The Larrivieres: Friday - Italy

Friday was the day that I was looking forward to the most -- seeing ancient Rome!! We had a private tour guide to take us through the Roman Forum and the Coliseum! I was PUMPED!! Jackson was very excited to see the Coliseum too! We did make the mistake of not really explaining the Roman Forum to him before we got there. He really wasn't interested in seeing the Roman Forum -- at all. I think the biggest surprise for me was first how big it was, and secondly how you could "feel" the spirit of the Romans there. At both the Forum and the Coliseum, you could feel history literally at your feet and you could reach out and touch it. Both Thomas and I had "that feeling". I don't know if it is because there have been movies made of this time period, so you could really imagine what it was like, or if you really just get "that feeling".

This is what you see when you first enter the Forum. This is looking straight ahead and barely to the right. There is much more to the right and a whole lot more to the left. The other interesting thing that we learned while on our tour was that Ancient Rome is several feet below the level of modern Rome. Over the centuries, floods filled the area with mud and dirt. Back in Ancient Rome, the population of Rome was well over a million people. Then at one point Rome only had a quarter million people living in it. The guide described it as there were vacant buildings everywhere and the population just couldn't clean everything up and keep it in great condition. Because of dirt filling in, the ancient buildings are lower than ground level. Interesting, isn't it!

Look at how tall the columns were. Just amazing. I also learned something new during the tour. Have you ever noticed how there are holes on the Coliseum and on the ancient buildings? Well, the Romans were incredible engineers. They figured out that you could put iron between the bricks and at every joint, and the building would become earthquake proof. Some centuries later, people came along and chipped away the iron to use for something else. That's why all of the holes look alike and are at the joints.