Second Day: A Walk Through the City

Before arriving in Rome, I pictured the city as any tourist might see it: a city of ruins. While wandering Rome is certainly a travel back in time, Rome is very much an integration of past and present. A walk down any cobblestoned street reminisces the times of the Roman Empire, but as they are now, littered with broken glass and cigarette butts, these streets are just one example of the new culture sitting atop the old.

Our first site visited epitomizes this theme. The Theatre of Marcellus (Theatro di Marcelli) was completed in 13 B.C. by Emperor Augustus.


Figure 1: On the left, Shawn is giving an explanation on the Theatre of Marcellus, which stands in the background. On the right is a side view of the apartments constructed within the theatre.

While this venue could entertain roughly ten thousand Roman spectators, the theatre now houses apartments and sundry small summer concerts. The antiquity of the old arches and columns immediately apparent from the exterior layer is drastically different from the modernity of the interior apartments. Looking at the two pictures above, one would hardly guess they were from the same edifice. Rome is all about recycling older buildings to construct new ones – why waste a perfectly sound and beautiful structure that has survived for thousands of years?

We then visited a common tourist site: the line of truth. Apparently many celebrities have come here to place their hands in and asked a question, and according to the story, if he or she does not tell the truth, his or her hand gets cut…or something to this extent.

Figure 2: Shawn explaining the line of truth (left) and a close-up view from behind the bars (right).

Next on our walk Shawn led us to an obscure path with a barred gate visible in the distance. He told us about the time he stumbled upon this road, and curiosity led him down this gravel path even though what appeared to be a closed gate awaited him at the end. But lucky for him – and us – the path actually turns left before it reaches the gate and leads to the Parko Savello (a park that sites on Aventine Hill right next to the Santa Sabina).


Figure 3: Shawn telling us the tale of his previous trip down this path (left) and the closed gate at what appeared to be the end of the road (right).

It was tranquil, a great place to gain some clarity. And perspective! There is a great view of the city!


Figure 4: Picture of a corner of the park (top left) and the view from the top (top right). I think everyone really enjoyed this spot, and we got several pictures out of it.

This is also the spot where we took our first group photo (all 21 of us!)


Figure 5: The Honors Rome Summer 2007 group! Courtesy of Shawn Wong, photographer for the event. :)

Next, onto the church (Santa Sabina). We admired the paintings and the architecture (the columns, the ceiling, the floor).

Figure 6: Santa Sabina from the outside (top left) and inside (top right). Plus various artworks within the church (bottom two).

After the church we walked to the cemetery where writers Keats and Shelley are both buried. This place was also neighbored by a giant pyramid, which likely served as a tomb for high ranking bureaucrats. We noticed that visitors had placed small mounds of pebbles on the tombstone of Shelley (perhaps as a sign of respect?).


Figure 7: Walking through the cemetery (left) and Shelley’s tombstone (right).

We followed this cemetery trip with a visit to the British military cemetery, where we took a few minutes to think and rest. Our last destination was the Market Tastacio, where most of the Italians buy their fruit and vegetables at a much more reasonable price than those sold next to the Campo Apartments. It is a good place to practice Italian too, because, as I was told and found out first hand, they will speak Italian only but are very patient with people like me, who have never spoken a word of Italian until now. That concludes out little journey in the morning. We split for lunch and met back to visit the Ara Pacis (Augustus’ Alter of Peace). There was also a Versace exhibition going on, so the place was adorned with expensive designer dresses (a more contemporary display of bounty I suppose).


Figure 8: Listening to the family introduction by Meagan and Henry (left) and walking through the structure (right).

All in all it was a busy day (a lot of sites to visit, but I guess it is good for readers because it allows for lots of pictures!) A group of us wandered over to the Spanish steps and the Pantheon afterwards, but that is a different story….