The word today was STEPS as in up and down lots of them and “Watch out for that step!” We started off by going to the Catacombs of San Callisto and checking out where over 500,000 Romans were buried.
Very amazing to see how dead were entombed below ground. We walked down through three different levels to see where the early Christians were placed in the catacombs. No bones though — that’s for another day and a visit to the Tombs of the Capuchin Monks. Also, no photos.
Then we were off to the Collisseum and the Forum. Up three levels in the Collisseum to see where the different classes of folk would be seated from the lower levels for the rich and politicians as well as the special podium for the Emperor, to the next level for merchants and teachers, and finally, the uppermost level for the masses.
After that it was the “Watch your step!” as we walked through the Forum. This was especially interesting for me since I’ve set a scene in the Forum in the Christmas vampire novella (tentatively titled FATE CALLS). It was awesome to walk along that path and picture the vampire, Hadrian, as a human, walking along the same street to meet his friend before the Temple of Saturn on the first day of Saturnalia.
Today, the front portico of the Temple of Saturn remains as one of the larger structures in the Forum. You will see it in the slideshow. It’s the one with the 6 columns.
Tonight we are chilling and eating at a local place in Trastevere (the neighborhood where our hotel is located). The cellar of the restaurant houses what used to be the first synagogue in Rome. The restaurant, Spirito di Vino, also makes an appearance in SECRET AGENT REUNION in August.
So here’s some pictures of Ancient Rome for you, starting with the Collisseum and ending with a walk through the Forum.
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Loving the pics Charity. Very nice. Especially those of the Collisseum.
Just remember, your needed back here by Monday.
Very few things are that new, LOL! Even the restaurant where we ate had a cellar that dated back to 80 BC. It was a family run place and they let us go down to check it out. It looked almost like the catacombs we had visited that day.
Is there anything NEW, say, less than 100 years old, in Rome? Structure-wise, that is. How can people live among the ruins?
Great slide show, Caridad. I’m really enjoying it.