Coming at you from Nemi, Italy on October 5, 2019.
Bloggers: Mack and Alex
Steps Taken: 13,000
Today began with an 8:00 am departure time from our apartments in Rome; the FSP greatly enjoyed sleeping in. Contrary to what one might think, the highlight of our day was not an extra fifteen minutes of sleep, but seeing two of our heroes*: Giampi and Arnaldo.
*Heroes in the Greek sense, meaning mortals who are championed by the gods.
After a much-needed bus ride we arrived at the archaeological site of ancient Lavinium, where we saw the Sanctuary of the Thirteen Altars and the Heroon of Aeneas. Giampi taught us about the history and mythology (in the Roman sense) of the area, all while testing out some of his newly acquired English vocabulary. We also learned about how the altars and the Heroon could be dated using the votives found near them, and then we drove over to the site’s museum where we got to see those votives and other findings from the surrounding area.
After the museum we paused for lunch. Some of us stuck to our gut and got pizza, while others ventured off and got a giant order of french fries, which we mostly regretted. Have faith, vegetables were also consumed.
After lunch we ventured to Nemi, in which a museum once housed two of Caligula’s “party ships”. Unfortunately, Nazis burned the museum in which the well-preserved boats were hold, destroying them. Now only a few pieces of wood and bronze remain, though there are partial reconstructions of the ships (1:5 scale) on display alongside other archaeological findings from the surrounding area.
Arnaldo, already overworked, then drove us to our fourth (fifth?) destination of the day: a temple to Diana, the Roman equivalent of Artemis. At the temple, Giampi explained to us how the priest of Diana, known as the Rex Nemorensis, or the King of the Woods, was chosen. We learned that only runaway slaves were eligible for the position, and that they had to kill the current Rex Nemorensis in a dual to earn their safety from their former master, should they so desire. In an attempt to deepen our understanding of the material, our Consuls will now be determined via dual. For legal reasons that’s a joke.
After saying goodbye to Giampi our day ended with checking into the first of many hotels, where we had a great first meal with Arnaldo.
Ciao e grazie!