Daily Updates
Week Six: Oct. 29
29 October. Peter reporting: The settimana difficile (difficult week) continues and more rain falls from the cloud filled sky. But that does not stop those who around the girdled earth roam. No, we press on and continue with our exploration of Imperial Rome. We meet at the civilized time of 9AM prepared for a full day. A brief side note, if we were at Dartmouth, we would complain about our “nines”, but here in Rome we consider this to be a generous start, much preferred over the 8:30AM rallies of the road trip. We begin the day, looking at the gems of the Campus Martius – specifically the great Augustian Sundial, which not only told the time, but also the day, month and season as well. Apparently the pointer of the sundial was a massive Egyptian obelisk, currently positioned outside the Italian equivalent of the House of Representatives. After looking at this monument, we continue with Sophia’s presentation on the two great mausoleums of Imperial Rome – the Mausoleums of Augustus and Hadrian. Understanding these spaces was no easy task, as post-classical alterations have completely altered the original structure. Indeed, the Mausoleum of Augustus became a concert hall and Hadrian’s Mausoleum, now known as the Castel San Angelo, became a papal castle. We spent the afternoon in retail space – the Markets of Trajan. It was quite a complex and unlike modern malls, it had character and feeling. It was a multilevel complex, with a large number of shops. The Great Hall, covered with three massive cross-vaults, was two stories high and lit from above – thanks to the flying buttresses, which not only supported the cross-vault, but allowed windows behind the vaults to light the interior. For all you architectural enthusiasts, this is one of the earliest examples of the flying buttress. The Roman shopping mecca continued into the great hemicycle – a three level complex of shops. From here we continued in Trajan’s Forum – a once spectacularly decorated piece of land. Unfortunately, much of it is hidden under one of Rome’s major modern thoroughfares, the Via del Imperiale. However, the clever use of plans and reconstructions allowed a thorough understanding of the space.
29 October. Sophia presents the Mausoleum of Augustus
29 October. Walking between the walls of the mausoleum
29 October. An inscription noting the remains in the mausoleum
29 October. Peter peeking over some concrete
29 October. Sarah and Matt walk the wall
29 October. An excellent view of opus reticulatum, a facing dear to our hearts
29 October. Another view of the precious opus
29 October. Looking out from the mausoleum
29 October. A view of the mausoleum from across the street
29 October. Sophia presents the Mausoleum of Hadrian, now the Castel Sant'Angelo
29 October. Remains of Domitian's stadium near the Piazza Navona
29 October. Detail of one of the fountains in Piazza Navona
29 October. Another detail
29 October. Piazza Navona
29 October. Piazza Navona
29 October. Another fountain detail
29 October. The so-called talking statue of Piazza Navona
29 October. A distraught Roman and her unfortunate car
29 October. A protest in the historic center of Rome
29 Ocotber. Trajan's Markets
29 Ocotber. Trajan's Markets
29 Ocotber. Trajan's Markets with his forum and column in the background
29 Ocotber. Brian presents Trajan's Markets
29 Ocotber. Windows from the exedra: note half moon pediment
29 Ocotber. Bust of a Dacian prisoner
29 Ocotber. Another Dacian prisoner
29 Ocotber. Matt types up the daily report