Daily Updates
Week Four: 14 October
14 October. Craig Dent Reporting:
Craig 'Pater Patriae' Dent here, reporting on this sunny day in Roma. Professor Ulrich took pity on the plebs this morning and had us meet at 9:15 A.M. on top of the Capitoline Hill, as opposed to the usual (grueling) start time of 9:00 A.M. What a guy. We rallied the troops and walked a short distance to the Clivus Argentarius, the 'ancient' Roman road that was excavated and reconstructed by order of Mussolini, where we sat down for a lecture about the events leading up to the construction of the Forum Iulium. The middle of the 1st century B.C. in Rome was marked by the conflict between the city's two major political (and military) figures, Julius Caesar and Pompey, who were engaged in a competition for the loyalties of the Roman people. The dedication of the Theater of Pompey in the Campus Martius (55 B.C.), the first stone theater in Rome, forced Caesar to respond. His first move was to revamp and extend the most important space in the ancient city: the Roman Forum. Such an enormous building project, a monumentum, was very expensive, and the only way Caesar could pay for such a project was by reaching deep into his own pockets. In a letter from Cicero to his friend Atticus, he reported that he had received 100 million sesterces to complete the project, a truly staggering sum. Unlike Mussolini, who simply evicted people from their homes to facilitate his construction projects around the Roman Forum, Caesar was obliged to respect the property rights of the Roman citizens living in the area, so he instructed Cicero to buy them out. The onset of open hostilities between Caesar and Pompey a few years later brought a halt to the project, but it nonetheless dramatically increased Caesar's populist appeal. His second move, begun after his defeat of Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C., was to build his own forum adjacent to the Forum: the Forum Iulium (The Forum of Julius Caesar). Although Caesar may well have considered this a shrewd political move, it proved to be his downfall. Many people considered it obscenely arrogant for Caesar to construct his forum next to, and thus in direct competition with the Forum itself; and this would eventually cause the Roman senators to kill him.-- We then walked to the area overlooking the ruins of the Forum Iulium and looked at some of the remains, including the large quantity of extant material from the 1st century A.D. Flavian reconstruction of the octastyle (and pyncnostyle) Temple of Venus Genetrix, which burned down in the fire of 80 A.D. After a rather lengthy break (30 minutes!), we convened on some rocks near the Temple of Divus Julius in the eastern side of the Forum and heard about the events surrounding Caesar's death and eventual deification. Professor Ulrich was so excited to read our final 10 (or 20) page papers from our first unit that he let us go early, and we left the confines of the Forum for the pleasures of a sunny, beautiful day in Rome. The fitness junkies (Kyle, Briar and Kelsey) went running along the Tiber while others (Dan, James, Johnny) caught up on sleep. The sommeliers among us (Ben and Charlie) went out in search of cheap, delicious vino while the internet junkies (Dave, Julie, Craig) relaxed in the lobby of the Sole, checking their blitzmail courtesy of momo1. Brian went to see the Palazzo Massimo museum, which he missed on account of Yom Kippur. Jackie walked out to the Borghese gardens to sketch a statue, but settled for drawing a palm tree. Minkun ventured out into the city in search of a power cord and Claire went shopping.
Part of the Roman road.
A stone from the Roman road.
A detail of a cornice level.
The Forum Iulium
Another nice detail of a cornice.
The Forum Iulium
Caesar's tomb: Romans still put flowers on it...
Temple of the Divine Antoninus in the background.
Professor Ulrich lectures on the Roan Forum.