Rome - Roma aetaerna (part 2 of 2)
The Colonnades on St. Peter's Square were designed by Bernini and from there you can also view the Pasetto, a secret passage leading to
St. Angelo Castle,
the refuge of the Popes. The castle could not even be captured by the Spanish and German landsquenets of Charles V, during the plundering of Rome, the "Sacco di Roma", in 1527. This was due to its builder Emperor Hadrian who had his mausoleum built there. If you cross the bridge at St. Angelo Castle, you get to the Field of Mars. Up to the present day, the high-society youth of Rome meets on the "Campo di Fiori". All around the square, there are cafés and bars. Street performers and musicians gather there, and we also had a break there, after our visit to the Pantheon, which Agrippa, Augustus' son-in-law, had built up in the year of his third consulate, as is written on the gable.
Of the Circus Maximus,
the biggest stadium of all times, only the outlines exist today. According to Plinius, it had capacity for 250,000 people. Today the Romans go jogging there; and when I was there, they demonstrated against Berlusconi. The imperial palace atop the Palatine is, however, in a better condition. After the Flavian Emperors had abandoned Nero's pompous palace, the Domus Aurea, Domitian had built a new palace, which is considered to be one of the most impressive examples of ancient palace architecture. The certainly most impressive building of Rome was also built by the Flavian Dynasty.
The Flavian Amphitheatre (Coliseum)
St. Venerabilis wrote:"As long as the Coliseum stands, so shall Rome; when the Coliseum falls, so shall Rome; when Rome falls, so shall the world." There was room for 50 to 60,000 people. It was possible to raise and lower the sumptuous scenery within minutes by means of pulleys and winches placed in the cellar vaults. Up to the present day, all modern stadiums are still influenced by this masterpiece. Regarding the experience with hooligans, the Romans seem to have been more efficient in tackling that problem, as even in ancient times the phenomenon of violent fans known. Visitors with a humane attitude will certainly find the place somewhat spine-chilling. Compared to the hunts of wild animals and bloody judicial shows, Gladiator combats were certainly the most harmless type of performances. Today, however, the Coliseum has a quite different symbolic character: Whenever a state in the world abolishes the death sentence, the Coliseum will be illuminated.
There are so many things about Rome left to be told by others about the Aurelian city wall, the Circus of Maxentius and the catacombs, about the promenades on the Via Appia or the excursion to the Villa Adriana in Tibur, where Hadrian had built a villa for himself. About the Villa d'Este and the sunset over the Roman Capagnia, which would have pleased Tischbein. About the bath in the sea at the Lido de Ostia where the carriages from the "Ben Hur" movie are still standing in a garden café. Or the evening when Aida was performed at the Baths of Caracalla with a terrific audience that drank wine from the bottles they had brought along and sang along with the arias. Rome was Trajan's Forum and the Villa Borghese, was a date cuddling at San Giovannin in Laterano while the priest celebrated the mass. And than, of course, the celebration we had organised in Professor L.'s honour for his 60th birthday in the cloister of our hotel. On that evening, he sang some more arias. And since then, I returned to this city two times already, although I never threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain.
Roma aetaerna, caput mundi!
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