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ARRIVERDICI ROMA!
Column of Marcus Aurelius, detail
The National
Children’s Day holiday in the Spring Semester, 2002 gave 15
students and staff the opportunity for a hectic but hugely
satisfying ‘flying’ visit to Rome. This trip – the first by the
Department since 1996 - was in conjunction with that semester’s
HART 352 course, ‘The Monuments of Rome’, although the course
members were slightly outnumbered by ‘the others’! Leaving on
the 20th April, and returning early morning on the 25th,
in just four full days, we were able to see all the major
surviving monuments of ancient Rome, as well as some of its
later Medieval and Renaissance glories, and two of its major
museums.
The first full day
was a mixture of rain and sun, but being Rome’s birthday, all
the monuments were open free of charge. Consequently, we took
this chance to do as much as possible, beginning with Trajan’s
Baths, and then continuing to the Roman Forum, Domitian’s palace
on the Palatine Hill, the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine.
Sounds intensive? It was. But hey, it was all within easy
walking distance of our hotel, and it was the first day, so all
were
(Photo: Julian Bennett 2002)
Forum Holitorium,
Tabularium
keen to do as much
as possible – especially as all the sites were free to enter!
Day Two saw us
beginning with a visit to the Baths of Diocletian, later
converted into the Santa Maria degli Angeli: this is the only
Roman bath-house which still has its vaults standing to full
height, and it is a truly impressive sight. Then, a short ride
by metro took us to the Circus Maximus, for a leisurely stroll
along its banks in the brilliant sunshine to the Tiber. After
viewing the Republican temples in the Forum Boarium, we
continued past Rome’s surviving bridges to the Theatre of
Marcellus, before passing through the Jewish Quarter to
view the Largo Argentina temples in the Campus Martius area.
Then we made our way to the Pantheon, a building which is simply
stupendous; no class-room slide could ever quite manage to
convey the reality of this building, its 40 m. diameter dome
remaining the largest ever built until the last quarter of the
20th century!
Suitably fortified
by pizzas, and a gellato or café corretto (for some), we then
meandered past Borromini’s Santo Ivo delle Sapienza to visit the
other main monuments of the Campus Martius, including the Piazza
Navona (Domitian’s Stadium), the Column of Marcus Aurelius, and
the Mausoleum of Augustus. Sadly, we could not see the Ara Pacis,
as this was closed for restoration, but we managed to conclude
the day with a visit to Santa Maria de l Popolo, home for two
of Caravaggio’s finest paintings. Equally impressive in many
ways, however, were the late Medieval and renaissance funerary
monuments set into the floor, each one intricately carved and
providing clear impressions of contemporary costume.
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The third day
started with a visit to the Aurelian Walls, the Porta
Maggiore and the Castra Praetoria, before riding the metro
to Colosseo, and then the short walk to the Capitoline Hill.
It would have been wonderful to climb to the top of Rome’s
‘Monument to the Wedding Cake’, officially known as the
Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, but time simply did not
permit: we were on our way to the Capitoline
Museums, home
to most of Rome’s best antiquities, including everyone’s
favourites, the Capitoline Wolf and the Dying Gaul. As it
was, what should have been a 45 minute visit became a 90
minute one, as the sub-structures of the Museums, Sulla’s
Tabularium, have recently been opened to public view, and
some of us got carried away. (Apologies again, Ýlke, and
those patient others who were waiting, and waiting, and
waiting at the destined meeting point at the designated
time…)
The participants
Trajan’s
Forum, Column and Markets followed, with a lunch break by
the Forum of Vespasian, before it was off on our way past
the Colosseum and the Ludus Magnus to the Basilica di San
Clemente. This is one of Rome’s less well known sites, but
it is a marvelous example of ‘urban continuity’, Deep below
the ground is a 2nd century house, converted into
a mithraeum in the 3rd century, before becoming a
Christian house-church in the 4th. Above all of
this were the remains of a late Roman church, supporting the
existing medieval one. It
really brought
home to all how deeply stratified Rome’s archaeology is, and
how much must survive beneath its standing buildings.
Indeed, a voice was overheard to say ‘If only we can get all
this Renaissance stuff out of the way…’! Then we walked past
the remains of a 2nd century apartment block –
still standing 3
storeys
high – to the Santa Maria Maggiore, where Charles Gates gave
a wonderful exposition on the surviving 4th/5th
century mosaics.
The last day
was – free! Most, however, chose to visit the Vatican
complex under the leadership of Charles Gates, viewing both
St. Peter’s and the Vatican Museums. One decided to explore
the really least known sites of ancient Rome, including the
so-called Temple of Minerva, in reality a 4th
century domed dining room, tastefully located between the
main railway line and a tramway… Then it was time for
shopping and lunch, before departing for the airport. The
journey saw our first crisis of the entire trip: a traffic
accident had blocked the direct route, and time was
pressing. Our driver, however, knew a short cut – you know
the sort, down lanes and byways, over valleys and hills,
‘Are we nearly there yet?’ - and past Ostia Antica! Now,
that was treat for all, a marvelous view over the site as
the sun set. This one last lingering view of the wonders of
the Roman Empire was an unexpected bonus – and we made the
flight on time!
Julian Bennett
Newsletter No. 2
- 2003, Pg. 28
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