Rome again, Rome again, jiggity jig.

So I know it has been forever since I last actually blogged, but I have been crazy busy. I think I am just going to give up on trying to fill you all in on the two weeks in Sicily, London, and Paris. Those were amazing weeks but it would take too long to recall all of it. I am so glad to be back in Rome though; I actually really missed the city! It was glorious coming back to my own dorm... our hostels were ok but padlocking your things and sharing bathrooms with complete strangers gets a bit old after a while. I got back into Rome last Sunday and Monday was a complete return to normalcy- glorious! This week was "Augustus Week" and I had been looking forward to it for quite some time as Augustus is quite possibly the most amazing guy ever. So I lied a little bit, Monday wasn't completely normal. Instead of lecture and class we were on site that day. We had an early breakfast and then made our way to the Palatine- a place where we have all become very familiar with. This is where Augustus built his imperial house and erected a temple to Jupiter. We had a permisso to enter his house and it was absolutely amazing. The wall painting was preserved remarkably well. Without fail I am always blown away at how well things are preserved- I mean it has been over 2000 years ago! We visited the so-called "House of Livia" (Augustus' wife). This is now believed to have not really been her house but to have just been part of Augustus' but to have previously belonged to the orator Hortensius- way cool! Another really amazing thing about Augustus' house is that he didn't just confiscate the land of people to build his home. He actually paid for the land- pretty impressive, considering that he was imperator and all. This was all part of his "propaganda" though. So in all his house was an amalgamation of three seperate houses including the "House of Livia"- quite a humble house comparaed to later emperors. This humility was made up for in the Temple to Apollo that he constructed just feet away from his house. Though there is nearly nothing left of it now, it would have been very impressive based on reconstructions. It is interesting to note that it is dedicated to Apollo- an Eastern god. This temple is built after the Battle of Actium and Rome's conquering of the East, so it is no accident that Apollo has been absorbed at this point into Rome's pantheon. After this we headed over to the Theatre of Marcellus, the Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the Porticus of Octavia in the ancient Campus Martius. The Theatre of Marcellus is constructed like the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum)- well I should say the Colosseum is constructed like it as it was erected far later than the Theatre. This theatre, begun by Julius Caesar was finished by Augustus and was a response to Pompey's great theatre. It could fit about 20,500 spectators! So you might be wondering why theatres and games were so important to the Romans. Well try imagining a world with no weekends. The only people who got breaks during the weeks were Jews due to the Sabbath (no wonder the Romans didn't like them; they thought they were lazy). They didn't ever get breaks except during game days and festivals! I think I would even watch a few gladiators battle it out if I could get a break every few weeks :/. The temple only has three columns and part of the base preserved but it would also have been huge and impressive. Monday afternoon was devoted to Latin- it was so nice getting back to Latin after a two week break; I really missed it. I then studied for a midterm and a recitation of the Res Gestae- Augustus' record of his accomplishments. Tuesday was also slightly different than the normal Tuesday schedule which usually consists of an all day field trip. This Tuesday we stayed in Rome (makes sense since it was Augustus week). We visited the Forum of Augustus- amazing! I think the preservation level is about the same as Caesar's Forum but it was still very neat. Unfortunately I forgot my camera this day, but my friends took pictures so I will have to get them. So one of the main reasons a new forum was necessary was because of trials- people just didn't have enough room to prosecute each other. The city was huge by this time- over a million people! So that may not seem like a lot to the modern person, but imagine a world without any form of modern technology, no police force, and the fear that if you walk around the wrong corner you could have your throat slit and be thrown into the Tiber River without anyone really knowing what happened to your or being able to do anything about it- terrifying! The Forum was complete with porticoes and a massive temple to Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger). Augustus had vowed this temple as a response to the murder of his father Caesar. After this we had lecture in the afternoon. Wednesday we visited a church that was built upon an ancient bath complex. This was really very neat! Then we went to the Palazzo Massimo Museum which was absolutely fantastic. I had been wanting to visit this museum since we came to Rome. It houses some very famous sculptures- such as the Hellenistic Boxer. I think it is quite possibly the most emotionally evocative sculpture of the period. Wednesday afternoon was Latin class and my recitation which went well. The rest of the afternoon and the night was devoted to study for my Renaissance Art History midterm on Thursday. Thursday morning half of the centro was freaking out over the midterm but we still had tons of stuff to do and see before we could even take the test. It was quite possibly the most exciting day of the week. We got to see the Ara Pacis (the altar of Peace commissioned by the senate upon Augustus' arrival back into Rome after beingin Gaul)! Despite it's current location having been decided by Mussolini and its heavy reconstruction it was absolutely amazing! So this altar was indicative of the Pax Romana that Augustus installed throughout the empire. Thursday afternoon was filled with relief- the end of the midterm! Several of us celebrated at dinner by indulging in a bottle of very good wine. Friday was an all day field trip for art history to a papal villa north of Rome and a cardinal's gardens in the northern part of Lazio. The Farnese villa was fantastic. The artwork harkened back to ancient Roman themes. At the second villa we focused on the gardens as the cardinal decided to spend his money on the gardens instead of the actual villa. It was such a beautiful place. My friend Jenna is planning her wedding there now :). Friday night we were all exhausted but still laden with so much work. It is now Saturday afternoon and I have been studying since last night for my Latin midterm on Monday. Well it's Halloween and I am going out with several friends to celebrate the Italian way- actually I have no idea how they celebrate. My friend's mom and aunt are in town so we are going to dinner. It should be fun! I will update with pictures tomorrow. The blog will resume normally... Ciao for now! As promised, I have updated with some pictures- the house of Augustus, wall painting from his house, the sculpture of the Hellenistic boxer, the Ara Pacis with my friend Courtney for scale, the Villa Farnese, view from the Villa Farnese, and a view of part of the gardens.
-XOXO