Day 7: The Colosseum & The Roman Forum

5:07pm Rome

I'm currently in the Colosseum and I just heard a kid ask his mother a fantastic question.

"Did the guy who wanted everyone to die, did he die?"

While a poorly constructed sentence, still great that such a small child is able to recognize the villainy that happened here and then want to know that justice was done. A great way to be thinking while so young.

Getting into my AirBnB in Rome was much easier than getting into the hotel last night. And thank goodness. I needed to drop off my stuff and get started with this city. Not because I was limited on time, but because I would have gone crazy if I had to be between locations for much longer.

After settling in I decided to not return to the apartment until I was done for the day. Partially as a challenge, and partially just to see the city.

I wandered for a good two hours and came upon some interesting landmarks. I guess the tough part about wandering sometimes is that you don't always know what it is that you're finding. I found a few spectacular buildings, an obelisk with hieroglyphs carved into it, and one big church. I wish I could be more specific. I took my time with each. Reading any signage I could. I knew I had another four days after this one, so there as absolutely no rush.

When I ended up circled back to the street the AirBnB was on, I finally checked the map to see if anything interesting was nearby. Turns out I was a short walk from the Colosseum. With hours left to spend I started walking.

I had prepared for today with shorts, a t-shirt, and sunscreen (as opposed to the jeans and windbreaker for Ireland). But it seems I brought the Ireland weather with me because throughout the day more and more clouds rolled in, with short bursts of drizzling rain every hour or so. The morning had been practically a hot day, and now I felt underdressed.

I spent another two hours at the Colosseum, partly because the tour went awry early on, but also because I took my time all day.

What happened with the tour Matt? What do you mean it went awry?

I'll tell you, just give me a second.

I wandered around the Colosseum for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to get in. I saw a line to get in but wasn't sure if I needed a ticket or if it was to get a ticket. It was in this moment that I heard someone offering tours. I took them up on the offer and had it gone off without a hitch, I would have breezed past the line and saved probably half an hour.

But it didn't happen like that.

The tour started off great, we were escorted to several interesting points along the outside of the Colosseum (also this is where I learned that the original name of the Colosseum was the Amphitheater Flavian, named after the emperors who built it, if I remember correctly). The tour guide had plenty of interesting historical facts and details to tell us, but the problem started when we tried to enter the Colosseum.

I didn't listen too intently, but from what I understand our tour guide originally told the guard we would be coming in at 4:00, and we were trying to come in at 3:30, or something along those lines. I don't know why it made such a difference, but after some time we were led in by another tour guide. I don't know what happened to the first guy, but I did see him leading another tour later, so I guess he's alright.

I was comfortable waiting because, once again, I had all the time in the world. The tour inside the colosseum was brief but interesting. He told us that in forty five minutes there was another tour of the Roman Forum starting at the exit of the colosseum, but I had already decided at that point that I was going it on my own. So I spent the next forty five minutes exploring the rest of the colosseum on my own. I must say it is truly breathtaking. I only wish I could have glimpsed what it was like in its prime. Not that I wish I had lived in that time, because that did not sound like a great time to be alive, but just a window through time so I could see what it was like. I think ever historian ever has had the same dream.

After exploring the colosseum to my heart's content, I explored the Roman Forum until closing at 7:00pm. And thankfully I was near the exit when it did close, or I might have been trapped inside overnight.

The Forum was particularly enjoyable because it was very much a free for all. There are so many different areas and buildings to see that I got lost for nearly three hours and still there was more I could have seen. 

I got my fix of ruins for quite some time, let's just say that.

If I had to pick a favorite spot, it might have to be this fountain:

The water in this fountain would just drip down the plants into the water, as if the water was coming from the plants themselves.

I don't know what it's called but it speaks to me somehow. It's like all of nature bursting forth from the ruins of civilization.

But what I really enjoyed was what I found next. A short flight of stairs revealed the chamber just below the fountain, where water was continuously leaking through from the first fountain and leaving a dark, disgusting stain on the wall, obscuring what I can only assume was a fountain at some point:

So many comparisons come to mind; good and evil, heaven and hell. It's the kind of metaphor that a writer like myself dreams about finding in the real world.

To me, the dichotomy of these two fountains was extremely poetic to me. It seemed to be saying that beneath every great beauty is the rotten underbelly of consequence.

Sorry if I got a little writer-ly there, but I have a write to.

Get it?

My seriousness never lasts long.

There are plenty of spots left to see in Rome over the next four days, St. Peter's Basilica, the Spanish Steps, the Vatican. And I'm sure I can fill any other time with museums and churches. Oh and of course, eating Italian food. I must say the pasta is fantastic.

Finally here's a picture of the Colosseum from the outside, I figured you were probably interested in seeing this one: