wild, far-flung lands and subjugated Nature itself. The executions dramatized the remorseless force of justice that annihilated enemies of the state. The gladiator embodied the cardinal Roman quality of virtues, or manliness, whether as victor or as vanquished awaiting the deathblow with Stoic dignity.
    We then started slowly climbing up numerous stairwells in the structure - a chance to grasp the overall architecture. Unlike many earlier amphitheatres, which had been dug into hillsides to provide adequate support, the Colosseum was a freestanding structure made of stone and concrete. The distinctive exterior had three stories of arched entrances, a total of around 80, supported by semi-circular columns. Each story contained columns of a different order (or style): at the bottom were columns of the relatively simple Doric order, followed by Ionic and topped by the ornate Corinthian order. The Colosseum had canvas awnings, designed to shade about one third of the spectators from the sun, supported by originally 240 masts attached to stone corbels on the 4th level.

    The exterior was decorated at the top with glistening gilded bronze shields, and the arches were filled with painted statues of emperors and gods. Two grand entrances, one at each end of the minor axis, were used by the emperor, as well as by official presenters of shows and no doubt by other grandees.

Looking Down into an Internal Corridor

    The invention of arches and vaults, made of brick-faced concrete, allowed Roman architects much greater spans, and more visual variety. Hence the Colosseum's elaborate honeycomb of arches, passages and stairways, which allowed thousands of spectators to get into and watch their murderous games in a custom-made amphitheatre. Inside the amphitheatre, but at its outer rim, there were, at the first three levels, grand circular promenades, though as you went upwards the dimensions became smaller and the decoration less grand. At the first level, the floors were of marble or Travertine (the stone from which the outside walls were made), while the walls were of polished marble slabs and the ceilings of painted stucco. For all its outside trappings in once glistening local travertine stone, the Colosseum was really a triumph of brick-vaulting and cement. Structurally, the building works by a robust balance of pressures. And the Colosseum's imposing exterior was then, as it still is, a marvellous monument to Roman imperial power.
    Spectators found their way to their seats through arches numbered I - LXXVI (1-76). The four grand entrances were not numbered. The best seats were on or just behind the podium, raised for safety's sake two metres above the arena; animals and gladiators were kept out by a further fence just inside the arena, which helped to ensure that the action was in everybody's view. The crowd of 50,000 Roman citizens sat according to their place in the social hierarchy, ranging from slaves and women in the upper bleachers to senators and vestal virgins, priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, around the arena floor. A place of honour was reserved for the editor, the person who organized and paid for the games. Often the editor was the emperor himself, who sat in the imperial box at the center of the long northern curve of the stadium, where his every reaction was scrutinized by the audience.
    The lower class population of Rome was seriously and systematically under-represented. And the two lowest (i.e. most prestigious) sections of the auditorium accommodated, respectively over 2,000 and almost 12,000 spectators, numbers which do not coincide with any known social groups, such as senators (600) or knights (perhaps 5,000). Those in the top rows had shade, while nobles sweated in the sun; but those at the very top, which would have included women and the poor, were a good 100m from the centre of the arena. The myopic presumably just sat and heard the crowd roar.
    The Colosseum saw some four centuries of active use, until the struggles of the Western Roman Empire and the gradual change in public tastes put an end to gladiatorial combats and other large public entertainments by the 6th century AD. Even by that time, the arena had suffered damage due to natural phenomena such as lightning and earthquakes. Down through the centuries, people filled the basement with dirt and rubble, planted vegetable gardens, stored hay and dumped animal dung. In the amphitheatre above, the enormous vaulted passages sheltered cobblers, blacksmiths, priests, glue-makers and money-changers, not to mention a fortress of the Frangipane, 12th-century warlords. Eventually the Colosseum was abandoned completely, and used as a quarry for numerous building projects, including the cathedrals of St. Peter and St. John Lateran, the Palazzo Venezia and defence fortifications along the Tiber River. Beginning in the 18th century, however, various popes sought to conserve the arena as a sacred Christian site, though it is in fact uncertain whether early Christian martyrs met their fate in the Colosseum, as has been speculated.
    By the early 19th century, the basement's floor lay buried under some 40 feet of earth, and all memory of its function, or even its existence, had been obliterated. In 1813 and 1874, archaeological excavations attempting to reach it were stymied by flooding groundwater. Finally, under Benito Mussolini's glorification of Classical Rome in the 1930s, workers cleared the basement of earth for good.
    Armed with all this information, our guide let us loose, and we had an hour to ourselves to wander around this site steeped in history and absorb the atmosphere before we were to meet our next guide who would take us to the Roman Forum. As I traipsed around this vast structure, I tried to conjure up how it would have felt to be part of the screaming audience watching the events unroll before me, but I felt distinctly uncomfortable when my mind drifted to the horrors below. What must have gone through the minds of those who knew they were going to their deaths for the amusement of Roman citizens? Those were cruel times, and as time has passed by, mankind has never learned and still continues to be cruel. Civilisation is but a thin veneer.
    After our elapsed time, we escaped the fierce oven of the Colosseum, and met up with Paul, our next guide, who would be taking us across Palentine Hill and the Roman Forum. Paul originated from Denver, Colorado. He had studied archaeology, been an archaeologist, and was now a teacher. He had lived in Rome for 20 years. Because of his background he knew the historic sites very well, the history of Rome, mythology - he literally oozed enthusiasm.

Arch of Constantine

    He led us off down to Via di San Gregorio, passing the Arch of Constantine on the way. The arch was dedicated on 25th July 315AD on the 10th anniversary of Constantine's reign (Decennalia) and stood on Rome's triumphal route. It commemorates Roman Emperor Constantine's victory over the Roman tyrant Maxentius on 28th October 312AD at the battle of Milvian Bridge in Rome. At an imposing 21m high and 25.6m wide, it is the largest surviving Roman triumphal arch and the last great monument of Imperial Rome.
    The arch is completely covered with scenes, presenting Constantine as a living continuation of the most successful Roman emperors, renowned for their military victories and good government, and also commemorating past great emperors like Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, and Trajan. Within each of the sculptures lies a story from Constantine gaining power over the Western Roman empire by defeating Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge to Constantine giving out largesse to the crowds of Rome. The sculpting styles are from different eras within Rome. Scholars believe that some of the sculptures were from spolia from past monuments. Maybe this was due to the cost and scarcity of skilled labourers or perhaps to the fact that almost all the artists were moving to Constantinople, the new capital of the Empire. Then again, it may have been a conscious choice: the images had to illustrate the victories and power of Rome's new master through a visual language that the people were already familiar with so as to easily connect Constantine's reign with those of the most beloved emperors of the past.
    As we climbed up a series of steps to Palentine Hill, Paul explained how a lot of the ancient city of Rome is still buried, up to 25m in some places. The Campus Martius (Field of Mars) in ancient Rome, was a floodplain of the Tiber River, the site of the altar of Mars and the temple of Apollo in the 5th century BC. Originally used primarily as a military exercise ground, it was later drained and, by the 1st century BC, became covered with large public buildings-baths, amphitheatre, theatres, gymnasium, crematorium, and many more temples. The Pantheon is the most notable structure. Tiber's frequent floods have resulted in sedimentation over the roman ruins in the alluvial plain. As a result of urbanization, the valleys have been partially or completely filled by anthropogenic deposits, particularly on the eastern side of the Tiber. The river is now confined between high stone embankments which were begun in 1876. Within the city, the riverbanks are lined by boulevards known as lungoteveri, streets "along the Tiber".
    The first inhabitants chose the Palentine area to live because it is the most central of Rome's hills and was considered safe, up high: in fact, it surveys the only wadeable point of the Tiber and was in a strategic position for trade.
    The story of the Palatine begins with its myths and legends. Roman mythology talks of the cave that was inhabited by Luperca, the she-wolf that took care of the twins Romulus and Remus, which is located in the Palatine Hill. According to the legend, when the brothers grew up they decided to form a city on the banks of the river, but when they could not come to an agreement in some points of the decision, Romulus killed Remus and founded the city of Rome.
    Palatine undoubtedly has ancient origins. According to some estimates, there were human settlements on the hill as early as the 10th century BC. The historian Livy claimed that the Palatine was the home of the first Romans, and for centuries it was regarded as one of the most prestigious neighbourhoods in the city.
    The Palatine was desirable for a number of reasons: the mythical associations, the central location, the spectacular views of the city, the cooler temperatures in the summer, and the cleaner air. The residents of the Palatine got the best of both worlds, living in the centre of the city without having to endure the noise and dirt of the streets below. During the Republican era, many wealthy Romans lived in sumptuous villas with mosaics, frescoes and colonnades, far from the swampy and crowded areas below. Almost all of Rome's most famous residents have lived here. Later on, it became home to emperors. Interestingly, the English word "palace", the Italian "palazzo" and the French "palais" all owe their origins to the Palatine.
    The first emperor was Augustus, he was born here and wanted to live, with his wife Livia, where Romulus had lived. He didn't want a showy palace so he simply restored some houses that already existed. The remains of these two houses (the House of Augustus and the House of Livia) have some of the most impressive ancient art in the city, and are beautifully decorated with colourful frescoes. It was an astute political move because in that way, the Romans would connect him with Octavian Augustus, founder of the State. Succeeding emperors followed his example, building their grandiose mansions on the hill.
    Augustus, as well as Tiberius and Domitian, are responsible for most of the impressive ruins we see today, including the Flavian Palace, the Stadium of Domitian, and the House of Augustus. Other vast constructions, such as the Temple of Apollo (built on the orders of Augustus), and the mysterious decorative building known as the Septizodium, have disappeared, hardly leaving a trace of their existence.

    This majestic hill towers over the Roman Forum and the Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus), the ruins of its ancient palaces still visible from a distance were once the home of emperors and the site of temples. Paul led us across to Tempio Di Apollo Palatino, from where we were afforded a magnificent panoramic view across the Circo Massimo to the Aventine Hill on the other side of the valley. He mentioned that a huge arena which could seat 250,000 people, where chariot racing was held, is still buried many metres below the surface. At the time, chariot racing was the most popular sport, and champions could earn the equivalent of orders of magnitude more than their modern counterparts. "Fans" took the sport seriously, and it was reported that at one race event, clashes between fans resulted in 20,000 deaths.

Stadio Palatino

    Our guide relished weaving myths and legends into his spiel, as well as dispelling some myths too. He went on to relate that according to Roman legend, Romulus was concerned that there was a shortage of women for the Roman men. Just after he founded Rome in 753BC, he decided to employ chariot racing as a means of distracting the Sabine men. Romulus sent out invitations to the neighbouring towns to celebrate the festival of the Consualia, which included both horse races and chariot races. Whilst the Sabines were enjoying the spectacle, Romulus and his men seized and carried off the Sabine women, who became wives of the Romans.
    As we set off to walk across the Palatine Hill, we quickly came across, immediately adjacent to the Flavian palace of Severus, the 160m x 48m Stadio Palatino, also known as the Hippodrome of Domitian. One of the few obviously recognisable buildings on the Palatino, the sunken stadio was probably used by the emperors for private games and events. It was built along the eastern flank of the Domus Augustana during Domiziano's reign and was originally overlooked by a two-tiered portico.
    Continuing, we passed the House of Augustus, built as the private residence of Octavian Augustus, the house built on two levels still has a large part of the valued and colourful frescoes that decorated its walls. Close by was the Palatine Museum, and then we entered a large square that was the remains of the Flavian Palace, normally known as the Domus Flavia. It is part of the vast residential complex of the Palace of Domitian on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It was completed in 92AD by Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus, and attributed to his master architect, Rabirius. It had a large courtyard with various rooms facing onto it: a Basilica, an enormous royal hall, where the emperor called the people together, and an even larger banquet hall.

    When the capital became Costantinople and the Western Roman Empire gradually lost importance, the Palatine began to fall to ruin. Only Emperor Teodorico, arriving in Rome around 500AD, decided to restore certain buildings and base his reign here; a century later, however, the hill fell into disuse becoming a new quarry for building material, together with the Forum. In the following 1000 years, churches, convents and fortifications were built on the hill.
    A short stroll brought us through a lush, green haven with wild flowers abounding between the ruins and trees. Why, you may ask is there an emerald paradise on the hill? Well, in the year 1500, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese bought up the entire hill and built his villa here. Built on the ruins of the Palace of Tiberius, the Farnese Gardens, a marvellous garden full of trees, plants and flowers from many different places, were one of the first botanical gardens to be created in Europe. Although the gardens fell into disuse over time, some parts can still be visited today.
    Passing through this oasis, we popped out onto a large terrace from which we had spectacular views where we saw the labyrinthine ruins of the Roman Forum in their entirety, the Colosseum, and the Capitoline Hill. For a fresh perspective on Rome and its history, there's no better place than the Palatine.
    From our eyrie, we had a perfect view of the Via Sacre (Sacred Road). It was the main processional street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The road was part of the traditional route of the Roman Triumph that began on the outskirts of the city and proceeded through the Roman Forum. In the 5th century BC, the road was supported by a super-structure to protect it from the rain. Later it was paved and during the reign of Nero it was lined with colonnades.

Arch of Titus

    Paul led us down a series of steps to the Roman Forum, and we paused a while at the highest point of the Sacra Via, the Summa Sacra Via, where the Arch of Titus was located. The Arch of Titus commands a key point along the triumphal route (via Triumphalis), one that visually links the valley of the Flavian amphitheatre (Colosseum) to the valley of the Forum Romanum and the Capitoline Hill beyond. Many triumphal parades had passed along this route for many centuries, thus the choice to place a permanent triumphal monument astride the route was not accidental but, rather, deliberately evocative of the fact that the triumph as a ritual both created and reinforced collective memory for Romans. The arch was erected by Domitian in c. 81AD. It commemorates the victories of his father Vespasian and brother Titus in the Jewish War in Judaea (70-71AD) when the great city of Jerusalem was sacked and the vast riches of its temple plundered. The arch is also a political and religious statement expressing the divinity of the late emperor Titus.
    We walked along the Sacra Via, and as we passed the Tempio di Antonio e Faustina, Paul paused, pointing to a patch of land just opposite the temple, with remains of a building, the Regia. The Regia was not labelled in any way, but Paul took delight in informing us about it. The Regia was a two-part structure in Ancient Rome lying along the Sacra Via at the edge of the Roman Forum that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of kings of Rome and later as the office of the Pontifex Maximus, the highest religious official of Rome. It occupied a triangular patch of terrain between the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Divus Julius and Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Only the foundations of Republican/Imperial Regia remain.
    According to ancient tradition it was built by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, as a royal palace. Indeed, the Latin term "regia" can be translated as royal residence. It is said that he also built the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestal Virgins as well as the Domus Publica. This created a central area for political and religious life in the city and Kingdom. When Caesar became Pontifex Maximus, he exercised his duties from the Regia. Paul regretted missing out on a dig that took place there.
    Nearby, at the point in the Forum, where the ground begins to rise towards the slopes of the Palatine, there stood a temple that was of the utmost importance for the city and her population, for it was dedicated to the goddess who was protectoress of the family and thus also of the State: the Temple of Vesta, traditionally attributed to Numa Pompilius, one of the first kings of Rome.
    Stored away in the innermost shrine of this temple and equally jealously guarded, the city also preserved numerous sacred objects, including the Palladium, the wooden image of Pallas Athena, that, as legend would have it, Aeneas had brought from Troy as pledge and warranty of empire. This ancient temple was built in imitation of a primitive round hut, its hearth fire symbolizing the perpetuity of the Roman State. It was not a true temple in that its space was not inaugurated, nor did it contain an image of Vesta, the goddess of the household hearth.

Regia

    The House of the Vestal Virgins, which rose immediately adjacent to the Temple of Vesta, was the home and official residence of the priestesses charged with guarding the sacred and eternal flame, symbol of the eternal life of the city, that burned in the temple and performing the rites connected with the cult of the hearth. The House, which has been considered as the prototype of present-day monastic convents, was organized around a large courtyard kept as a garden and surrounded on all sides by a portico.

Temple of Vesta

    The Vestal Virgins were six in number; they entered as novices between the age of six and ten, and remained for thirty years under vows of strict chastity. They were chosen by the supreme religious authority of the State, the Pontifex Maximus; at first only Patricians were eligible, but later they could be chosen also from among the Plebeian families.
    We had now descended into the Central Piazza, down-town of Ancient Rome. This was the most crowded and certainly the most preferred spot to do business of all kinds. The Roman Forum was for centuries the centre of Rome's public life. All important social and political events took place here, from elections to public speeches, from triumphal processions to criminal trials, from gladiatorial matches to commercial affairs. Known by the citizens of the time as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum (meaning piazza, square), it remained the heart of Rome from the 8th century BC to the 7th century AD.
    Prisoners were given to the Legionnaires as war booty and were then sold to slave merchants. They were exhibited on a small stage in the piazza with plaques on their chests that stated any qualities or defects of the unfortunate soul. Often they were destined to do heavy work in the fields but those who had been educated ended up in the homes of rich patricians. Those slaves who were able to read, write or do arithmetic could be worth a fortune: they were, in fact, used as educators for the children of Roman nobility and could command prices as high as half a million Sestertii. The owners, at some point, could give them the gift of their freedom, allowing them to become "Liberti". This condition guaranteed their complete entrance into public Roman life and they could then choose to become government employees, merchants or even take up a military career.
    A row of large columns used to be in this spot to honour very important people. Today only one is still standing, that dedicated to the emperor Foca. He was a Bizantine emperor and probably would have remained unknown had the column not been set up in his honour because of his gift of the Pantheon to the pope. This column is truly a symbol because it was the last monument erected in the Roman Forum, in 608 AD, when the Medieval period had already begun.

Central Piazza. From the Left: Tabularium, Temple of Saturn, Arch of Septimus Severus, and Curia Julia - Senate

    On the front slope of the Capitoline Hill is the Tabularium, the repository for official state archives. The large building, which also housed the offices of many city officials, dates to 78BC when the building was completed by Quintus Lutatius Catulus. From the 67m-long corridor, which is still partly preserved, the arched windows look out over the Forum. The tower was added in the 1300s, while the upper and western parts were demolished by Michelangelo to work on the design of the Palazzo Senatorio, built atop the Tabularium in the 12th century.
    The 4th century AD Temple of Saturn is situated in the north west corner of the Roman Forum and has eight majestic columns still standing. Built in honour of Saturn, it was the focal point of this ancient cult and stood on the site of the original temple dedicated in c. 497BC, which itself had replaced the god's first shrine, the Ara Saturni. In addition, during the Republic the temple also housed the public treasury (aerarium), a function it kept, albeit in a more limited function, in the Imperial period.
    Close to the foot of the Capitoline Hill is the Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus, built in 203AD to commemorate the victories of emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the wars against the Parthians. Built in brick and travertine, clad with marble slabs, it is a three-way triumphal arch, measuring almost 21m in height and 23m in width.
    When a Roman general had killed at least 5,000 enemies and conquered new territories, he could then enter victoriously into the city, dressed in his armour. He would pass along the Via Sacra, under the triumphal arches, until he reached the Temple of Jove on Capitoline Hill. There was no better place in Rome than the Forum to celebrate its victories. The processions were majestic, rich in colour and sound and involved the whole population: it was the best way to show the world Rome's power. High level politicians opened the ceremonies, followed by actors doing scenes from the battles.
    The show was enriched with music and dance. The spoils of war were triumphantly exhibited so that every citizen could admire the treasures taken from the enemy: arms, jewels, works of art, even exotic animals, not to mention the prisoners trudging along in chains. Only then, towards the end of the procession, standing on a golden chariot pulled by four white horses, came the victorious warrior, acclaimed by the riotous crowd that made way for his passage. Finally, the soldiers who had participated in the war, yelling and singing, happy for their victory and most of all, for the pay they had just received. The procession ended on the Capitoline Hill, at the Temple of Jove, with a sacrifice to thank the gods. Sometimes the sacrifice was the killing of the head of the enemy army: the loser, humiliated, was killed without pity in front of the authorities and all the people.
    When the emperor Septimius Severus died, Caracalla didn't want to share imperial power with his brother and so decided to grab the throne with the classic technique of "homicide". Caracalla went down in history as one of Rome's cruellest emperors.
    Paul pointed out a large, somewhat anonymous-looking brick building facing the piazza, the Curia Julia. It was the official meeting place of the Roman Senate. After voting, senators would come out of the building and share their decisions with citizens gathered in the Forum. Construction began in 44BC under Julius Caesar, but was interrupted following Caesar's assassination. It was finished by his successor, Augustus, in 29BC. The Curia Julia has been well preserved thanks to its conversion into the basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro in the 7th century.
    The Senate was the primary governing body and represented the wisdom and power of Rome. Rome's future was decided here, decisions were made that had repercussions for the entire Empire, even for places thousands of miles away. It held more than 300 senators that sat along the steps at the sides of the hall and at the centre there was the presidential podium. The senators all wore their characteristic white toga, bordered with red, and so long that it was worn folded and laid over the left arm. All Roman citizens could wear the toga but usually they wore it only for religious holidays or particular ceremonies; senators, on the other hand, wore it as a badge of distinction.
    Only men of a certain prestige and great experience could be senators. In fact, the word "senator" comes from the Latin "senex" - old. Of course, there were some exceptions, as in the case of the emperor Caligula who, according to legend, had his horse made senator! Obviously this was a bit of a provocation to express his total disdain for the Senate and to show that even an animal could improve its decisions.
    On the eastern side of the Central Piazza stood the Temple of Castor and Pollux or the "Dioscuri", with only three columns surviving. They recall one of the first legendary victories of the Romans over the Latins. This was a temple dedicated to the dioscouri Castor and Pollux, who had helped the Romans win a battle against the Latins in 496BC. As the legend tells it, the two men were seen watering their horses at a spring in the Forum Romanum after the battle. A temple was built at this location by Roman dictator Aulus Postumius Albinus, and it was completed in 484BC. The temple went through several restorations in 117BC. It was enlarged by L. Cecilius Dalmaticus to celebrate victory over the Dalmations, Gaius Verres restored it in 73BC, and Tiberius restored the temple in 106AD after a fire had destroyed it in 14BC.

Temple of Castor and Pollux

    Close by to the Temple of Castor and Pollux stood a small innocuous building. It was here where Julius Caesar's body was cremated, and his adopted son Augustus ordered built first an altar then a temple to pay homage to his father, honouring him as a divinity.
    Julius Caesar had certainly made many enemies. In 44BC, the news of his assassination had a devastating effect on Rome. The authors of the assassination plot fled the city while in this exact spot at the center of the Forum, the people, profoundly moved, dedicated to him this final honour. Today, little remains of the Temple of the Divine Julius due to the removal of precious stone over the centuries that followed. You can still make out the semi-circular shape and some of the altar. Thanks to the images on certain Roman coins, we know that it must have been quite imposing, with a high stairway and 6 marble columns on the facade.
    In the stifling heat we retraced our steps along the Sacra Via, passing the well preserved Temple of Antoninus and Faustina on the way. The building stands on a tall plinth preceded by a flight of brick steps, rebuilt in modern times, which has incorporated the ancient core, also made of brick. In the 7th and 8th centuries it was converted into the Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda, which incorporated the remains of the original temple.
    The temple built by Antoninus Pius in honour of his deified wife, the empress Faustina, who died in 141AD. After the death of Antoninus himself in 161AD, the temple was dedicated to both together. The inscription on the architrave records the first dedication, and that added afterwards on the frieze records the second. In consequence of this double dedication the proper name of the temple became the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina.

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

    The temple was the seat of the College of Priests (called Pontifices), who met under the presidency of the Pontifex Maximus, the chief religious authority of the Roman State. Here were drawn up the calendar and the official lists of consuls and of the holders of triumphs; here the rules were fixed that governed sacrifices at altars and temples, and here were decreed the punishments for crimes against religion. All of these activities were recorded in written form in the famous Books of the Pontifices.
    Paul spent a while explaining how he saw the Roman expansionist policy. The ancient Romans cast a long shadow over the peoples of Europe. Even the vocabulary of modern European expansion is Roman: The words imperialism, empire, colonialism, colony, proconsul, and procurator all come from Rome. In addition, Roman approaches towards acquisition and administration of conquered territory and individuals provided the foundation, the blueprint, for later European expansion and rule.
    The Romans were unique among ancient peoples in that they willingly and freely incorporated newly conquered people into their own society, freely giving citizenship to outsiders in order to Romanise them and make them willing participants (instead of unwilling subjects or enemies) in the Roman imperial system. Romans preferred government on the cheap and as such chose to administer new lands and peoples indirectly, through indigenous collaborators, who were awarded Roman citizenship or other benefits. The Romans called this system divide and rule because they literally divided up conquered peoples into their component units (usually tribes and city-states), made separate alliances and treaties with each, and induced each, through a complex system of rewards, to keep an eye on the others and provide for the common defence.
    Once Rome moved beyond Italy, the Romans became much more guarded in their grants of citizenship. The system of divide and rule still applied but now the Romans added a new dimension, the perks for the conquered began with tax exemption rather than citizenship. Once Rome moved beyond Italy, it no longer rewarded former enemies quite so generously. Because of the costs incurred with overseas expansion, Rome could not afford to allow its overseas subjects to go untaxed. In essence, Rome wanted to expand its Empire, preferring to pull nations into the fold for mutual benefits rather than conquer and form enemies.
    On that note, Paul left us to our own devices and disappeared off towards the Colosseum. I was impressed with his knowledge; he had brought Ancient Rome and the Roman people alive for a short while.
    Dan and I took a short diversion off the Sacra Via to visit the largest structure still standing in the Forum, and at the time, it was the largest building in Rome, the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine. A triumph of Roman engineering, the Basilica would have covered an area of 6,500 square meters. It would have been divided into a central nave, two lateral aisles, and an atrium. The central vaults were up to 35 meters high, while the Corinthian columns reached a height of 14.5 meters.
    Construction started in 308AD by the Emperor Maxentius and was later finished by Constantine after he defeated Maxentius in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312AD. When Constantine legalized the Christian religion, he decided to use the Roman basilica as the model for Christian churches.
    Today, we associate the word "Basilica" with major Roman Catholic Churches. However, among Ancient Romans, the word "Basilica" had a different meaning. "Basilica" derives from a Greek expression, which literally means "Royal Walkway". In Ancient Rome, a Basilica essentially functioned as a modern town hall, with a few ancient flourishes. The Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine would have been used for commercial and administrative business. It's likely that the offices of the Prefect of the City would have been found within.
    Constantine and his successors were the first to Christianise the Basilica, to make these government buildings the modern churches we know today. Constantine thought that the layout of the building, already shaped like a Crucifix, would be perfect for Christian worship. The sheer size of the pre-existing Basilicas gave them a logistical advantage, as an obvious site of Christian worship which could easily accommodate a large congregation. Another advantage of Basilicas is that they were free from the Temple's pagan associations. As Christianity spread, the origins of the Basilica were all but forgotten. The 9th and 14th century earthquakes destroyed a large part of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, but what remains is magnificent nonetheless.

    We were now suffering from Forum diarrhoea and the heat was unbearable, it was time for R&R. We chilled out in a cool bar near the Colosseum with a beer of two, discussing all the sights we'd seen and history we'd heard in this action packed day. We had covered a hell of a lot, but it had all been well worth it. Then suitably rejuvenated, we strolled over to that delightful Bohemian area known as Trastevere where we had dined previously, and enjoyed a sumptuous last evening meal in Rome - perfect end to a perfect day.

The Final Supper in Trastevere