Caput mundi - head of the world and other Rome, Italy Things to Do Tips

Capitoline Hill is the highest of the fabled seven and was the pinnacle of ancient Rome's status as leader of the world. Most of the structures from that period have been destroyed or built over but Michelangelo's beautiful, 16th-century Piazza del Campidoglio and the Capitoline Museums (see next tip) are well worth a climb to the top. With the remodeling of some existing structures, a mathematically clever paving design and the addition of a staircase (Cordonata), the great painter, sculptor and architect changed the symbolic orientation of power away from the pagan ruins of the forum and towards St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. Among other sites to visit on the hill are the ruins of ancient Roman apartments and Temple of Jupiter, church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli and the enormous, painfully bright Victor Emmanuel Monument.

Although you can get to the top more than one way, the Cordonata is on Via Del Teatro Di Marcello.

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Address: Via Del Teatro Di Marcello
Directions: Very near the Forum. Look for the Victor Emmanuel Monument - you can't miss it.

They say that the creation of this museum goes back to 1471 and a donation of bronzes by Pope Sixtus IV. Housed in 2 palazzos on either side of Piazza del Campidoglio - on top of Capitoline Hill - and connected by an underground gallery, Capitoline Museum focuses on pieces that have originated from or have special significance to Rome. Palazzo Nuovo is almost exclusively for sculpture and where you'll find likenesses of emperors, philosophers, mythological figures and important citizens. A friend of mine calls it "That place with all the heads"! Palazzo dei Conservatori is much larger and has a wider range of works - paintings, tapestries, frescos - as well as sculpture.

It has a very good website that highlights the most important and/or well-known works. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 9.00am-8.00pm (closed some holidays) and entrance is 6.50 euro. Check the site for any changes in hours and entry fees. Advance tickets are possible but probably not necessary.

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Address: Piazza del Campidoglio 1
Directions: Very near the forum.
Website: http://www.museicapitolini.org

Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, this largest of Roman arenas was constructed between 70 and 80 AD on the former site of Nero's artificial lake. That very naughty emperor claimed as his own a large area of Rome that had been devastated in the great fire of 64 AD, and built the lake, extensive gardens and a lavish palace (Domus Aurea) on the land. And if that wasn't enough, he supposedly had an enormous likeness of his cheeky self cast in bronze and placed near his new house for all to admire! It was this statue, the Colossus of Nero, that is believed to be where the Colosseum got its revised name. Anyway, Nero's evil ways caught up with him and after he rather reluctantly cut his own throat to escape slow death by flogging, his successor, Vespasian, reclaimed the land for the public. The new emperor had most of the palace torn down, gave the colossus a new, non-Nero-like head, filled in the lake and ordered the building of this massive entertainment center for the people of Rome.

A couple of interesting facts:
The design was so efficient for filling and emptying the arena of thousands of people in a hurry that it's still used for athletic stadiums built almost two thousand years later.

Although all events were free, everyone had to have a ticket and you were seated according to your social class.

The exterior walls were once covered with marble that was looted to make quicklime or used as building material for other structures.

While many unfortunates perished here in games of weaponry and spectacles involving wild animals, there is no record that any of them were Christians martyred for religion. Most casualties were gladiators or condemned prisoners.

Almost as an apology for its violent history, the Colosseum is now an international symbol of support for abolishment of the death penalty. Whenever a death sentence is commuted anywhere in the world or any country abolishes capital punishment (a requirement for joining the EU) the ruins are illuminated with gold vs. the white lighting normally used.

There's too much to cover here so do some reading before you go - you'll find a lot on the web with just a Google! Tickets are currently 9 - 11 euro and cover entrance to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum as well (see tip in my General section for more on this). Audioguides are available for rent for about 4 euro or so. And see my tip on Pavilion Bar for a great place to take a break in the nearby park.

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Address: Piazza del Colosseo
Directions: Near Palatine Hill and the Forum
Website: http://www.the-colosseum.net/idx-en.htm

This arch is right next to the Colosseum and commemorates Constantine I's 312 AD victory over his co-ruler, Maxentius, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. The structure spans the Via Triumphalis - a thoroughfare that was used for triumphal processions - and was largely created from borrowed/reworked bits of other buildings. Constantine claimed that this particular win was due to a vision he'd had of God but while he was a champion of Christianity, many of the decorative symbols and figures on his arch reflect Roman mythology. The main inscription credits the victory to his "greatness of mind" with a vague mention of divine inspiration that could be applied to any deity. I've read that this may have been a deliberate act of diplomacy at a time when much of Rome still practiced old beliefs. Among other decorations are some statues that came from Trajan's forum and reliefs depicting scenes from the battle.

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Address: Piazza del Colosseo
Directions: Between Via di San Gregorio and Piazza del Colosseo and near Palatine Hill and the Forum

Palatine Hill is another of Rome's fabled seven, the mythological site of Lupercal Cave - where Romulus and Remus were said to have been raised by a she-wolf - and where some emperors and very wealthy citizens built massive palaces and splendid homes. Augustus, Tiberius, Septimius Severus, Caligula, Domitian, Cicero and Marc Anthony all resided here at one time. Long after the fall of Rome, churches, convents and Cardinal Farnese's gardens were built on top of the remains of the previous structures.

Some of the ruins to see here are the palaces of Domitian - the largest in Rome for 300 years - Caligula (Tiberius), Septimius Severus, and Augustus and his wife, Livia. There are also the remains of a stadium and the excavation of some Iron Age dwellings known as The Huts of Romulus and Remus. From Farnese Gardens is an amazing view of the Forum!

Tickets can be purchased at the entrance near the Arch of Constantine on via di San Gregorio and cover entrance to the Colosseum and Forum as well. To avoid long lines at the Colosseum, buy your combo ticket HERE - they're 9 or 11 euro depending on special exhibitions at the Colosseum. Audio guides as well as guided tours are also available - ask at the entrance. A note of caution: if not booking a tour or audioguide, bring along a guidebook that will walk you through the high points as you don't receive any information with your ticket.

Here's a website with some general info: http://www.060608.it/en/content/item/area/cultura_e_svago/id/88/itm/12635

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Address: Via di San Gregorio, 30
Directions: Very near the Forum and Colosseum
Other Contact: http://www.planetware.com/map/pa

Once the Roman center of religion, commerce and justice, the Forum is now a jumbled maze of tumbled columns, ruined foundations and churches erected on pre-Christian temples. It is not an easy place to visit as you need to either bring a very good guidebook, rent an audioguide or book a tour to make sense of it all. It can also be very crowded, very hot in summer and tough on your feet but to walk the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) is to follow in the footsteps of Kings, Emperors, Senators, mighty Roman generals and Vestal Virgins over two thousand years ago. This not to be missed - however you choose to do it.

Tickets include entry to Palatine Hill and the Colosseum and cost 9 or 11 euro depending on special exhibits (I read that 11 is usually the going rate). Audioguides can be rented for about 4 euro at the gift shop at the Forum entrance on Via dei Fori Imperiali. To help understand the maze of ruins before your walk, there are excellent overlooks from the Campidoglio on Capitoline Hill and Farnese Gardens on Palatine Hill. Getting handle on some of the more interesting ruins before your trip is a good idea too - I'm attaching a website that has lots of pictures and background on many of the remaining structures and will try to include tips on a few as well.

The Forum is hauntingly beautiful when illuminated night. While not open to visitors in the evenings, it's well worth a stroll past just to see it all lit up.

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Address: Via dei Fori Imperiali
Directions: Near the Colosseum, Palatine and Capitoline Hills
Website: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/4_Forum_Romanum.html

In this picture are two examples of Roman temples that were recycled into Christian places of worship. In the background is the rather bizarre-looking church of San Lorenzo in Miranda, which was originally the 2nd century Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Built by Emperor Antoninus Pius in memory of his deceased wife, the temple was rededicated to them both after the emperor's death. Sometime in the Middle Ages the remains of the temple were converted into a church named after the martyred St. Lawrence, as it was believed he'd been sentenced to death on this site. Many alterations have been made to the original structure and the resulting exterior is a goofy mix of 17th century facade above the columns of an ancient Roman porch.

The circular building in the foreground was probably the Temple of Romulus and dedicated to the son of Emperor Maxentius. In the 6th century, it was incorporated with the library of Vespacian's Forum of Peace into the Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano and named for twin physician brothers Cosmas and Daimian, who were martyred in the 3rd century. The temple has since been restored to original form and is, along with the Pantheon, the best preserved of the pre-Christian temples in Rome. We didn't get to visit the interiors but if you do (entrance is from Via dei fori Imperiali - free) they can be viewed from behind a protective glass wall and the church is said to have magnificent 6th and 7th century mosaics.
Web info on Temple of Romulus:
http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/176_Temple_of_Romulus.html
Web info for Temple of Antoninus and Faustina is below.

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Directions: These churches are almost right in the center of the Forum and very near the 3 giant arches of the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius.
Website: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/175_Temple_of_Antoninus_and_Faustina.html

These three gigantic barrel vaults are about all that remain of what was the largest structure in the Forum. Constructed in the 4th century under Maxentius and then Constantine, this building was used for judicial, commercial and administrative purposes. While we think of a basilica as a church, in ancient Rome it simply meant a public building. An apse on the west side originally held an enormous statue of Maxentius that Constantine, ever the thrifty and egotistical Emperor, later altered to look like himself. You can see the head and some other remaining bits of this colossus in the Palazzo dei Conservatori (see my tip on Musei Capitolini). In my humble opinion, Constantine either had really big, buggy eyes or the dude he hired for the statue's facelift was mad at him or something - it's sort of a puffy, frog-eyed thing.

Amusing note: In the second picture, can you find the young couple having a little smooch?

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Address: The Forum
Directions: The basilica is right beside the Temple of Romulus. It's huge so pretty hard to miss.
Website: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/177_Basilica_of_Maxentius.html

So if you've had any Roman history, read certain bits of Shakespeare or seen the most expensive American movie ever made (Cleopatra - 1963) you'll know that Julius Caesar met a messy end at the hands of some very cranky Senators. What was news to me was that they didn't off him in the Forum. The building that was normally used for gatherings of the Senate (the Curia) had burned down some years before and so they were using part of Pompey's Theater in the interim. This gigantic building covered several blocks - roughly from Campo di Fiori to Largo Argentina - northwest of the Forum.

The Senators having fled the scene of the crime, the body was dragged by a mob of angry citizens (who had no love for pushy Caesars) to the Forum where a cool-headed Marc Anthony did some fast talking to make the fallen dictator look like a hero and deserving of a noble send-off. Heroes being rather popular in ancient Rome, the mob settled down nicely, threw together an altar, grabbed whatever furniture they could lay their hands on and built a nice big bonfire to throw Julius' remains into. Later, the Temple of Julius Caesar was raised on the spot. There's not much left of it but parts of some walls and remains of the alter but it's an interesting little piece of history so give it a go.

The ruins of the altar and walls are covered with a roof to protect them from the elements. In two of the pictures, it's the semi-circular grey thing in the very center of both frames. Here's a website with some good background on Julius: http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/caesar.html

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Address: The Forum
Directions: The Temple of Julius Caesar is close to the three remaining columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.
Website: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/171_Temple_of_Caesar.html

It wasn't all fun being a Vestal Virgin. While you had free rent and great seats at the Colosseum, got to vote, own property and other cool stuff, you were mostly stuck looking after a temperamental fire, fetching water and doing housekeeping at the Temple of Vesta for 30 long years. Keeping that fire going was a big deal 'cause if it went out Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, would have a fit and remove her protection from the city. There would also be no community flame for the citizens to borrow from if their household fires burned out. If that happened on your watch, you could be flogged with whips tipped with metal or bone. And there was no fooling around for you, no sir. Caught making whoopie with some cute, young Legionnaire? You were buried alive and he was flogged to death. Ouch.

The good news was that you were free to marry once your 30 years were up - although that wasn't much of a bonus at a time when Roman women had few of the rights and privileges of a V.V. It was usually more attractive to continue living high on the Vestal hog you'd become accustomed to. Who needed a boring old Senator in a bed sheet anyway?

One can see the visible outlines of the atrium (center of the picture) and the remains of rooms in the large house the V.V.s lived in. The battered statuary on the pillars are of senior Vestals and date to 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The cult was banned, along with other non-Christian orders, in the late 4th century and the house was turned into office space.

There's lots more fun info about Vestal Virgins on this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgin

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Address: The Forum, Rome
Directions: The House of the Vestal Virgins is close to the Temple of Castor and Pollux. The little Temple of Vesta is sort of between them.
Website: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/173_House_of_the_Vestal_Virgins.html