La Vita Romana: Two Arenas of Power in One City?

The Colosseum

After my day after the Roman Forum and standing in the sun for four hours (when I daresay I may have gotten a little sunburned), it was nice to think of the Colosseum with its many arches to retreat from the sun. On Saturday 25 June, we visited the Colosseum as a class! We got up bright and early and left Campo de Fiori about 8:20am. Of course, Ricardo couldn't resist himself when walking to explain anything that he thought was fit. So, in that manner, a 20 minute walk, became 40 minutes. Our tickets to enter the Colosseum were at 9:08am, so it's good that he planned for his ability to recall facts and dates about basically any building, cobblestone, or street sign in Rome. We don't know how it does it or how he stays so excited and happy all the time! There are very few people like Ricardo in the world.

Anyway, we got to the Colosseum and were able to skip past the long line and enter up the steep stairs onto the first level concourse around the entirety of the Colosseum. The archeologist from our previous day at the Roman Forum joined us for our day at the Colosseum as well. We spent the next couple of hours imagining gladiatorial battles, crucifixions, great speeches by emperors, ship battles, and more. One thing that I thought was really impressive is that they are going to restore the whole Colosseum in the next ten years. Fittingly, we decided to watch "Gladiator" that night, but I don't believe anyone made it all the way through without falling asleep. I know I didn't.

After the Colosseum, we visited two churches in that general area. First: Basilica di San Clemente where we descended through four levels of buildings to the first century. We started off in the current Basilica which was stunning, of course, but then we descended down a flight of stairs a couple floors and we were now in the Basilica dating back a few centuries. It was amazing because it was basically the same layout, but it had been filled in and just upon for the current Basilica. After that, we trekked down a couple of flights more and we were now in what was a street that had a temple and school with some shops. Continuing down even further, we eventually reached two Roman houses from the first century that even had a natural spring running through them that we could still see today! It was hard to even fathom all the events that had occured in that geographical location over TWENTY centuries!

"Moses" by Michelangelo

Second: Chiesa di San Pietro in Vincoli or (Saint Peter in Chains) where we were able to see a great work by Michelangelo -- "Moses" and the chains that held St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem.

Everyone spent the rest of the afternoon lounging about and sleeping as it was the warmest it's been since coming to Rome (about 91º). Later in the evening, we ate dinner at a nearby restaurant in the Campo, ate gelato, went for a little bit of a walk, and attempted to watch "Gladiator."

Today, we had nothing planned, which was a little bit of a change. But of course, Ricardo recommended that we should go to Basilica San Pietro at the Vatican as we are unable to visit it as a group where he can effectively be heard. So naturally, half of us went there and the other half went to the beach. I decided to go to the Vatican. It's not much of a walk -- only about twenty minutes and it was pleasant and not too hot. We got to the Vatican and there were a lot of people! Although the line was long to get in, go through the metal detectors, and be checked for clothing appropriateness, it did not take long in line -- only about 20 minutes. Shortly after getting through the line, we heard a loud cheering in the Piazza so I'm assuming that the Pope made an appearance on his balcony, but I'm not sure. Inside the church is amazing! If I thought any other church I've ever seen before was extravagant, I was wrong. Saint Peter's definitely tops them all! Although I was amazed and I think that the church is important for all the history, artwork, and social significance, I could not help thinking how it was paid for. Why did so many people need to give up so much of their hard earned money so that a large "palacial" church in Rome could be built that they would never visit? It was also interesting several of the relics still housed in the church and how up people lined up for the chance to touch some of the less delicate ones. My favourite thing in the church was hearing the organ reverberate throughout the cavernous expanses of interior and seeing a couple of bodies of the Popes. Does that make me morbid? I guess dead bodies just fascinate me. I was going to go down into the Crypts, but they were not open when I was there so I guess that will be done a different day. We will be visiting the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel on Tuesday as a class.