Ancient Rome Sure Was Hot

The Colosseum

On Thursday, July 18th we ventured back in time to Ancient Rome. When Don was here in 1975, he didn't get to see the Colosseum. So, that's where we headed first. Even from the outside it is an awesome structure. While it does look large from pictures, in person, it's hard to describe it size. While not as tall as Kyle Field, it sure seemed that tall and wide, especially on the inside! Thank goodness we had pre-purchased our tickets. The lines were already so long. We were able to walk pretty much right in.
We were first blown away by the architecture of the structure. Of course there are arches everywhere. You would expect that from a Roman structure, but did you know that those arches use no mortar to hold them together? We also learned that under each of those arches you see from the outside on the upper floors were adorned with a marble statues of a famous Roman. Also noteworthy is that the whole structure was "veneered" in marble which was later removed and recycled to build later parts of Rome, especially the city's churches. Another interesting fact is that this was the first covered stadium. Slaves used to spread canvas across iron and wooden beams into the center. Only the very middle remained uncovered. We walked everywhere we could and many times just stood and feasted on the grandness of it all. An additional factoid is that historians now believe that Christians were never killed in this structure. In fact, the Catholic Church is what saved and preserved the Colosseum.
As we continued to walk about, we began to "cook." It was cooler in the shade, but it was still hot. After taking hundreds of pictures which Don hopes come out OK, we moved on beyond the Arch of Constantine and into the Roman Forum - after a Coke and a snack.

The Forum

The Forum was neat and educational, but mostly it was just stinking hot!!! We just cooked in the sun of late morning as we fought the other tourists. History abounds in the forum. The highlights include facts like people still put flowers on Caesars' grave; the Vestal Virgins lived a charmed life as long as they remained virgins; and the first basilicas were "courthouses" rather than Churches. When we left the Forum, we were hotter than we are after an Aggie football game on an August afternoon! It felt like 100 although it was only in the mid 90s. We drank plenty of water as we walked toward the Pantheon. Thank goodness Don thought of folding/backpacking silicon glasses so we could take advantage of the cool, tasty water at the public drinking fountains.  No need to buy bottled water in Rome. 

The Pantheon

We also learned that the closer you get to tourist areas the more expensive the food gets. Strolling along we were flanked on both sides of the sidewalk by religious stores. Once at the Pantheon we were surrounded by hundreds of tourists. Inside it was almost shoulder to shoulder as moved around trying to see the beauty of what had been a pagan temple. Today it is a Catholic church with its own parish and even has Mass in English on Sunday. Leaving the Pantheon behind we visited two additional beautiful churches. Words cannot describe the beauty of these churches and yet we knew we hadn't even seen St. Peter's Basilica yet. We just hope that it didn't become a "ho-hum" church when we finally got there.