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A Week in Rome: The Forum Previous installments:
Introduction
The Colosseum
Palatine Hill
Aaah, the Forum. As in THE Forum, where the most important Roman government buildings, to this day, still at least partially stand. A vast area between the Colosseum and Capitoline Hill, the best overall views can be had from nearby Palatine Hill. We visited The Forum twice during the week, discovering new sights both times.
The big arches in this next picture are part of the Basilica of Constantine, which originally was a Roman hall of justice. They, like many ruins here, don't seem like they can possibly be that old, but they are.
As with the Colosseum and Palatine Hill, Emperor Burlusconi's vicious lions patrol the area and fend off intruders.
The Forum both begins--
And ends, with an arch. Both are about 2,000 years old and very much intact.
The second one is the Arch of Septimus Severus, and it has numerous intact friezes depicting the fashions of the day:
It takes good pictures, that arch.
Oh, hang on, must pose in front of arch...
Churches rise up on old ruins, then fall into disrepair themselves. What I'd give to see a 2,000 year time lapse sequence of The Forum.
These columns are from the old Temple of Saturn, where Romans kept quite a bit of treasure, in addition to a humble wooden statue of the God Saturn which has long rotted away.
The three columns in the center of this photo are from Caligula's palace.
The Temple of Antonius Pius and his love Faustina stands in the center below, now rebuilt as a church with the original columns.
And behind it all, the modern, pulsing city of Rome, going about its business on a hundred layers of civilization.
8:20:04 AM
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