2017 Rome Spring

Dear Friends and Relations and Readers,

I started this entry on 3 February, and am finally taking another crack at waving hello to you all. We are back in Rome for what is at least our 24th visit. We will be here for 8 weeks more, so I have hopes of bunging more photos and blither your way.

This is the earliest we've been in Rome, and although it is scarcely walking around in shirtsleeves weather, it is better than what we hear reports of from the American Mid-West. 

I try to include a map for any arm-chair travelers.
(North is UP.)

I snapped this composite view of the Theatre of Marcellus nearly two weeks ago, on one of our first forays out. We were barely awake enough to notice this isn't the Colosseum; it is instead the Colosseum's "architectural grand-pappy". The Theatre was erected by the Emperor Augustus in 13 B.C., as a memorial to his nephew and presumptive heir who died prematurely. 

The Colosseum, in 2007

 Until the Theatre of Marcellus was built, having a permanent stone building for public entertainment was thought to be a terrible decadence, so these types of structures were only erected as temporary, often wooden and earthworks places to house recitals, the presentation of plays, small gladiatorial combats or staged animal hunts; some of these events were often part of funeral commemorations. The attitude against permanent structures for these events had obviously changed by the time the Emperor Vespasian built the Colosseum, which was finished in 80 A.D.

Below are two views of a model of what the Theatre of Marcellus may have looked like when new. There is a very long but very interesting tale of how this building changed during Rome's decline, through its use in the medieval period as a fortress for a powerful local family, and its later adaptation into a very fine palace. Nowadays, the added upper stories house very high-class apartments and pricey short-term rentals.

Aside from its being only a half-circle (or oval), another difference is the Theatre's 10-20,000 audience capacity, in contrast to the Colosseum's estimated 80,000 capacity.
 

Here's this year's progress on the terminus for the new "C" subway line, complete with a station and connection to the B line station across the street from the Colosseum.

2017 view with construction bracing on the 
Basilica of Maxentius

Similar view from 2006 A.D.
On Sundays, the wide via Fori Imperiale would be open to strollers and musicians.

The large Basilica (or law court) of Maxentius (circa 312, finished after his military loss of control of the Empire to Constantine) has been braced to withstand the shocks from the underground excavations for he new subway station. Since the lads were at it, a few repairs are also being undertaken.

The image of the Basilica is better know 
from its side facing the Roman Forum 
(photo from 2006).

Yup, it's big. This part of the ruins are 24.5 meters or 80 feet high, and there was an even higher roof.

Above is a view towards the "back" of the large memorial to the modern king of the newly-united Italy, Vittorio Emmanuel. The structure, finished in 1911, also contains a memorial for the Italian military and is also called "The Altar of the Fatherland". 

(The kingly dynasty was short-lived, lasting only until after WW II.) Note the military vehicle parked in the center, ostensibly to block car traffic, and also anyone considering a rampage against the tens of

thousands of daily visitors (especially during warmer weather) to the Colosseum and Forums.

I don't have a fast internet connection here, but it does work quicker when I try working on my postings early in the morning, before the Roman internet servers are flooded by game-playing adolescents (and other users). So I'll close this entry with a couple photos from today.


The weather was especially nice today, so we ate lunch out at a favorite ristorante, the Abruzzi.



Since tomorrow is the 14th, I ordered a piece of their chocolate cake for Emil to have as a dessert. He was a VERY happy camper!

This cake in the dessert display case was nearly complete when I ordered Emil's piece. As the waiter brought out a piece for Emil, I could hear people at the other tables all asking rapturously in their native languages if they could have a piece, too. 

We wish you all could have a piece of this treat (or the other desserts on offer) so instead we will close with our best wishes for a jolly St. Valentine's Day.

(We do have a few friends who look askance at the suggestion of celebrating such a holiday, but it is the middle of winter, and who doesn't need something nice to smile about now and then? Besides, it all dates back to some very old pagan religious rituals that 

I will spare you my blithering on about 

for another day.)

Ciao, Carol

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