The next day was probably our favorite! It was our tour of Ancient Rome. We were greeted that morning at our hotel by our guide- Leticia. She knew everything about ancient Rome, and she was fluent in 6 languages. The first part of our tour was done from our air conditioned car! A very nice break from the miles of walking in the heat we had done our first few days.
Our first stop was at the ancient Circus Maximus. We were given detailed descriptions on the games and entertainment that were provided here- mainly chariot races. It could accommodate up to 300,000 spectators. It was presumed that the upper rows were made of wood and it was recorded that at one time there was a collapse that killed 1,112 people. It was used until 549 AD.
Then we drove the through the city and had various ancient ruins and temples pointed out. The majority of these buildings were built in 3 B.C. It's just amazing to me.

Trajan's Markets- this was thought to be the headquarters of the imperial procurator, who managed the Forum of Trajan. The Forum of Trajan was devoted to functions like celebrations and displays.

This was Hercules's Temple. It was built in 3 A.D.

The 'Mouth of Truth' this stone was made famous in a movie (I can't remember which though, I had never head of it) , but in the movie, if you put your arm in there and told a lie, your arm would get cut off. It's popular for tourists to put their hands in =)

This was the view of the Roman Forum from the back streets we were able to drive on. We walked down through the forum a little later, but this was a great view of the Temples of Saturn and Concord. The Temple os Satrun was built in 497 AD and the Temple of Concord was built in 367 B.C. It was frequently repaired and completely reconstructed by Tiberius.

More of the Forum from the top view
This back street that we were on drove around to Rome's Government Buildings.



Their were protest banners hung around the buildings. This boy had been imprisoned and Rome was protesting to get his released. These two staircases were carved by Michaelangelo.

The Theater of Marcellus- It was begun by Caesar and completed by Augustus in 11 BC. It could seat 15,000 spectators. It was one of the only permanent theaters built in Rome. Most were only made of wood.

Next we drove down and walked through the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum was the commercial, religious, political and legal center of the city.

The Arch of Septimius Severus, erected in 202 AD to commemorate the emperor who extended the boundaries of the Empire as far as Mesopotamia.

A view of the back of the Temple of Saturn. You can see where it was severely damaged by fire centuries ago.

The Basilica Julia, the most well preserved building in the Forum

In one of the temples, they had this neat display room with actual sculptures, marble flooring and amazing relics found during the excavating.

The Arc di Tito- A Victory Arch for one of the Emperors

This Temple of Venus. It was huge, it went from the Roman Forum to the Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine. This was the last monument added to the Great Square of the Colosseum. It was erected in 312 AD by the Senate and People of Rome in honor of the Emperor.

One of our biggest highlights- the Colosseum! More than 100,000 cubic meters of travertine were used. Even the metal pins that held the blocks together weighed more than 300 tons. It was started by Vespasian about 70 AD and opened by Titus 10 years later. The ceremonies and games went on for 100 days and some 5000 wild animals were put to death during that time.
The arches at ground level were numbered and acted as assigned seating. Each sector was reserved for a particular class of citizens. Places on top were for the least important. Everyone got in for free. The Colosseum could accommodate 70,000 people. The last show that was known to be held was in 523, it was only wild animal hunts. Gladiator fighting was abolished in 438 AD.
Under the arena was a complex system of passages and room. They contained facilities and stored stage equipment for the shows. A rope and pulley kind of elevator was used to bring men, scenery and animals onto the fighting area. On one occasion the system was used to bring 100 lions into the arena at the same time.
The gladiators had their own barracks to enter the arena, it was an underground passageway.
It's so appalling to me how long the gladiator "games" went on for and the thousands that were killed. What made it even more sick, is according to our guide, these games were the people's lunch and dinner shows! How could you eat while something like that was going on? So disturbing!


You can get the idea where the floor is (the outcropping at the other end) Imagine that covering the entire center. Then in all the underground caverns you can see, there were animals, and scenery that would come up through the floor. Pretty amazing what they thought to do for entertainment.

While we were there they had some really cool exhibits. These are not actual costumes from the Gladiator days, but they were believed to have worn stuff like this. Our guide was telling us how often they would wear big helmets, etc. so their fans could recognize them. But also, if you look at the way they were paired to fight. The armor was always biased to favor one opponent over the other. For instance, a breast plate vs. none, a larger shield, a longer sword, a mastered weapon, etc.


Cody and I at the Colosseum.
So, we thought we had the most awesome tour guide. (Don't get me wrong, she was very nice and knowledgeable). But, she carried my camera around a lot and took tons of pictures of Cody and I together. We were so excited that we were going to have a lot of pictures of the 2 of us! Well, I had my camera on Automatic and all she had to do was point and click right? Well I guess that was too hard, because out of the I swear 50+ pictures she took of Cody and I, this was the only one on the camera! She must not have been pushing the button down all the way. Dang! Why didn't I ever check? And we even gave her a really nice tip!


This day was so amazing to me. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to go and experience history! It was great spending this time with my wonderful husband. Love you Babe!