Days One and Two in Rome,

Gentle readers, here are some shots from our first two days. Monday (most) students arrived and we were able to go on our neighborhood walk down to the Fontanone and Garibaldi park. These feature great views of the ancient city. Here are the fourteen who made it to Rome without trouble (sorry, Paris travelers!):

Ciao, Roma!

Some of the Latin students worked on the Latin inscription of the Fontanone: Pope Paul V reused ancient aqueduct channels to provide clean water to the folks on the Gianicolo hill (where we are living), bringing water from 35 miles away. From here we went up to Garibaldi park. Giuseppe Garibaldi was one of the key figures in Italian reunification. In 1849, the supporters of reunifying Italy and making it a republic (and not under the popes) fought a massive fight against French soldiers coming in defense of the pope. The ragazzi ("Young Men") of 1849 held off the invaders long enough to solidify some key positions. Garibaldi was the commander of these forces, and later helped reunify Italy (started in 1861, completed in 1870, when the capital of reunified Italy returned to Rome). He is celebrated in monumental style:

Garibaldi sitting pretty on a stallion, turning his head toward the Vatican as if to say, "we won"

Students were introduced to the history of reunification by our visiting scholar Prof. Amy Boylan from UNH, who also explained to us Fascist architecture, which was used by Mussolini and others to tie back to the Roman imperial period (but with a modern twist). The view from Garibaldi Park is pretty spectacular:

First selfie Prof. Smith has taken in his life. 

Later, we visited Rome by night. The weather had gotten a little warmer, and we really had Rome to ourselves.

On Tuesday we spent most of the day in the Roman Forum, the social, religious and political center of Rome. It's a spectacular place. Here the students are posing in front of the Temple of Castor (and Pollux), dedicated to the gods who helped Rome win a great battle toward the infancy of the Roman nation.

Happy Students (all of them) in front of the Temple of Castor. Prof. Curry stands tallest among the group.

We saw and discussed: the Lacus Curtius (and its weird history), the Temple of Saturn (Io Saturnalia!), the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Basilica Julia, the Temple of Julius Caesar, and the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestal Virgins. We earned lunch, followed by an optional tour of the path up to the imperial buildings on the Palatine, with a surprise—the Church of Santa Maria Antiqua (6–7th c. AD) was open. Beautiful wall paintings here. The view up on top of this pathway was also spectacular:

Prof. Curry lovin' life large. Look at that view!

The afternoon was museum time! After Prof. Boylan gave a short introduction to the Campidoglio, Michelangelo's modification of the Capitoline Hill, we went in and saw the acrolithic statue of Constantine (and learned about the mystery of the two right hands), the beautiful and singular equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, and the Capitoline Wolf, among other delights. A great moment was when some of the students posed with their "real" counterparts. Emma and Caracalla, Audrey and Marcus Aurelius. Two very different emperors!



We enjoyed some coffee, cappuccini, and cioccolato caldo on the terrace above the museum, after which we all got home for a dinner of risotto con pesto and other treats. Students will be uploading their blogposts shortly!