Roma!

Rome is like an onion, made up of layer upon layer of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance history. Because of its significantly rich history, Rome is one of the most unique cities in Europe. According to legend, the city was founded when Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgin, was raped by Mars and later gave birth to two sons, Romulus and Remus. After her punishment of death, the two baby boys were subsequently raised by a she-wolf. When they were grown, Remus became jealous of Romulus because Romulus was chosen to build the city Rome. As a result, Remus challenged Romulus in a battle, and Romulus killed his brother. During our excursion, we visited countless famous monuments from Roman, and Renaissance times. I will focus on the ones I found most interesting, which include the Colosseo, the Tempio di Vesta, la Torre Delle Milizie, and the Basilica di San Pietro.

The most widely recognized symbol of Rome is the Colosseo, the largest amphitheater that still stands today. Amphitheaters were civic buildings located in most Roman towns. The origin of the name Colosseo comes from the colossal statue that was erected by Emperor Nero next to the amphitheater. The Colosseo was completed in three years and has an elliptic shape. It could hold 50,000 to 70,000 spectators and was made up of three levels of eighty arches, under which statues of various Roman divinities stood. During the Barbarian Migrations, the Colosseo was gradually disassembled by people who harvested it for stone and marble.

The Colosseo is important to our understanding of early medieval history because during the time of Christian persecution, hundreds of early Christian martyrs were killed there.

These acts of martyrdom were used as a way to spread knowledge of Christianity. Constantine (r. 324-337) was the first Roman emperor to tolerate Christianity as a religion. Emperor Theodosius (r. 379-395) was the first to ban paganism and enforce the practice of Christianity during the Roman Empire. Christian martyrs who died in the amphitheaters like the Colosseo paved the way for the Christian church to gain power and play a central role in the lives of medieval people.

The Tempio di Vesta also existed during the Roman time period. The temple dates back to the seventh century BC. It was dedicated to the divinity Vesta. Inside the circular temple was an eternal flame that vestal virgins tended. Their important position in Roman society required them to maintain their virginity until they were forty years old, in addition to tending the flame If they lost their virginity in any way, voluntarily or involuntarily, they were to be buried alive as punishment. This was the fate of Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus. The temple was also used to store legal wills and documents for Roman senators. In 394 AD, Theodosius extinguished the flame that had been lit for hundreds or years in his campaign to wipe our paganism. The temple is said to have inspired Brunelleschi and Donatello, who studied its classical architecture.

One of the very few medieval buildings I found in Rome was the Torre delle Milizie, the tower of the guards. It was used as part of the medieval fortress and dates back to the thirteenth century. Cimabue, a Gothic artist known for teaching Giotto and using chiaroscuro, painted its interior.

The Basilica di San Pietro is visited by thousands of pilgrim Catholics every year. Under its main altar is the tomb of St. Peter, the apostle of Christ. It is the longest church in the world and can hold 60,000 people. It is also one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, which include Basilicas of St. John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore and St. Paul. The original church was built during the fourth century. After many years, however, the church was in disrepair, especially during the Avignon papacy (1309-1377). Pope Nicholas V (r.1447-1455), who began the Vatican library and worked to beautify Rome, was the first to consider repairing the church. Pope Julius II, who reigned from 1503 to 1513, rebuilt it in the fourteenth century. Among the famous architects who worked on it were Bramante, Michelangelo and Raphael. The Basilica di San Pietro also houses one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, the Pietá. The monolithic statue is part of a funeral monument that depicts a youthful Mary, holding the body of Christ across her lap. The church also houses the tombs of numerous important popes, including Pope Urban VIII, who was buried nearby Peter.

Analyzing these important monuments in Rome helped solidify much of the knowledge I gained from this course. Ultimately it taught me that there is more to an Italian city than meets the eye because civilizations were constantly building on one another. For example, while many Roman temples and monuments were destroyed during medieval times, some were saved because they were reutilized as churches. Renaissance artists and architects, like Brunelleschi and Donatello, studied ancient Roman structures and integrated many classical elements into their masterpieces. Without the reutilization of this knowledge and the preservation of monuments from Roman, medieval, and Renaissance times, Western civilization would not be what it is today.