A Day at the Forum!
After walking the Forum and the outside of the Colosseum, we jumped onto a tour bus and gave our feet a rest!
This was their Gladiator stance..................
Jeff and Alex in front of the Arch of Titus. This arch commemorated the Roman victory over the province of Judea (Israel) in A.D. 70. The Romans had a reputation as benevolent conquerors who tolerated the local customs and rulers. All they required was allegiance to the empire, which could be shown by worshiping the emperor as a god. No problem for most conquered people, who already had half a dozen gods on their prayer lists anyway. But the Israelites believed in only one god and it wasn't the emperor. Israel revolted. After a short but bitter war, the Romans defeated the rebels, took Jerusalem, sacked their temple, and brought home 50,000 Jewish slaves.....who were forced to build this arch. Lesson over............
Where is the GELATO?
Temple of Vesta. The three columns standing are all that remain. This was Rome's most sacred spot. Rome considered itself one big family, and this temple represented a circular hut, like the kind Rome's first families lived in. Inside, a fire burned, just as in a Roman home. And back in the days before lighters and matches, you never wanted your fire to go out. As long as the sacred flame burned, Rome would stand. The flame was tended by priestesses known as Vestal Virgins. Six Vestal Virgins, chosen from noble families before they reached the age of 10, served a 30-year term. Honored and revered by the Romans, the Vestals even had their own box opposite the emperor in the Colosseum. As the name implies, a Vestal took a vow of chastity. If she served her term faithfully--abstaining for 30 years--she was given a huge dowry, honored with a statue, and allowed to marry (life begins at 40?) But if the Romans found any Virgin who wasn't, she was strapped to a funeral car, paraded through the streets of the Forum, taken to a crypt, given a loaf of bread and a lamp...and buried alive. Many woman suffered the latter fate.
The brown spot is a Roman coin embedded into the rock.
Kevin outside of Caesar's tomb.
This building is called Curia. (Senate House) The most important political building in the Forum. This was the site of Rome's Rome's official center of government since the birth of the republic. Three hundred senators, elected by the citizens of Rome, met here to debate and create the laws of the land. Caesar was assassinated in "the Senate" it wasn't here--the Senate was temporarily meeting across town. I have a picture of that place I will post in a minute. I learned on a tourn once that they decided to assassinate Caesar at that time because they didn't want to do it in the Forum.
Jeff and Alex waiting to see Caesar's tomb. It is nothing more than a mound of dirt. Caesar was so well thought of that he was cremated on this site, right smack in the middle of the Forum. Nobody was even allowed to be buried inside the city walls let alone in the middle of the Forum. It would be something like us buring a President in the middle of the White House. It was a pretty big deal. Every time I come here, there are fresh flowers laying across the dirt.
The area on the left side of the picture is where Caesar is buried. He walked past this site every day to go to the Senate. The hill behind Kevin, Alex, and Jeff is the site of the Palace. All the emperor's lived here.
Another view of the Arch of Titus. The arch the Jewish slaves built.
This is a different arch. This one is the Arch of Septimius Sererus, six-stories-high, A.D. 203. The reliefs commemorate the African-born emperor's battles in Mesopotamia. Near ground level, you can see curly-haired Severus marching captured barbarians back to Rome for the victory parade. At this time Rome had started to crumble from it's own corruption of disease, decaying infrastructure, and the constant attacks by foreign barbarians.
This was their Gladiator stance..................
Jeff and Alex in front of the Arch of Titus. This arch commemorated the Roman victory over the province of Judea (Israel) in A.D. 70. The Romans had a reputation as benevolent conquerors who tolerated the local customs and rulers. All they required was allegiance to the empire, which could be shown by worshiping the emperor as a god. No problem for most conquered people, who already had half a dozen gods on their prayer lists anyway. But the Israelites believed in only one god and it wasn't the emperor. Israel revolted. After a short but bitter war, the Romans defeated the rebels, took Jerusalem, sacked their temple, and brought home 50,000 Jewish slaves.....who were forced to build this arch. Lesson over............
Where is the GELATO?
Temple of Vesta. The three columns standing are all that remain. This was Rome's most sacred spot. Rome considered itself one big family, and this temple represented a circular hut, like the kind Rome's first families lived in. Inside, a fire burned, just as in a Roman home. And back in the days before lighters and matches, you never wanted your fire to go out. As long as the sacred flame burned, Rome would stand. The flame was tended by priestesses known as Vestal Virgins. Six Vestal Virgins, chosen from noble families before they reached the age of 10, served a 30-year term. Honored and revered by the Romans, the Vestals even had their own box opposite the emperor in the Colosseum. As the name implies, a Vestal took a vow of chastity. If she served her term faithfully--abstaining for 30 years--she was given a huge dowry, honored with a statue, and allowed to marry (life begins at 40?) But if the Romans found any Virgin who wasn't, she was strapped to a funeral car, paraded through the streets of the Forum, taken to a crypt, given a loaf of bread and a lamp...and buried alive. Many woman suffered the latter fate.
The brown spot is a Roman coin embedded into the rock.
Kevin outside of Caesar's tomb.
This building is called Curia. (Senate House) The most important political building in the Forum. This was the site of Rome's Rome's official center of government since the birth of the republic. Three hundred senators, elected by the citizens of Rome, met here to debate and create the laws of the land. Caesar was assassinated in "the Senate" it wasn't here--the Senate was temporarily meeting across town. I have a picture of that place I will post in a minute. I learned on a tourn once that they decided to assassinate Caesar at that time because they didn't want to do it in the Forum.
Jeff and Alex waiting to see Caesar's tomb. It is nothing more than a mound of dirt. Caesar was so well thought of that he was cremated on this site, right smack in the middle of the Forum. Nobody was even allowed to be buried inside the city walls let alone in the middle of the Forum. It would be something like us buring a President in the middle of the White House. It was a pretty big deal. Every time I come here, there are fresh flowers laying across the dirt.
The area on the left side of the picture is where Caesar is buried. He walked past this site every day to go to the Senate. The hill behind Kevin, Alex, and Jeff is the site of the Palace. All the emperor's lived here.
Another view of the Arch of Titus. The arch the Jewish slaves built.
This is a different arch. This one is the Arch of Septimius Sererus, six-stories-high, A.D. 203. The reliefs commemorate the African-born emperor's battles in Mesopotamia. Near ground level, you can see curly-haired Severus marching captured barbarians back to Rome for the victory parade. At this time Rome had started to crumble from it's own corruption of disease, decaying infrastructure, and the constant attacks by foreign barbarians.
posted by Kathy at 9:24 AM
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