Monday, July 11, 2011

Week 1 in Rome




Hello All!

This past week has been very busy with getting settled in and starting our classes!

On Monday, because we attend an American university, we had off for July 4th, so we didn't begin classes until Tuesday. It was interesting to see how many people here were actually celebrating July 4th with us!

On Tuesday, my first class was "Ancient Rome and its Monuments." This class will definitely be my favorite. Our teacher takes us to different ancient ruins around Rome and gives us the background and how things have changed around it and on top of the ruin through the ages. The first day we walked across the Tiber river and saw the ruins of three temples that had a Catholic church now built on top of them. The church had incorporated some of the columns in the outside walls, which was very interesting. Then, we saw some totally restored temples dedicated to Jupiter. Those were really amazing. After that, we headed over to the Circus Maximus, where they held the ancient chariot races. Now it is nothing more than a large open space, but you can still see the track that was used.
My next class was Italian, which I attend every day. We learned some basic phrases and figured out our class schedule.

Wednesday I decided I would go shopping! In Rome, the month of July is a huge city wide sale, in which every store participates. Sales range from 30-75% off! Even stores like Fendi and Louis Vuitton join in the festivities. I just bought a few things, don't want to go overboard, I still have a few weeks left to shop!
For our Italian class this day, we went to a gelato shop and watched how gelato was made! This "gelateria" is one of the few that actually make their gelato from all natural ingredients. We watched them make a peach gelato, which is seasonal because these special peaches can only be picked a certain time of the year from Sicily. It was so delicious!

On Thursday I had my "Ancient Rome and its Monuments" class again. We visited Capitoline Hill, which is the hill that has housed the government of Rome since its inception. We learned the story of Romulus and Remus, who founded the city (I will include the story at the end of this post). On top of the hill stand three buildings, all laid out and designed by Michelangelo. These of course were not the ancient buildings, but you could still see fragments of the ruins. Two of the three buildings are museums that house some of Rome's finest treasures. The thirds building is where the Senate meets. Our teacher took us into the main museum and showed us all of the important pieces to Ancient Rome. My favorite piece was a complete chariot!

On Saturday I visited the Castel Sant'Angelo. You might recognize this imposing structure from the recent Tom Hanks film, "Angels and Demons." This was formerly a mausoleum for Hadrian and his family, later turned into a fortress by the Vatican, and now a museum. The highlight of this structure is the wonderful views it provides. From the top you can see almost all of Rome and a direct view of the Vatican.
I also visited Villa Farnesina, which is about a block away from our residence. This villa contains an amazing private art collection which is accentuated by frescos from the one and only, Raphael.

All day Sunday a few of us went to a beach right outside of Rome. The interesting thing about this beach is that it has black sand! I think, if I understood the Italian group we were with, is that the sand contains iron. The sand was beautiful, sparkling in the sun, but deadly hot on your feet!

That is all for now!

Love,
Kalyn



The Story of Romulus and Remus

According to the roman mythology, the founders of Rome were Romulus and Remus. The twin-brothers were the supposed sons of the god Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia. The story begins with the deposition of Numitor (their grandfather and king of the ancient Italian city of Alba Longa), by his brother Amulius. Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, was made a Vestal Virgin by Amulius - which meant that she was made a priestess of the goddess Vesta and therefore forbidden to marry. However, the god Mars came to her in her temple and with him she conceived her two sons, Romulus and Remus.

As soon as they were born, her husband abandoned them in a remote location. This practice was a form of quasi-infanticide tolerated in many ancient cultures, including the Roman and Greek, when children were unwanted. They were unwanted because Amulius was fearing that the boys would grow up to overthrow him, so he had them placed in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber. At that time the river was flooded and when the waters fell, the trough still containing the two boys, came ashore. They were found by a she-wolf, who instead of killing them, looked after them and fed them with her milk. The she-wolf was helped by a woodpecker who brought them food as well. Interesting enough both these animals were sacred to Mars.

Romulus and Remus were then discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought the children to his home. Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the boys as their own. According to Livy, some said that Loba, wife of Faustulus had suckled them, not a female wolf. Indeed, her name meant wolf which was Lupus in Latin. Upon reaching adulthood, Romulus and Remus killed Amulius and reinstated Numitor, their grandfather, as King of Alba Longa, then they decided to found a town of their own. Romulus and Remus chose the place where the she-wolf had nursed them. Romulus began to build walls on the Palatine Hill, but Remus jeered at them because they were so low. He leaped over them to prove this, and Romulus in anger killed him. Romulus continued the building of the new city, naming it Roma (Rome) after his own name. It's first citizens were outlaws and fugitives, to whom Romulus gave the settlement on the Capitoline Hill.

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