Il Colosseo e Il Foro Romano! Belissima!

The colosseum!  A must see & usually the top spot to visit on everyone's list of places to visit in Roma! I had been putting it off mainly because of the crowds but, had actually been dying to go.  So, this past weekend on a beautiful & crisp day I braved the throngs of tourists & cued up.  Honestly, I am still absolutely blown away by the history of this place!  Imagine thousands of Romans in this very colosseum watching gladiators fight or people getting chased around by a lion or some other exotic animal.  It happened!  Right here!

You can now see the underground warren of passageways but in the olden day it was covered, where you can see a stage constructed in the back there.  It wasn't always a brutal scene, they also used to hold plays & such here.  Through the many openings on the playing field various wild animals would be released.  I took a little guided tour to skip some of the massive cue & we learned that despite popular belief, the fighting done here was not always a means of torture.  Sometimes rulers & patricians would fight as gladiators simply for sport & fun.  

After the fall of ancient Rome the colosseum housed a church & then was sort of derelict for a while.  At some point it was scavenged & all the original marble & travertine was hauled off to build things such as St. Peters & San Giovanni in Laterano (churches).  That is why the interior just looks like a bunch of bricks now.  There were 3 tiers of seating, special boxes for emperors & vestal virgins, plebs up top.

There is always a lot of talk about the columns here.  All the classical column styles are used, the lower tier are ionic, the middle doric & the top corinthian.  Remember these from school?  I do.  Columns were a huge breakthrough in structural engineering.  As well as arches, which could bear a huge load.  All seen here in the amazing work of roman architecture... il colosseo!  Apparently just 1/3 of the original structure is still standing.  

listening to my little tour guide thingy & taking long arm photo.

the arco di constantine

corinthian capitol

guys dressed up as gladiators & staging a scene for tourists.  here they have someone's child dressed up & sitting with them.  then they will charge you 20 euro.  

map of the extent of the ancient roman empire at it's peak.  pretty impressive!!

Then I took a stroll through il foro Romano, the ancient Roman forum & really the birthplace of ancient Rome!  

the shell of a HUGE old basilica built by Constantine

here you can see it from above & see how big it is!  that is just one side of it, the other was destroyed

temple of Romulus

the temple of Romulus, I was most interested in the bronze door.  this could be the oldest bronze door... ever!

i'm not sure why i found this door so interesting.   just imagine all that's gone on behind it!

here is where Caesar was cremated.  beware the ides of March!

remnant of the vestal temple.  if a vestal virgin betrayed her vow of celibacy she was buried alive!!

that square building on the right has been rebuilt but, once housed the roman senate!

From this view you can imagine Marc Antony saying... friends, Romans, countrymen... lend me your ear.  (i think that was really only shakespeare though).  You can also envision ancient Romans walking around in togas and such.

a view of the forum with Palatine hill in the background

house of the vestals

I hope you have enjoyed this trip through ancient Roma.  I find it completely fascinating & I'm glad I can share it with you!

Enjoy le rose rosse! xo