Roman History

hmmmm..... right... as if one blog could even begin to cover the basic history of a city known as "The Eternal City"!

Inside the Colosseum

excited to be there

The Colosseum/Il Colosseo:

The Colosseum is a great amphitheater in Rome that is very well known throughout the world. It was first commissioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian. It is believed that get its name not only from is massive size but from an enormous statue, the Colossus of Nero, that used to stand nearby. It is the largest theater ever built in the roman empire and considered one of the greatest works of roman architecture. The theater has 80 entrances which allows easy access to the 55,000 spectators that it can hold. Inside this very structure is where the gladiators used to fight to death. The colosseum also played host to many other types of shows, one of them being wild animal fights. The 4 rows of the outside walls are each built with different styles. The bottom 3 are arched, one with Doric columns, one with Ionic and the last with Corinthian. The top level used to support a huge awning to shade spectators.

The bridge leading to the castle

St. Angelo's Castle/Castel Sant' Angelo:

This castle gets its name from Pope Gregory the Great's vision of Michael the Archangel in the 6th century as he led a procession across the bridge, praying for the end of the plague. In AD 139, the castle began as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum. Since then it has served for many other purposes, such as being a bridgehead in the Emperor Aurelian's city wall, a medieval citadel and prison, and a place for safety for popes during times of war or political unrest.

Piazza Navona:

This piazza follows the shape of a 1st century AD stadium, built by Domitian and used for athletic contests, chariot races and other sports. The foundations of the surrounding buildings come from the ruined stadium and traces can still be seen. The church of Sant' Agnese is named after the virgin martyr St. Agnes, whose hair, when forced to strip naked to renounce her face, grew miraculously long hiding her body. The fountain in the middle of the piazza, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi portrays four gods personifying the world's greates know rivers at the time - the Nile, the Plate, the Ganges, and the Danube. (I dipped my foot in this fountain... definitely not something your supposed to do :) and got my butt soaked from it...)

Pantheon (undergoing renovations... lame):

The Pantheon is the Roman temple of all the gods, and is the 'best preserved' ancient building in Rome. The first building on the site is believed to have been built by Agrippa between 27 and 25 BC. But the present structure was built and maybe even designed by Emperor Hadrian in AD 118. In the 7th century, Christians claimed that as they walked by they were being plagued by demons, so permission was given to turn the Pantheon into a church. Today it is lined with tombs holding the bodies of many Italian monarchs.

Palatine Hill:

The Palatine is a the hill where the Roman aristocracy lived and emperors built their palaces, and is considered the city's most pleasant and relaxing of the ancient sites. The area is dominated by the grand ruins of the Domus Augustana and Domus Flavia, which were two parts of domitias huge palace in the 1st Century AD. Other remains here include The House of Ausgustus and the House of Livia, where the Emperor Augustus lived with his wife Livia; the Cryptoporticus, a long underground gallery built by Nero; and the Huts of Romulus which are iron age huts from 10th century BC that provide archaeoogical support for teh areas's legendary links the the founding of Rome. According to legend, Romulus and Remus grew up on this hill in the 8th century BC.

Trevi Fountain/Fontana Di Trevi:

By standards of the Eternal City, the Trevi Fountain is pretty recent. It was only completed in 1762 by Nicola Salvi and is Rome's largest and most famous fountain. The central figure is of Neptune, flanked by two Tritons, one struggling with an ill-tempered seahorse and the other leading a more relaxed animal. These symbolize the two contrasting moods of the sea. Originally the site was the terminal of the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct (19 BC).

St. Peters Basilica/Basilica di San Pietro:

Being catholicism's most sacred shrine, this vast, beautiful building attracts people from all over the world. The shrine was built on the site of St. Peter's tomb in the 2nd century and the first basilica was commissioned by Constantine and completed around AD 349. It began falling down in the 15th century, so in 1506, Pope Julius II laid the first stone of new church. The present basilica took more than a century to build and all the great architects of the Roman Renaissance and Baroque helped with its design.