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| Rome is a city to be walked, but if you get tired far from your hotel, there are many easy busses to bring you home. My suggestion is, if you like to walk, stay in a hotel in the middle of the city. It may be a bit noisy, but the convenience is worth it! | |
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The city of Rome is simultaneously strident, romantic, sensual, crowded, noisy, and a traffic nightmare. Yet it is clearly eternal. Most of the renovations for the 2000 Jubilee are finished. Large steel structures no longer cover the beauty of the churches, Coliseum, and Spanish Steps. Rome is open for show. |
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| My friend Nancy Mulvey and I took these
pictures during our recent sojourn in Rome. There was so much to
photograph—but the Forum outweighed all else on this visit. The Roman
Forum was not simply the core of this ancient city; for many it was the
center of the universe. From the birth of the empire under Augustus in 31
B.C., and for nearly five hundred years thereafter, Rome ruled: from
Scotland to the Sahara, and from Gibraltar to the Euphrates, the Roman
Empire was in control.
And the Forum was the center of this government. The
famous Roman Senate was located here. |
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There were walks and gardens for the women. Up in the surrounding hills the people lived—for of course the area of Ancient Rome included more than the Forum area we see today. |
| The relics of the Republican and Imperial
eras can be seen many blocks from the Forum, in amongst the remains of
later periods. |
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In fact, Christian churches were sometimes
built right into the centers of large temples. Do you see one of them in
these shots? Other temples, such as
the Pantheon, were converted into churches outright. As a result, these are the temples that have been best
preserved. By the way, much of the destruction in the Forum came as a
result of earthquakes. |
| My favorite night scene (though we didn’t
capture it in pictures) was visiting the Campidoglio. There is no more
splendid place to be at night. Michaelangelo designed both the geometric
paving and the museum building facades of this piazza. Walk behind the
museum and view the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill under spotlights. What a
jewel! |
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Harriet
H. Ahouse | Independent Travel Consultant |