Education in the Field... The Roman Forum and the Colosseum

I give you permission to be jealous. What I am about to tell/show you is pretty freakin cool and I know it and you SHOULD be jealous!!!

So today I went on a site visit with my Ancient Roman Civilization class to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Our first stop was the Roman Forum... If any of you have ever been to a foreign country with a rich history, I hope that you have taken a guided tour. I know sometimes you look ridiculous, but it's amazing to hear and learn things from people that really know what they are talking about. Now just imagine getting a tour from your professor who is an archaeologist and has spent her entire life studying ancient Rome! Pretty cool huh? It is rather obvious that I love taking pictures. For those of you that have known me well for a long time may know about my time in Photography and my specific concentration when I took black and white photography in high school. I spent the entire year making a portfolio on a specific concentration to submit at the end of the year. The idea behind my concentration was how man made structures, buildings, fences, walls, etc. can come and go but nature always remains. The Roman Forum as well as the Ancient Roman Villas are the epitome of this idea. Much of the structures have disintegrated over the last 2000 years and the plants and nature have over taken. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I know I really enjoyed taking them. Also, you will have to keep an eye out when I do finally return to the states because I have some rolls of film that I have to develop and print and then I will make a blog post with them. Enjoy the Roman Forum through my eyes...

So the only buildings that remain from the ancient
period are those that were turned into churches
early on and were preserved. This is one, originally
the Temple to the Divine Antoninus and Faustina.

This picture captures the Arch of Sepitimius Severus as well
as the Capitoline Hill, where the Temple to Jupiter used to
stand, and the only open area of the Forum.

What used to be the Temple to Saturn

The ivy has grown up and around and through this ancient marble

The Palatine Hill in the background! A imperial
palace was built into the hill itself.

The topmost inscriptions and artistic frieze
of the Arch of Septimius Severus

Some ancient columns over taken by nature.
You can barely even see them anymore.

A remaining pillar from the Basilica Aemilia. Now
all that is left in the place of the Basilica is an open
field with wild flowers. Lots of poppies.

The Temple of Castor and Pollux

Another partial pillar from the Basilica Aemilia. The red
poppies are just wonderful!

The remaining portion of the Temple to Vesta,
who was the virgin goddess of hearth and home.
An entire cult, the Vestal Virgins, were formed
around Vesta in Ancient Rome.

The Vestal Virgins compound in the Forum. They were the only
people in Ancient Rome that were allowed to live in the
Forum itself. 

Myself in the Vestal Virgins compound with the Palatine Hill in the background.

Funny story, do you see the floating green door?
This the ancient Temple to Antoninus and Faustina
that was converted into a church and preserved. Well
the over time, the ground level of the Forum rose.
The door was created when the ground level was at
the bottom of the door. So about 30-40 feet of the
Forum was covered until Mussolini came in and
decided to restore the Forum. Cool, huh?
The floating door!

A side view of the palace of the Palatine and the Vestal
Virgins compound.

The Arch of Titus. Erected after the Romans
defeated Jerusalem.

One of the many gardens on the Palatine Hill.

Pretty great fountain. Another example of nature taking over
the man made structures. Nature only ever make them more beautiful!

A view from the Palatine Hill of the Forum and and the Capitoline Hill.

You can see the Dome of St. Peters Basilica from every hilltop in Rome. From the top of the Palatine.

Okay so you're probably thinking, yeah, that's cool, but it's not THAT cool... Just wait. So after the Forum, we went over to the Colosseum. We got to skip all the lines because we were with our class and had tickets already. But not just that, we had our own personal tour guide that brought us to the subterranean levels of the Colosseum where the animals and gladiators used to wait to be raised into the arena to fight. This level is only accessible to certain groups and has only been available for about a year. So then we got led through the first and second levels of the Colosseum and then up to the third level, also not available to the public. We got a great view of the Forum and the surrounding area as well as a fantastic view into the Colosseum! I know, you're jealous right!!! Well you should be! It was AWESOME!!!! Enjoy the pictures!

It doesn't get much better than this!!!

They have built a stage to show where the
arena floor would have been put. 

The subterranean level of the Colosseum!!!

These are the corridors where the slaves and gladiators
would run around preparing  for and running the spectacles. 

You can see the new arena floor above.
The subterranean levels would have been
extremely dark and so the slaves had to carry
around oil lamps for light. They have found
remnants of some of these lamps.

The view from the third story of the Colosseum!
A view of the Temple to Venus and Roma. 

The Arch of Constantine, the Palatine Hill, and part of the
Temple to Venus and Roma.

The Arch of Constantine. If you look very closely,
you can see a couple in the middle archway taking
wedding pictures! How cool would that be!!!

The Via dei Fori Imperiali! They have started
closing the roads on the weekends because of
all the tourist and pedestrian traffic.

Best view of the inside of the Colosseum possible!!! From the third level!
The stage across the way is where the other pictures were taken and right below it is where we went to see the subterranean levels!

Doesn't get any better than this!!! Beautiful day in a beautiful place!

Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget, if you want to see the pictures in a larger form, just click on the first one and you can scroll through all of them. I will be going to Naples, Pompeii and Sarento next weekend so keep  your eyes open for that blog! Have a fantastic week!