A walk with Ben Hur

Picture this:
the sun is setting as you walk across the Tiber River on a bridge that's been there for over 1500 years, you hear a man playing saxophone in the background hoping for some generous hands, you're feeling full with gelato, and you smell the Tiber - a potpourri of seaweed and outhouse, you see old Roman ruins everywhere you look - so common that most aren't even labelled, and best of all you're walking along with someone really special to you that can tell you the history of it all. That was our first night in Rome.

That day we walked along the streets of Rome to whatever was nearby at that moment. We began at the Spanish Steps, then to the awe-inspiring Trevi fountain built right into the building it sits by, then to the Campo di Fiori (the Roman Ghetto and a great place for people watching as there is always something going on). We passed many fenced off 'sacred' sites with no labelling of what they were sacred for. All you see are fallen pillars, large blocks of stone and many many cats. The first one we saw was interesting, but they were so common that they just became 'cat sanctuaries' to us. We walked along the bustling Tiber river that runs right through the city and lined with lounge bars, markets and restaurants. On our way to the Colosseum as the sun was almost out of the sky we walked in the remains of the Circus Maximus - the biggest stadium with a capacity of 200,000 people (the ACC holds 20,000), where chariot races were held (re:Ben Hur), but now it's just a dirt track and grass due to early pilagers for building materials - just like the Colosseum today, looking like Swiss cheese from all of the pilagers trying to get at the iron bars that keep the stone blocks from shifting.

Our second day we went to the Palatine Hill, essentially prime Roman realestate of its day where all of the noblemen and people of high noterity lived in their palaces. With the same ticket we were able to get into the Colosseum where we opted for a more informative experience than that of the Hill so we joined a very informative tour guide with large pectoral muscles. So here's what I remember, (if you're not keen on knowing anything about the Colosseum you should skip to the next part):

When Nero was Emporer (he was ony 17) there was a fire that ruined part of the city. After many people were dispalced due to the fire he somewhat took the city away from the people as he was very selfish and insane and he declared that part of the land, 'emperial land.' So he obviously built a statue of himself. The Romans didn't care for him and eventually they had him killed in his bathtub by pro-wrestlers. Which I guess fits with how the land was used once Vespasian became Emporer. Vespasian wanted to give the city back to the people so he began the construction of the Colosseum which was to be used for their entertainment. It was built in less than 9 years and completed under emporer Titus. To celebrate its opening, 100 straight days of games were held. Admission was free for all ages...until 1997 when they realized they could make a prophet from tourism. They were spectator sports really, killing people for entertainment. There were games like "No way out" in which a well-armed man would fight a lesser-armed man until the death of most commonly the lesser man and then the winner (the man with more armour) became the one with less who would have to immediately fight another guy who would now have more armour and this would continue. There would be fights between dogs and porcupines, women and midgets, and they would even hold Naval battles there as the stage could be flooded in minutes (fed by the aquaducts). The 'fighters' were mostly criminals and prisonors of war, basically expendable people. It wasn't until the Colosseum became more popular did soldiers enter and become professional Gladiators. Being a Gladiator they were able to make more money from one fight than a year working as a soldier, and best of all, they were very popular with the ladies.
There were three levels of the arena. The first was made of wood and covered with sand to soak up all of the blood. Factoid:the latin word for sand is arena and is why today we call arena's as such. The second level was for all of the animals and workers. The stage manager would decide which type of animal(s) would go up through the trap doors next etc. And finally the lowest level was the morgue - a place where they would keep the bodies before throwing them into a huge pile with the rest of the dead people and animals. Approximately one million people were killed for the entertainment of those in the Colosseum (from bones found in the area).
In the middle ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Colosseum fell into disuse and was used as a Condo for a few decades and even the Pope tried to make it into a tabacco factory. After an earthquake in the 1700's damaged the Colosseum there was a bit of renovation done just to ensure that it wouldn't collapse any further -- and now it is what it is today.

That day we also visited the Pantheon ( a temple built for all of the gods turned Catholic Church), as well as San Silvestro in Capite -- the church where Conor's parents were married! It was neat to see Conor standing in the building where his parents were married where he was only a twinkle in their eyes. Great pick guys.

Rome is a fantastic city where everywhere you look you see history, even in the middle of busy streets and sidewalks. Everyone is quite friendly -- I mean, they make soya gelato just for people like me. I think what makes it so facsinating is that so much of what we know today started here in Rome.
Example one: the saying "I don't see your name written on that seat" is because all nobility had their names chiselled into their seats at the Colosseum.
Example two: Roads were first made in Rome in order to make it easier to move and settle after conquering battles -- the width of two horses, side-by-side, carrying chariots has determined the width of the tracks for our more updated trains, trams, and subways. The width of 4'8" (143cm) wide hasn't changed since the road size was standardized, eventhough making it an even number would be easier to work with. These high-tech machines that we use today have a connection to ancient Rome. So cool.

(photos to come, no computer has had a USB port for me to use, sorry...the blogs will get better I promise).

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