Colosseum and Roman Forum

 COLOSSEUM AND ROMAN FORUM



One place that I felt was as essential to see as any we had seen in Rome so far but was not on our Tauck itinerary was the Colosseum.  When I realized this as we planned the trip, I went online and scheduled a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum for the afternoon we had on our own in Rome, i.e., today.  To me the iconic image of the Roman Empire has always been the Colosseum, which is almost 2,000 years old.  It was built as an amphitheatre over a 10 year period beginning in 71 AD by the Flavian emperors. As a pagan empire the notion of gladiators -- of human combatants fighting and killing animals and each other -- was appropriate.  Those "games" continued until 404, when Rome had become Christian. The structure has survived lightning strikes, fires, and an earthquake, and there have been numerous renovations. It's still standing.




The Roman Forum

The Forum, which was constructed beginning in the 8th Century BC adjacent to the Colosseum, was the seat of governmental, judicial, and commercial affairs. Public speeches, military victory parades (known as triumphs), and gladiator contests were held there. It was the true center of the Roman Empire for centuries. Ruins are scattered about the area today.





After returning to our hotel following our visit to St. Peter's, I grabbed a piece of pizza and a Peroni from a nearby pizzeria,  caught a taxi to the Colosseum and Forum, found my tour group, and waded into the masses with them, hoping that as we intermingled I'd remember which group was mine. There were a few challenges: It was crowded, as I imagine it always is. Today was our first hot (~86 F), sunny day of the tour, and for all of its grandeur, the Colosseum is not a domed, air conditioned stadium. A young Italian guy was our guide, and the listening device we had was a poor imitation of the Vox Boxes we had been using with Tauck. It was a chore hearing what the guide said and keeping up with my group, but I got the gist of it and was very happy that I had made the effort to see it. We started out touring the Roman Forum, which is adjacent to the Colosseum, but I ran out of time and had to get back to the hotel to join our Tauck group for our next adventure. I found a taxi fairly quickly.  Unfortunately he spoke even less English than I did Italian and charged me double what I had paid to ride to the Colosseum from the Aleph.  Oh, well ... I made it back. And despite the adversity, I was very glad that I had made a point of visiting the Colosseum. 







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