Rome with Bonnie and Wendy, Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Wednesday, 22 October 2014 – Touching the Past

I’ve noticed something that is really quite touching (and here no pun is intended).  My sister Wendy has the habit of encountering the really ancient by touching the object – to take it in deeply.  There is awe in all of us really about the past, and today we attempted to take it in – deeply and profoundly.  The first stop at the Roman Forum was at the Curia, which was unfortunately closed, due to work on the Arch of Septimus Servus, next door.  It was open the last time I was here, and it is always moving to me to be in an ancient room, where people known and unknown to me have lived out life.  That was not to happen today, at least not here.

I think it is that coming from a disposable society and peering into a society that values and uses the ancient we begin to see what we are missing in not being able to connect with what has come before us.  Here it is tangible.  So it is a delight to take Bonnie and Wendy over to the House of the Vestal Virgins and to see not only their imperial digs, but the republican digs that have been discovered a couple of meters below. 

Before we begin our way up the Palatine Hill, we stop by the Arch of Titus.  The history that stands around and within the meanings of this monument moves me.  Earlier in my life I was able to visit Masada, and see the siege ramp that Titus’ general Silvus built to reach the height of the mesa (as they say in New Mexico).  That it still stands there and that one can see the remains of Roman encampments, their neat squares doting the desert, makes it all the more rich and understandable.  All of that is brought together in this monument that celebrates the victory over Judea, and the plunder of the Temple in Jerusalem. Isn’t it odd that the history of others eventually becomes our own as well.  Standing at this monument, I become fully aware of that.

We work our way up to the Palatine where we experience some really remarkable views.  From the palace of Domitian one can see the Coliseum off to the southeast and from the western edge St. Peter’s profile becomes evident.  It is a windy day, and palatine dust is soon on clothing and in eyes.  Delights that I had hoped to show Bonnie and Wendy, such as the House of the Griffons, is closed and unavailable. (The Domus Aurea of Nero is also closed for repairs after a cave-in – also a disappointment).  So we celebrate what we can see.  The views from the Farnese Gardens are always a delight, and a visit to the Nymphaeum under the pavilions of the gardens is a pleasure as well.  I take Bonnie and Wendy through the Neronian Cryptoporticus, where they can see some original stucco decorations on the ceiling.

After that we leave the hill, briefly look at the Basilica of Maxentius (which is being fortified due to the Metro Linea C that is being built directly below it), and go out for liquid and lunch.

Wendy leaves us to see a church with catacombs and displays of bones.  She's a medical illustrator, and this is right up her ally.  Bonne and I meander next to the fora that line the eastern side of the Via dei Fori Imperiali and especially enjoy Trajan’s Column.  We wander back through the area around the Pantheon to look at vestments, prints, and people.  Always crowded, the Pantheon always amazes.

Dinner is at Facoincasa near Navona – wonderful fagioli romana, and lamb chops that were exceptional.  Time for sleep.