The heart of Rome

July 14, 2018 by
The Coliseum is gigantic, elaborate, advanced, ruined, spectacular, and tragic.
Enslaved persons and animals destined for destruction were housed under the floor.
This is where the emperor sat to view the bloodshed.
Now it is one of the 14 stations of the cross, visited by the pope on Good Friday.
Moving from the Coliseum to the Forum on the original pavement, you can see The Arch of Titus up ahead.
In this detail from the Arch of Titus you can see the menorah being carried away from the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, along with the golden trumpets and implements, as Jesus predicted. This treasure paid for the building of the Coliseum, a temple to destruction.
Yet nobody is still worshipping the emperors.
Placard:  The scarce marble remains with a palmette decoration belong to a monument known as the Miliarium Aureum, erected by Augustus in 20 BC when he became the caretaker of roads: it consisted of a large column (diam.1.20m), on which the distances between Rome and the provinces of the Empire calculated in miles from the gates in the Servian Walls were marked in gold letters.
Footnote: We had a wonderful experience with Viator Skip-the-line tours in every city. The guides were incredibly knowledgeable, took us around huge lines, kept us in the shade when possible, and let us maximize our time and energy. Well worth the price.
Filed Under: Blog