I am taking this picture from
Capitoline Hill. I'm looking down into the forum. Off in the distance
is the Arch of Titus and beyond it is the Colosseum. Rising up on the
right is Palatine Hill.Let's stroll through the Roman Forum!
I am taking this picture from
Capitoline Hill. I'm looking down into the forum. Off in the distance
is the Arch of Titus and beyond it is the Colosseum. Rising up on the
right is Palatine Hill.
Click here for a map of the forum!!
Below, I am moving the camera left. You can see the corner of the Senate building.
I'll keep moving the camera
left:
Through the remnants of this
temple, you can see the Senate house. Let's go down into the Forum
now.
Let's start with that Senate house.
This of course is where the Senate sat. Rising above the Senate house
you can see Capitoline hill, where we just were. Let's now turn
around and stroll in the other direction.
I'm standing where Augustus's arch,
built to celebrate the battle of Actium, once stood. Behind me is a
remnant of the Temple of Vesta.
And next to me, to my right, is the Temple of Caesar! Why don't I have a picture loaded here of that? I just realized the omission! Oh well. Let's go over to Vesta's temple...
This remnant was the round temple
to Vesta, goddess of the hearth. Inside, a flame was kept burning.
The people in charge of maintaining that flame were the 6 Vestal
Virgins, who lived in the House of the Vestals behind this
temple:
Good Vestal Virgins were commemorated with sculptures that line the interior courtyard of the House of the Vestals. Bad Vestal Virgins were buried alive!
As I face in the direction of Titus's arch, to the right of me is Palatine Hill:
Paletine Hill had been a residential area for the well-to-do during the Republic. During the Empire it became the government center, starting with Augustus. During his time, it continued to be a residential area, as well and contiinued to be a residence for the Emperor through the Pax Romana.
Let's now
stroll toward the Triumphal Arch of Titus.
I'll pause
and turn around so that you can see where we've come from:
Down below me you can see the
Temple of Vesta, and beyond, Capitoline Hill. Let's go on to that
Arch of Titus which is a much more intact example to Roman Triumphal
Arches then Augustus's that we were just visiting.
This arch
was built to celebrate the Roman response to the Jewish revolt. Under
Vespasian, Titus had led Roman troops to put down the Jewish revolt
in Judaea.
His triumph is
commemorated with this arch. The relief sculpture on the arch tells
the Roman version of the story.
If we look closely we can see SPQR
spelled out. It was the motto of the emperors during the Pax Romana,
in particular. Public projects that they built, whether theaters,
baths, circusses, temples or triumphal arches such as this one, there
would be this reminder that these were "For the Senate and the People
of Rome."
Let's now
stroll down the hill to the Colosseum: 
The
Colosseum,
where those
bloody Gladiator Games took place. Built by the Flavians. Begun by
Vespasian, it's inaugural games took place in 80 A.D. during the
reign of Titus. They lasted 100 days. 5000 beasts and 2000 gladiators
died in those 100 days. It is named after the huge statue of Nero
that was once next to the stadium. The statue was called "the
colossus" because of its size and the structure thus eventually came
to be called the "Colosseum."
Let's go inside:
Looking down into the passages underneath the flooring:
