Regaining my bearings, having exited the Colosseum, I wait for
the rest of our group of six to reassemble. I casually eye a gaggle of
four or five gladiators about forty yards away, apparently on a
cigarette break. I’m hoping I might spot something particularly amusing
from this group, although I’m not sure what that might be. I guess
there’s something inherently funny about a group of guys dressed in
gladiator outfits. I’m not sure if it’s because they resemble a few
stragglers in a marching band who just missed the team bus, or because
their body language and mannerisms are no different than that of a
half-bored baseball player leaning on the dugout steps, waiting for his
next turn at bat. But enough about that, we’re moving on to the Forum!
The
Roman Forum is one of the world’s most extraordinary archeological
sites. Left to fall into disrepair, then virtually abandoned after Rome
fell in 476 A.D, this once great center of Roman politics, commerce,
and the judiciary is somewhat of a paradox. Daunting in scale,
breathtaking in splendor from one line of vision, un-photogenic from
the next. We watch children innocently climb and play atop two-thousand
year old column fragments as if they were the remnants of a fallen tree
trunk in their back yard.
The Temples of Vespasian (far left) and Saturn (right).
The Temple of Saturn (Templum Saturni)
is the oldest temple in the Forum, and once housed the treasury. First
consecrated in 497 B.C., the eight remaining columns are actually from
the third incarnation of the temple and are dated from 42 B.C. Oddly,
this final incarnation used recycled materials, and not all of the
eight columns nor their bases match.
The Arch of Septimius Severus.
Roman
emperors loved their triumphal arches. Arches of Titus (erected in 81
A.D.), Septimius Severus (203 A.D.), and Constantine (315 A.D.) are
among the Forum’s most impressive structures. Perhaps the best
preserved is the Arch of Septimius Severus, which features reliefs
celebrating his 3rd century victories in present-day Iraq and Iran. It
also honors his two sons, who fought with him in those battles. During
the time when the Forum was all but forgotten, the portion of the arch
that wasn’t buried housed a barber shop.
Fire has been a constant source of destruction.
From
republican times onward, fire seemed to be a constant nemesis, the most
devastating of which occurred in 283 A.D. Many other buildings were
destroyed at the hands of the Ostrogoths of Alaricin in 410 A.D. The
same earthquake in 847 A.D. that felled parts of the Colosseum also
took a toll on the Forum. In just one example, several buildings on
Palatine hill collapsed in the quake, creating a landslide that buried
Santa Maria Antiqua, the oldest Christian church in the Forum, under
tons of rubble.
The Temple of Romulus, also known as the Temple of Jupiter Stator.
It’s
been plundered time and time again, eventually becoming little more
than a scrap heap from which stones and other materials were stolen to
be used in other construction projects, its marble burned for lime to
make cement. Eventually the entire site was mostly buried due to
erosion. An etching by the famous Italian engraver Giovanni Piranesi
called Veduta di Campo Vaccino
(View of the Cattle Field) depicts the Forum with the Temple of Vespasian practically buried in
earth and debris. The Forum did, in fact, serve at the time as Rome’s
cattle market.
Disappointingly, some areas of the
Forum are closed off. The garden at the House of the Vestal Virgins,
where a few broken statues of some of the priestesses who tended the
sacred flame still stand, is now gated. Other areas are hardly
inspiring of a photograph. Nonetheless, this is one of the most
evocative archaeological sites anywhere in the world, and is a must-see
for any visitor.
Additional information:
Metro: Colosseo (Line B)
Web site: Official web site of the Roman Imperial Forums