Last Post: What Rome Means to Me

Group photo at the Colosseum

Rome has definitely changed my perspective and has given me a broader view on how I see the world. This trip has made me more grateful... and I feel a lot more blessed to live the life that I do back at home. A lot of people would have loved (but never got the chance) to study abroad and visit foreign countries and I'm one of the lucky ones that actually made it. I truly enjoyed every single minute of this trip-despite the heat and my sore feet. It makes me sad that we have to leave already, time just flew right on by.

Group Photo at the Basilica of San Clemente

Right now I can't exactly say what this trip means to me. I think that maybe a little bit in the future I can look back and reflect and then really decide what this experience has done for me as a whole. My absolute favorite aspect about this trip was being able to share this experience with our group and the fact that we were seeing the things we were learning about in person. I came here with absolutely no knowledge about Ancient Roman history and Rome in general, so I can say that I'm taking a lot away from this trip knowledge wise. As for the culture I feel like it's important to realize there's more ways of living rather than just what we are used to in America. I know sometimes I get caught up in my own life, doing my own thing, and I don't really think about how the rest of the world is doing. This trip has helped me in that way too and I probably will start paying more attention to the rest of the world while at home.

Group Photo at the Pantheon

My last free day in Rome was spent lounging around and packing my stuff. The only time I actually stepped out of the apartment was when I left to put my bag in storage. Although my Rome trip is coming to an end I'm really excited to continue my own journey around Europe. I don't know when I'll ever get the chance to do this ever again, so I'm trying to get as much traveling done as my budget will allow me. It's been fun Rome- Let's do it again sometime.

-Ciao,
Justina Bingham

Blog Post 7

The past two days have been spent at the Villa of Maxentius, Tomb of Caecilia Metella, Catacombs of San Sebastiano, and lastly the Vatican Museum. My favorite by far was the Vatican Museum, although there was a lot of people, so it kind made it a little less enjoyable.  

Entombment of Christ- Carvaggio

The Vatican Museum was really packed. We got some headsets but I'm not sure they actually helped and it seems as though we only used them for not even half of the visit. In the Vatican Museum theres a bunch of almost... sub museums or different sections that contain different things. My favorite parts were the Pinacoteca section of the museum and the Sistine Chapel. In the Pinacoteca part of the Museum, it had one of the paintings I've been looking forward to seeing, which was the Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio. It is an altarpiece for one of the chapels in Santa Maria in Vallicella. I had taken an Art History class and it was one of my favorites mostly because of the lighting and intensity of the painting. It actually looks kind of like Caravaggio took a picture, but the fact that it's an actual painting is just remarkable. Also, since I am not a religious person and I was drawn to this painting it just makes it that much better for me. I was actually really lucky to have gotten to see this section of the museum because when we first showed this section was closed. When I was getting ready to leave I walked passed it and noticed it was open so I decided to go in, so It seemed like I happened upon it by chance.  The Sistine Chapel was also one of the main things we had learned about in my Art History class too. So when I actually saw it in person I was overwhelmed. I'm sure if there wasn't so many people there, I probably would've cried. It was an overall great experience, I just wish there wasn't so many people. I'm sure though, that if we had went later on in the day it would've been way worse. 

Part of Circus of Maxentius

A few other things we saw were: The Villa of Maxentius, Tomb of Caecilia Metella, and also the Catacombs of San Sebastiano all located on the Via Appia (oldest road in Rome). At the Villa of Maxentius we mostly saw the Circus of Maxentius, or basically a few ruins in a big open field with some random hay bales on it.  It was pretty cool to walk on the walls of the Spina on the Circus though (The Spina is the middle of the circle where the chariots or racers would've raced around). The next thing we had seen was the Tomb of Caecilia Metella or I guess also the Caetani Castle which was pretty cool. But it was a little small for what I was expecting. I also saw other rooms and stuff within the castle that seemed to be blocked off. I'm not exactly sure if we are able to go explore those but my curiosity was getting the best of me and making it hard to focus. 

Caetani Castle (Where the tomb of Caecilia Metella is located)

Entrance: Catacombs of San Sebastiano

The last thing we saw were the Catacombs of San Sebastiano. These were really amazing and I didn't know what to expect before going down on the tour to see everything. But once we did go down underground, it was basically a maze of tombs. I wish we had more free reign to get lost down there, but then again, being underground where dead people were buried seems a little scary to me. I am not religious, or spiritual, nor do I really believe in ghosts, but down in the Catacombs I was afraid to touch anything. I kind of thought it was disrespectful because these were basically graves and I really don't know where the line is between history and learning or being disrespectful and walking on sacred ground when it comes to things like this. They may not have the bodies in them, but they were once occupied by dead bodies and that's kind of why it was scary to me. And okay, maybe I was thinking that a demonic spirit would possess my body and the Pope would have to approve my exorcism.. but you know, whatever. 

Both days seeing all these things were great, I've gotten to experience things like the Catacombs- which I knew nothing about, and I also got to see things that I did know like fresco paintings in the Vatican Museum. Since this trip is coming to toward the end, I'm starting to get more sentimental, taking everything in and just trying to absorb as much as I can and enjoy it. 

Blog 6: June 15, 2015

While this trip is coming close to the end, I feel like we've just started to scratch the surface of everything that can be learned from this place. While being a little homesick, I really do not want this trip to end. I've met so many unique beautiful personalities on this adventure, It's sad to think in just five days Rome will be the beginning of a memory and we'll all be on a plane going back to our own lives.

Part of the Baths of Caracalla 

Underground Tunnel at The Baths of Caracalla

Inside of Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and the Matyrs (Built in the Baths of Diocletian)

The past couple of days have been spent at the Baths of Caracalla, Baths of Diocletian, Basilica of San Clemente, and the Arch of Constantine.

What the Baths of Diocletian would have looked like

The baths of Caracalla were way bigger than I thought they would be. It almost reminded me of a modern day recreation center or like the regional fitness center in Morris. I mean, the Baths of Caracalla had a work out area, pool area, locker rooms... basically everything a modern day recreation center would have. The Baths of Caracalla were made under the emperor Caracalla of course! If I remember correctly he had them made mostly for propaganda, to get people to like him, and it was mostly used for a social gatherings. Ancient romans wouldn't usually come to these baths by themselves, they'd come with a friend. This part of the Baths kind of struck me as weird, because thinking in modern day terms, I haven't really thought of rec centers as a place to socialize. I'm not exactly sure about why I never thought this before, but now that I noticed it, its one of those things where it just makes sense and I should've known all along.

The Baths of Diocletian were... ok. I mean a lot of it has been turned into other things and has other uses, so for this I kind of didn't understand what I was looking at most of the time or it was really hard to picture what it would have looked like back in its prime time. I did include a picture of the floor plan though so you can get an idea of what it would've looked like. Another thing that we saw earlier today was the Basilica of San Clemente. We actually had a guest speaker today which was a nice change of pace. Inside of it was also really amazing. We go in on the top floor or I guess main floor and then there was excavations that made it able for us to go down two more floors into the ground. It was a little bit humid or musty down there due to water, but it was really cool. I find it hard to think that the fresco's down there have survived as long in those conditions, one would think they'd deteriorate. Later on today we had went to the Arch of Constantine. It is situated between the colosseum and capitoline hill. It was made to celebrate constantine's victory over Maxentius in 318 AD.

Arch of Constantine

Entrance to the Basilica of San Clemente

Had to steal this group photo! It's the best

Blog 5

So I had left off on my last blog post about our visit to Ostia Antica. Well, since then my greatest accomplishment has been a really good tan and semi hurtful sunburn. I've been to the cities of Sperlonga and Bracciano Italy, and to the forum of Trajan, Piazza Navona/Stadium of Domitian, and the Museum of the Imperial Fora. 

Me at Truglia Tower

Climbing Rocks by Truglia Tower

My two trips to Sperlonga (June 10th) and Bracciano (June 11th) were really amazing. There was so much beautiful scenery that just set the whole mood for those days. Sperlonga is a coastal town located between Naples and Rome. Or it's about an hour train ride southeast from Rome. We (Cari, Rachel, Steve, and I) mostly sat on the beach, swam in the salty sea, and toward the end of our day we climbed on the rocks (pictured left) by Truglia tower. Although we didn't get to go inside Truglia tower, the rocks around it had some interesting creatures and beautiful views to see. 

Lake Bracciano

The trip to Bracciano was just as beautiful as Sperlonga. I thought swimming in Bracciano lake was better mostly because there wasn't a fear of sharks nor was it as salty. Lake Bracciano is one of the major lakes in Italy and was formed from volcanic activity. The main magma chamber was situated in the present lake Bracciano's location. The collapse of this magma chamber created the crater or caldera that is now Lake Bracciano. There is no motor boats allowed on this lake and it is actually fairly deep and the water was super clear. It was an overall great experience. 

Fountain of the Four Rivers on the Piazza Navona

Earlier today though (June 12th), we got to see the forum of Trajan, Piazza Navona/ Stadium of Domitian, and the Museum of the Imperial Fora. The Piazza Navona is built on the Stadium of Domitian. For those of you who don't know Domitian was the son of Vespasian and the third emperor of the Flavian Dynasty. He ruled starting in the year of AD 81 and was assassinated in the year of AD 96. The stadium was built in AD 86 and is shaped kind of like the Circus Maximus that we had visited earlier. It was significantly smaller in size though and could seat about 15- 20,000 people. It was made for more things like footraces rather than chariot races like the Circus Maximus. The seating area of this stadium is now filled in with buildings and shops. The actual arena area is now the Piazza Navona. On the Piazza Navona there are a few fountains. One of the fountains was the Fountain of the Four Rivers (Pictured Below), another fountain was the Moor Fountain, and lastly was the Fountain of Neptune. The Piazza Navona was very lively, filled with people, artists, musicians, and shops. It had a really good energy to it. 

Forum of Trajan

The next things we did was visit the Forum of Trajan and also the Museum of the Imperial Fora. The Forum of Trajan is one of the largest imperial Fora and the last one to be built. According to Rachel's presentation, It could fit almost all the Forums into it excluding just one, I think. Emperor Trajan had this Forum built in AD 112 using the riches won after the conquest of Dacia. Trajan also had the column of Trajan built and put up around AD 113. The Museum of the Imperial Fora was really interesting to look around in, mostly because it had a special exhibition featuring fashions using food. It seemed so wrong and unusual to have modern art in a place that has statues and ruins in it. Overall these past few days, or trip in general has been amazing. I can't get over how beautiful the views are and how amazing life has been here. I almost don't want it to end... Almost. 

Some of the Dresses hanging inside the Museum of the Imperial Fora

Blog 4:

Forum of Augustus- with temple of mars

Forum of Nerva

Yesterday we had a half day and had taken a visit to the Forum of Augustus, Forum of Nerva, and the Forum of Vespasian. I had to give my presentation on the Forum of Vespasian (I briefly mentioned it in my blog 3 post). While I'd love (not really) to talk about it and probably could talk about it forever, I am going to post a page on it late tomorrow. The forum of Augustus however, was a temple built by Augustus. It is one of the Imperial forums here in Rome. We also got the privilege of seeing the forum of Nerva. The forum of Nerva is, I believe, the smallest Forum to be built. It was started by Domitian (I mentioned him briefly in Blog 3) but was finished by Nerva, henceforth the name "Forum of Nerva". It was completed and opened in 97 AD. I didn't get any pictures of the Forum of Nerva, nor did I get pictures for the Forum of Augustus. But I uploaded pictures (right) of each to show you what they might have looked like back in their prime time.

Today was a really interesting day. We went to a place called Ostia Antica. It's about a half an hour train ride from Rome. I found that this place was really cool and well preserved. It is a large archeological site close to the town of Ostia. The town itself used to be a seaport that brought in goods. What we saw while we were there was a lot different from what it had looked like in the past, obviously, but it was nice to be able to go through and see apartments, firefighter's headquarters, public restrooms, and also the usual houses of the common, lower/middle class people. There was also a really cool theater there (shown below). What I loved most about this was that it gave me a wider peek at how romans really lived. I hadn't really resurrected the the Imperial Forums in my mind like I had with the buildings at Ostia Antica. Overall it was a nice trip out of Rome for a little while. I love that we learn new things everyday while also getting to explore and have a little fun. If we aren't learning about ancient roman history, we are learning new things about the culture of the Italians in Rome. The knowledge is never ending.

Theater at Ostia Antica

Picture taken at Ostia Antica

Blog 3

Palatine Museum entrance

The Palace of Augustus

 So within the last couple of days we have seen quite a bit more of Rome! A couple places we had went to were Palatine Hill, the Palatine Museum, the Arch of Titus, and lastly the Colosseum. The Palatine Hill and Palatine Museum were actually really amazing (I got some beautiful pictures).  For those of you who do not know, Palatine hill is basically where Romulus wanted the city of Rome to be built and where most of the emperors had lived back in ancient roman times. On or around Palatine Hill there are a bunch of main attractions so to speak. We have visited most of them, for example, a few around there were the Circus Maximus, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. All of which I was lucky enough to have saw during my stay here.

The Arch of Titus

We also visited the Arch of Titus- that is located inside the Roman Forum. Titus is the son of Vespasian who ruled around AD 79-81. He only ruled for two years but was considered a good emperor. He was apart of the Flavian Dynasty and helped rebuild and make rome better, or helped Vespasian fix the aftermath of the reign of Nero (Nero- in my opinion- is the worst emperor of all time). Titus was also known for helping with natural disasters that were happening during that time, like the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Titus died of a fever in AD 81 and had started the Arch of Titus and the forum of Vespasian but didn't get the chance to finish them. His brother Domitian had finished them during his reign after Titus.

The Colosseum

The Last thing we did for that day was walked around the Colosseum. It was my favorite part of the day mostly because I learned that it's uses were similar to the hunger games. I guess in that way it just helped me make sense and relate to the people of that time a little better. I also think that if I lived back in that time period I would NOT be able to sit and watch people get killed. I barely like tackling people in rugby, i just couldn't do it, those romans were hard core. It's also cool to think that the colosseum was big enough to fit 50,000 people in it. It was almost like Vespasian (who had started building it) was showing the romans that everyone was a part of the community. It was a good tactic to get people to think he was a good ruler- very smart Vespasian, good job. I found it similar to a football arena today, I could almost picture it with screaming fans and everything. Overall I think anyone in Rome shouldn't miss the Colosseum, even if you don't know much history its definitely a place anyone can like and relate to from all ages and time periods.

Blog 2:

It's day five here and I think the group is finally starting to get the hang of Rome a little more. Although I am still oblivious when it comes to the subway and buses (Don't judge me, i'm from a small town), hopefully i'll get it down soon. My day started off with going to a cafe and getting a cappuccino and a yummy pastry by myself after meeting with Lisa at the ACCENT center at 9am. I figured I'd better get used to finding my way around by myself now since i'm staying a few extra days here. 

Largo Argentina

Our first stop for today was the Largo Argentina (Pictured above). The Largo Argentina is basically a square in Rome that holds the remains of the Pompey's theatre and four republican temples. The four temples are named A,B,C, and D (easy to remember). Temple A was made in the 3rd century B.C. and I believe it was the Temple of Juturna but was later made into a church. It seems really common to turn temples and such into churches all around Rome and probably other places as well. Anyways temple B was the round-ish temple with, I think, only six columns remaining. Temple C is the oldest of all the temples dating back to maybe the 3rd or 4th centuries BC. Temple D is the largest of the four temples and was made around the 2nd century BC. The Largo Argentina is also a cat shelter. Today I really wasn't in the mood for learning history. But when he mentioned the cat sanctuary my ears perked up and I was instantly interested. I think Aaron and Lisa had said that the cat sanctuary helps the injured cats and all of the other cats roam around free. I personally didn't see any cats while I was there, If I had I probably would've gotten a million pictures and put them up on this blog. 

Forum of Julius Caesar

Pyramid of Cestius

Later in the day we went and saw the Forum of Julius Caesar, briefly saw the pyramid of Cestius, and for the last stop we went to the Centrale Montemartini (Pictured Below right). My favorite part of the day was going to the Centrale Montemartini mostly because it wasn't in the heat, but it also wasn't your average museum. The museum itself is located in basically an old power plant that (I think) was the first to give electricity to the city of Rome. One of my favorite sculptures, or busts I guess, was the Head of a young man (Pictured Below left). I like this one mostly because you could still see gold specks and some color, which we don't normally see on statues and sculptures anymore. It was just nice to see even a little bit of how it would've looked like in color or how it was originally instead of just marble like we'd usually see. 

Centrale Montemartini

Head of a Young Man

On an un-relevant, unrelated note, during lunch break I went on a hunt for an antique vase for my grams. It was a cool little adventure trying to find the perfect one for her for over the past couple days. Then I had to carry it around all day in the hot weather. (She's lucky I love her :p) I carried that thing in the heat for about 7-8 hours today.