Whether it’s EST or CET, a wake-up call for 0600 is early. Today’s plan calls for making up for the lost trip to Pompei, then continuing on to Rome for a walking tour of some of the sights, supper and then the opera – “Tosca”.
We managed to get all loaded onto the bus by about 0750 and arrived at Pompei about 45 minutes later. Flavio turned us over to our Pompei guide Enzo.
Pompei had a long pre-Roman history – there were the Certs, then the Etruscans, followed by the Greeks and then the Romans. The Romans took control of the city in the 1st Century BCE, and rebuilt many of the existing Greek and Etruscan structures using a very distinctive red brick. Enzo told us that we would be able to recognize Roman construction by the use of the red brick.
As was customary at the time, the city was built with its main entrance facing the sea. The tour of Pompei starts near this historic entrance with a stop at the “gymnasium”. The gymnasium is an open square where the gladiators trained. Since there was a certain amount of travel between cities and buying/selling of gladiators taking place, situating the gymnasium near the entrance to the city facilitated this economic activity.
The tour of the city continued through two different theatres, the first one was Greek – built in a traditional Grecian style with the audience facing the sea beyond the stage. The stage was large and the amphitheatre had seating for 6,000 spectators. There were private boxes for VIPs (with separate entrances). Just as today, the better seats were down front with less expensive seating up in the “nosebleed” section. Enzo told us that the seating area would have been covered with a cloth canopy – and it was possible to see the holes in the rock wall where the supports for such a roof would have mounted.
Across the “street” from the Greek theatre is the Roman theatre. It was much smaller and was used not only for entertainment, but also political purposes. Enzo said that most of the Greek theatre was pantomime – I had visions of ancient Greeks in whiteface makeup doing the “man in a box” and “walking into the wind” routines. The Romans developed some acoustical tricks that gave a certain degree of amplification so that they could stage spoken theatre as well as musical concerts. Although most of the structures that made these acoustical tricks possible, the marble floor at the front of the stage endures – and Enzo gave a very brief (but astonishing) demonstration of how the acoustics worked. Right away, Mrs. Williams was trying to get Mr. Cole on side for getting a marble floor for the theatre at Korah.
We continued on through the streets of Pompei. The stones have been worn smooth over the years, but the road is still flat and in overall good shape. The only signs of wear are the ruts worn by the iron-shod chariot wheels. The streets served two purposes … well actually it was one purpose – transportation, but there were two primary things being transported – people and sewage. The roads all ran downhill and had gutters. Once again, it was raining today and the flow of water down the sides of the streets made it easy to see how the “dirty water” (as Enzo called it) was taken away quickly. Since the streets also served as sewers, there were raised blocks of stone at various points so that the citizens could cross the street without worrying about soiling their feet. It’s around these raised stones that the chariot ruts are most pronounced.
We stopped at a villa that had been owned by a prominent politician. Inside were frescos – commissioned by the owner – that are still bright. One interesting thing to note about the frescos is the subject – scenes of animals hunting in what is obviously Africa. Enzo told us that this would indicate that the artist had been from Africa. The presence of artisans from such great distances re-enforces the belief that Pompei was a very cosmopolitan city – in a sense, the New York of its day.
Near the end of the tour, we got the opportunity to see some of the “plaster casts” that were made of the dead citizens of Pompei. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when archeologists first began excavation of Pompei, they could not understand where all the bodies were. All they could identify were “voids” in the accumulated ash. Only in the 20th century did archeologists hit upon the technique of filling these voids with plaster and then continuing excavation only once the plaster had hardened. What they created were plaster casts of the citizens in their death poses; a dog that had been chained up, a pregnant woman – seated – with her hands over her face, a man lying face down.
The tour of Pompei ended at the Roman temple to Venus – to whom the city had been dedicated. And although we spent hours there, we could have spent days and never seen it all.
After the end of any tour, come the gift shops – and Pompei is no exception. There was a brief stop for some shopping and then back on the bus. Now, we’re heading north to Rome.
Ahhh … Rome … what a place. “Vibrant” does the city no justice. After we got to the hotel and checked in, we headed down the road (a nice long walk) to the Colosseo.
The Colosseo is the largest monument of imperial Rome in existence. The Colosseo was built by emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. Construction started in CE72 and the inaugural games were held in CE80. During the Middle Ages, the Colosseo was used as a fortress and from the 15th century as a source of building materials for some of Rome’s finest palazzo. Conservation and restoration began in the 19th century and continues today. Flavio had arranged for a guide to tour us around the exterior of the building – we’ll go inside tomorrow.
After the tour of the Colosseo, we continued up the Foro Roman (Roman Forum). We walked up towards the Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Via Sacra, but it was late in the day, and the Via Sacra was closed for the afternoon – another thing on our list for tomorrow. Nonetheless, the guide explained the importance of the area in the daily life of Rome.
Our guide continued on and eventually led us to the Piazza del Campidoglio. After the sack of Rome in 1527, Pope Paul III called upon Michelangelo to redesign the piazza as part of the rebuilding of the city.
Tomorrow’s plan is to explore the area in greater depth – along with visits to the Tivoli Gardens, The Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain – where legend says that if you toss two coins over your shoulder into the fountain and make a wish, you will return to Rome and your wish will come true.
After supper, our day ended at the opera – a performance of Tosca held in a theatre just a bit further down from the Piazza del Campidoglio … but I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what happens when you wake up early, spend a large chunk of the day walking around and then go to the opera in the evening on a full stomach.
I certain hope that people are able to get back to sleep this evening.
One more note … access to internet connections are spotty … the hotel in Sorrento used an encryption system that I never was able to figure out. So, as much as I would like to post something every day, it just isn’t going to be possible.
Although I’ll be writing daily, I’ll only be posting as the opportunities present themselves.
Everyone is doing well … there’s a bit of an upset stomach bug going through (pardon the pun) the group … but no-one is complaining.
Ciao.
We managed to get all loaded onto the bus by about 0750 and arrived at Pompei about 45 minutes later. Flavio turned us over to our Pompei guide Enzo.
Pompei had a long pre-Roman history – there were the Certs, then the Etruscans, followed by the Greeks and then the Romans. The Romans took control of the city in the 1st Century BCE, and rebuilt many of the existing Greek and Etruscan structures using a very distinctive red brick. Enzo told us that we would be able to recognize Roman construction by the use of the red brick.
As was customary at the time, the city was built with its main entrance facing the sea. The tour of Pompei starts near this historic entrance with a stop at the “gymnasium”. The gymnasium is an open square where the gladiators trained. Since there was a certain amount of travel between cities and buying/selling of gladiators taking place, situating the gymnasium near the entrance to the city facilitated this economic activity.
The tour of the city continued through two different theatres, the first one was Greek – built in a traditional Grecian style with the audience facing the sea beyond the stage. The stage was large and the amphitheatre had seating for 6,000 spectators. There were private boxes for VIPs (with separate entrances). Just as today, the better seats were down front with less expensive seating up in the “nosebleed” section. Enzo told us that the seating area would have been covered with a cloth canopy – and it was possible to see the holes in the rock wall where the supports for such a roof would have mounted.
Across the “street” from the Greek theatre is the Roman theatre. It was much smaller and was used not only for entertainment, but also political purposes. Enzo said that most of the Greek theatre was pantomime – I had visions of ancient Greeks in whiteface makeup doing the “man in a box” and “walking into the wind” routines. The Romans developed some acoustical tricks that gave a certain degree of amplification so that they could stage spoken theatre as well as musical concerts. Although most of the structures that made these acoustical tricks possible, the marble floor at the front of the stage endures – and Enzo gave a very brief (but astonishing) demonstration of how the acoustics worked. Right away, Mrs. Williams was trying to get Mr. Cole on side for getting a marble floor for the theatre at Korah.
We continued on through the streets of Pompei. The stones have been worn smooth over the years, but the road is still flat and in overall good shape. The only signs of wear are the ruts worn by the iron-shod chariot wheels. The streets served two purposes … well actually it was one purpose – transportation, but there were two primary things being transported – people and sewage. The roads all ran downhill and had gutters. Once again, it was raining today and the flow of water down the sides of the streets made it easy to see how the “dirty water” (as Enzo called it) was taken away quickly. Since the streets also served as sewers, there were raised blocks of stone at various points so that the citizens could cross the street without worrying about soiling their feet. It’s around these raised stones that the chariot ruts are most pronounced.
We stopped at a villa that had been owned by a prominent politician. Inside were frescos – commissioned by the owner – that are still bright. One interesting thing to note about the frescos is the subject – scenes of animals hunting in what is obviously Africa. Enzo told us that this would indicate that the artist had been from Africa. The presence of artisans from such great distances re-enforces the belief that Pompei was a very cosmopolitan city – in a sense, the New York of its day.
Near the end of the tour, we got the opportunity to see some of the “plaster casts” that were made of the dead citizens of Pompei. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when archeologists first began excavation of Pompei, they could not understand where all the bodies were. All they could identify were “voids” in the accumulated ash. Only in the 20th century did archeologists hit upon the technique of filling these voids with plaster and then continuing excavation only once the plaster had hardened. What they created were plaster casts of the citizens in their death poses; a dog that had been chained up, a pregnant woman – seated – with her hands over her face, a man lying face down.
The tour of Pompei ended at the Roman temple to Venus – to whom the city had been dedicated. And although we spent hours there, we could have spent days and never seen it all.
After the end of any tour, come the gift shops – and Pompei is no exception. There was a brief stop for some shopping and then back on the bus. Now, we’re heading north to Rome.
Ahhh … Rome … what a place. “Vibrant” does the city no justice. After we got to the hotel and checked in, we headed down the road (a nice long walk) to the Colosseo.
The Colosseo is the largest monument of imperial Rome in existence. The Colosseo was built by emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. Construction started in CE72 and the inaugural games were held in CE80. During the Middle Ages, the Colosseo was used as a fortress and from the 15th century as a source of building materials for some of Rome’s finest palazzo. Conservation and restoration began in the 19th century and continues today. Flavio had arranged for a guide to tour us around the exterior of the building – we’ll go inside tomorrow.
After the tour of the Colosseo, we continued up the Foro Roman (Roman Forum). We walked up towards the Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Via Sacra, but it was late in the day, and the Via Sacra was closed for the afternoon – another thing on our list for tomorrow. Nonetheless, the guide explained the importance of the area in the daily life of Rome.
Our guide continued on and eventually led us to the Piazza del Campidoglio. After the sack of Rome in 1527, Pope Paul III called upon Michelangelo to redesign the piazza as part of the rebuilding of the city.
Tomorrow’s plan is to explore the area in greater depth – along with visits to the Tivoli Gardens, The Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain – where legend says that if you toss two coins over your shoulder into the fountain and make a wish, you will return to Rome and your wish will come true.
After supper, our day ended at the opera – a performance of Tosca held in a theatre just a bit further down from the Piazza del Campidoglio … but I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what happens when you wake up early, spend a large chunk of the day walking around and then go to the opera in the evening on a full stomach.
I certain hope that people are able to get back to sleep this evening.
One more note … access to internet connections are spotty … the hotel in Sorrento used an encryption system that I never was able to figure out. So, as much as I would like to post something every day, it just isn’t going to be possible.
Although I’ll be writing daily, I’ll only be posting as the opportunities present themselves.
Everyone is doing well … there’s a bit of an upset stomach bug going through (pardon the pun) the group … but no-one is complaining.
Ciao.
Pompei
Pompei
Pompei
Pompei
Rome
Rome
2 comments:
Hey Denine, Sounds like you guys are having a great time. There is 7feet of snow next to our driveway. There is no where else to put it. Enjoy the snowless trip!!!!! CIAO!
Michelle
Wow. I'm so jealous!! The pictures are amazing!!!! Have an awesome remainder of the trip, everyone. Special hello to everyone in IB - I'd SO rather be with you guys than doing history right now.
Stacey Devlin :)
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