The Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine was built in 315 A.D to commemorate Constantine's victory over Mexentius (his co-emperor) at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D.  The Battle of Milvian Bridge is the famous battle in Christian history.  According to certain Christian historians, Constantine had a vision, before the battle that God would help him win the battle if he would mark a chi-rho symbol on his soldier's shields.  Chi (the X shape--pronounced "ki") and rho (the P shape) were the first two letters in "Christ", in Greek, and were often used as a symbol by Christians.  So, adding this insignia was seen kind of like marking a cross on their shields.  

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (1520–24) by Giulio Romano, which is in the Vatican.

 It isn't really clear whether or not Constantine really saw a vision (some people have suggested that attracting the support of the multitudinous, and heavily persecuted, Christian population, in the middle of a vicious civil war was just a really clever political strategy) although he did later make Christianity legal, and had his soldiers baptised en masse.  If you notice in the mural above, you can see lots of crosses being carried by Constantine's soldiers, and you can see the angels giving them helpful advice.

The Arch of Constantine stands right next to the Colosseum and is about 70 feet high!

You can't go right up to the Arch because it has a large fence around it.  A lot of the Roman ruins have problems with people stealing chunks of rocks or statues, so I think that the fence is there to protect the Arch.  It seems to lose a little bit of its impact, since you can't walk under it and get a real sense of its size.  In ancient times, you probably would have had to walk through the Archway, depending on where you were going in the city.

While Google translates Latin rather awkwardly, my guess is that the above marker says:
Clement XII, Pontifex Maximus (Pope) has repaired the damage which as occurred to this arch
which Constantine the Great erected as a memorial to the safety which he had in his famous
victory over Maxentius, restoring it to its old glory.  1733.
SPQR stands for "Senātus Populusque Rōmānus"-- The Senate and People of Rome.
Preserving the Best of the City's Former Greatness

The Arch of Constantine is on the left and the Forum buildings are in the background.

This is a SmartHistory video on the Arch of Constantine.  It is a bit long, and you may have to listen carefully to understand the Italian professor, but I think that it is really worthwhile.  She explains the historical background and conflicts behind the building of the Arc, the art, what the various pictures or statutes mean, the how the Arc was designed--including some really dramatic plagiarism (or just outright theft).  It really is fascinating.  

More on the Forum and Roman History

When I was looking for more information on the Forum, I found some really interesting videos both on that and on Roman history that I thought you might enjoy.

This is a video on Roman history.  The narrator stands in a computer generated Ancient Rome, talking about the history of the buildings and how and why they are built.  It is really rather interesting.

The Roman Forum - Part 1 from Bernard Frischer on Vimeo.

This is the second part of the same video.

The Roman Forum - Part 2 from Bernard Frischer on Vimeo.

This video, by the same guy, cannot be embedded for some reason but it is also pretty interesting.  It has kind of annoying music, and there isn't any commentary, but it is a fly-over of a 3-D version of Ancient Rome with all of the buildings looking (sort of) like they would have looked in their prime.  It is also well-filled with labels and things that should make it easy to get your bearings.  It is only about 4 minutes long and is pretty interesting.

And this video (also by the same guy) is a little mini-documentary about the history of Rome and its government.  Plus, the guy who is giving the talk is English so he sounds all smart and things.  Just FYI, it does contain a story about some of the rather brutal events that occurred in early Roman history, as well as some pictures of Roman statuary, so use your own judgment about its appropriateness.  But otherwise, it is really good.

This video here, from the History Channel is a sung history about the Fall of Rome and the end of Roman history.  It isn't very melodic but it really does include a lot of good information about the factors leading up to the end of the Empire.

The Forum and The Via Sacra

I actually did not go into the Forum.  I had planned on doing it but the entrance, near the Colloseum turned out to be "exit only" and the actual entrance was very far away, on the north side of the ruins and I just wasn't feeling like walking all that way, and paying all that money (it cost , which is pretty expensive, relative to Italy), just to walk back down through a whole bunch of un-shaded ruins that I could sort of see from the outside.  Quite a few people did enter through that exit gate, because there were no guards or ticket collectors, but I decided that I wasn't willing to do that.  It didn't seem honest, even if it was fairly harmless. Besides, I was tired of having Italians yell at me, and I didn't want any of them to start up again, with an actual reason.

This is the map to all of the archeological/historical areas around the forum.  If you click on it, it should open up a larger version of the picture so that you can see what all of the places are.  You should note, however, that while the "You are Here" dot and the "Do not Enter" dot into the forum are fairly far apart on the map, this sign is actually attached to the gates around the archeological dig, accompanied by "Do Not Enter" warnings.  So who knows how accurate this is, scale wise.  (The picture on right shows the gate.)

If you click on this link, it takes you to a website that shows the map of the area and includes the proper labels of each of the buildings.

A picture of the Forum from the northish end, via Wikipedia and people who were less lazy, walking-around-Rome-wise.

My pictures of the Forum are much less impressive.

The pillars and the archway at the back are the Tempio di Venere e Roma (the Temple of Venus and Rome).  The newer looking building at the back, with the tower, is the Antiquarium Forense, a museum and work area for archaeological finds from the area.

On the left, you can see the columns of the Temple of Venus and Rome.  The large brown ruin in the middle is the Basilica of Maxentius or the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine which was, according to Wikipedia, the largest building in Rome at the time, taking building innovations from places like the Diocletian Baths.  The white building at the far back is, I believe, the Museo Sacrario delle Bandiere (Museum Shrine of Flags and Relics of the Armed Forces) which seems super appropriate for the middle of Rome, even though it apparently focuses on WWII military history.

Archo di Tito, or the Arch of Titus.  It commemorates Titus's military
victories, including his sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Some of the archaeological diggings in the Forum area, right next to the Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Rome.

The pillars of the Temple of Venus and Rome in a bunch of trees and bushes.

If you click here, you can watch a short little video on the development of the Roman Forum made by the History Channel.  You have to watch a commercial but I think that it is worth it.

If you go here, you can see a pretty, artsy picture of the forum.

The History of the Colosseum

The Colosseum had some interesting informational and historical information signs that were pretty interesting.  I realize that this is fairly boring, but I didn't include much history in the last post, and since I took all of the time to take these photos, I thought that I would include them here.  (If you have trouble reading these, you should be able to see them in a larger size by clicking on them.

If you click here, you can fine a pretty good travelogue with information and pictures about the buildings in the Forum.  If you click here, you can find some pretty, artsy, black-and-white pictures of Rome, including the Colosseum and the Forum.  If you go here, you can see an artsy picture of the Colosseum at night.  

The Colosseum

The Colosseum and the Forum

The Colosseum, or the Flavian Amphitheater, was built in the late 1st century A.D.  It was used to display gladiator games, races, naval battles, and other (frequently gruesome) displays.  It was used for 400 years before it became to old to use (something the builders of the MetroDome might want to keep in mind).  It was an engineering marvel.  People who plan sports stadiums and arenas today still use the Colosseum as a good example of how to arrange exits and pathways so that people can exit quickly--an important issue both in the case of fires or emergencies, and in trying to handle large exoduses at the ends of games and concerts.

An overhead view of the Colosseum from Google Maps.  The people look mighty little!

Sunday morning, after breakfast, I headed toward the Colosseum and the Forum.  I didn't actually go into the Colosseum, although I did walk around it.  It was really expensive to get into the Colosseum.   Then, if you wanted to get onto the upper levels, you had to pay extra for a tour.  That just didn't seem worth (and also I was tired, and hot, and kind of cranky by that point).

You can see the size of the levels, compared to the size of the people.

The Roman paving system is really quite impressive.  I believe that the lava paving stones here are the authentic, two thousand year old road surface.  So, like I said, it is pretty impressive, compared to the speed with which pot-holes show up in the modern road.  However, they are really kind of hard to walk on.

The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine.  The people standing around in groups there, are all standing in the little spots of shade created by those few trees on the right.  There really wasn't shade any where else.  And it was hottish.

I did take some pictures of the interior of the Colosseum through the different entrance archways.  I thought that made for some interesting pictures.  I was a little bit jealous of the folks standing in the shady archways, but it didn't look like much fun to be climbing the stairs or to be standing in the middle of the Colosseum in the direct sun.

This short video has rather annoying music but it is interesting because it shows the interior of the Colosseum, as well as close ups of the Arch, from a high point.

The Flavian Amphitheater/ Roman Forum from Josh Glowicki on Vimeo.

The History Channel has little short clips (one or two minutes each) on different parts of Roman history--I think that they are clips from a show.  You have to watch a short commercial, but the videos are quite interesting.  This video talks about the building of the Colosseum.  This one talks about the Games.  They are both quite interesting.

Walking Through Rome

I saw loads of different things while I was walking through Rome, not all of which were worthy of their own posts, but I thought that I would post them for your entertainment.

A lamppost in Rome.  Notice the eagle, which was on the standard of Roman armies.  Also, note that the hitching rings are in the mouths of wolves, which are popular themes in city art because of the story of Romulus and Remus.

 The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
(the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs)

This was an advertisement in the metro station under the Terme di Diocleziano (the Diocletian Baths) which I wrote about previously.  It is an ad for Bavaria Beer, which is fairly irrelevant except that it is all in English, for some reason (despite advertising a German beer in Italy).  Also, I honestly cannot figure out what the point of the ad is.  It seems like a beer popping out of a blue sky, or perhaps out of the blue ocean, (or even a blueberry!) would be more appetizing. 

The front of the Roma Termini, The main central train station in Rome.

Looking toward the archaeological ruins on the Via Sacra, the main street in Ancient Rome.

One of the things that was funny about walking around Rome was the number of people
who were dressed up in costumes for the benefit of tourists.  This is actually the only
Roman centurion that I saw dressed in blue.  I looked it up and, at least according to one
site, blue was the color used by marines, because blue was the color of the sea.  That seems
a bit on the nose, but who knows?  I guess that it's good enough for most modern military
uniform color choices.  The fellow beside him, in the (very short!) white outfit (and the
bizarre purple socks, for some reason) is dressed in what was supposedly the uniform of
the average soldier, as opposed to the red outfits of those of higher ranks.

Some more typical centurions getting a drink at one of the ubiquitous water fountains.

Centurions would pose all over the place, though I think you had to tip them.  I think that that one tourist didn't tip well enough for the one fellow with the sword.  

I found Italian signage humorous.
This seems to epitomize Italians: dramatic and emphatic.
The sign says "Prohibited from Entering".  Dramatically.  

There were loads of booths of foods and souvenirs.

One of the fountains that you can find all over Italy.  This one has a large, ornate horse trough.  All of the fountains have potable water (unless they have really big signs signifying otherwise), and most of them are very ornate and old.

A lion head water fountain.