2000 October 05 : Thursday

I spent the first part of the day on the train. I went from Monterosso to La Spezia and then from La Spezia, I caught a second train that travelled down the coastline to Rome. I had heard many "horror" stories about the difficulties of obtaining a room in Rome without a prior reservation. I got off the train and went into the tourist office intending to book a hotel. Instead, I was offered a hostil at a rate (60,000 Lire) that I couldn't pass up. It was only a short walk from the train station and as I found out, very nearly empty. I checked in and then immediately set out to see what I could of the city.

01) ROME | The first thing I came upon was the colosseum (Flavian Ampthitheatre).

02) ROME | The Flavian Ampthitheatre is the largest known amphiteatre of the Ancient Roman empire - seating between 50-80,000 people (depending on which source you read).

03) ROME | It was started by the Emperor Vespation in 72 AD. The prior emperor - the corrupt Nero - had his private villa here. In fact, the exact spot where the amphitheatre now stands was a pond on Nero's estate. After Nero's fall, Vespation had the pond drained for this "public" project.

04) ROME | The price of a ticket let me explore two levels. The very upper and lower levels were restricted to the archaeologists.

05) ROME | Looking towards the Roman forum from one of the upper levels of the colosseum. At the left is the Arch of Constantine. The Via Sacra leads into the photo (and the forum). The Arch of Titus is located just where it crests the hill. The Palatine hill rises in the upper left-hand portion of the photo.

06) ROME | It's Russel Crowe - not!

07) ROME | I was walking up the Via Sacra when I was stopped by a Australian girl. She was giving free tours of the Forum as part of a promotion for the tour company she worked for. As soon as she had enough people she took us through - which was great for me, as I had forgotten most of specifics of this place! For example, the building within the colonade is Chiesa di San Lorenzo which dates to the 8th century. The colonade is part of a much other temple that dates back to 141 AD. Look closely for the horizontal lines that appear just below the capitals. In the middle ages, people tied ropes around the columns in an attempt to pull them down. They failed because at that time, the street level was much higher and the column bases were actually buried.

08) ROME | The supposed resting place of Julius Caesar (the low-lying structure with the roof). behind the partial wall is a mound of dirt upon which people place flowers.

09) ROME | The Arch of Septimus Severus (203 AD). The retangular hole in the foreground is the entrance to the tomb of Romulus - founder of Rome.