Much like yesterday, we toured the ancient Roman sites on foot. First, we visited the Capitoline Museums — three art and archeological museums (a three-tiered building plot situated in Piazza del Campidoglio), replete with sculptures, paintings, and general artifacts from throughout the Roman republic and empire. Historians trace the museum’s origins to the late 15th century, when Pope Sixtus IV donated “ancient bronzes to the people of Rome and located them on the Capitoline Hill.” The most renowned objects include a head bust Constantine (a colossal head structure abutting the building wall), a statue of a mounted Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the center of the piazza, the wounded Amazon, Bernini’s Medusa, the Spinario, the Capitoline Venus, and the She-Wolf of Rome. Interestingly, many of the Roman pagan statues were destroyed on the orders of the Christian Church during the Middle Ages, but the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius remained, in part because medieval Christian authorities erroneously thought it depicted Emperor Constantine, who institutionalized Christianity in the early 300s. Much of our morning was spent completing a scavenger hunt, as we located many of these famous artifacts.
Afterwards, we ate lunch near the museum and then spent the afternoon touring the Roman Colosseum, site of ancient gladiatorial games. We snapped tens, if not hundreds of photographs inside, walked up to the upper and lower parts of the ancient building, all before heading out to visit Constantine’s Arch, the Palatine Hill, and the Circus Maximus.
After our visit to the Colosseum, we walked through the Roman Forum and visited Julius Caesar’s tomb, where we held a seminar on the tension between having a strong, relatively beneficent autocrat versus a corrupt, oligarchic senate whereby power was distributed much evenly.
In the evening, we had free time and dinner in the beautiful Trastevere district.
Tomorrow, we head to another country and visit the most heavily-visited place in the world: the Vatican City. Stay tuned!
Afterwards, we ate lunch near the museum and then spent the afternoon touring the Roman Colosseum, site of ancient gladiatorial games. We snapped tens, if not hundreds of photographs inside, walked up to the upper and lower parts of the ancient building, all before heading out to visit Constantine’s Arch, the Palatine Hill, and the Circus Maximus.
After our visit to the Colosseum, we walked through the Roman Forum and visited Julius Caesar’s tomb, where we held a seminar on the tension between having a strong, relatively beneficent autocrat versus a corrupt, oligarchic senate whereby power was distributed much evenly.
In the evening, we had free time and dinner in the beautiful Trastevere district.
Tomorrow, we head to another country and visit the most heavily-visited place in the world: the Vatican City. Stay tuned!
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