Blogging from Rome, Italy on Friday October 18, 2019

Bloggers: Mila and Margaret

Steps Taken: 17,500

This morning we woke up refreshed after two free days. Three students were presenting today: Mack at the Colosseum, Mila at the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Fourm, and Leo at the Mithraeum under the Basilica of San Clemente.

We started the morning with a quick run through the forum to see the Arch of Titus. This adventure would come back to haunt us in about two hours. Mack pointed out a frieze on the arch of the sacking of Jerusalem and Professor Stewart showed us the sightline of the arch. From the arch, you can see the Capitoline and the “North” end of the Forum and the Colosseum. The Emperor Titus used the arch to expand the size of the Forum by a third. Money moves only.

Then we proceeded to the Colosseum and made it through the crazy intense security fairly briefly. Mack gave his presentation, and it was fabulous. We talked about concrete and arches and far more interestingly, gladiators and other games.

Then we tried to make it back into the Forum for Mila’s presentation. Emphasis on tried. We realized we’d already used our ticket to the Forum when we saw the Arch of Titus. Big whoops. However, thanks to Professor Stewart’s quick thinking and Italian skills, we were let back in.

Mila gave an inspiring presentation about the Vestal Virgins and discussed how the state of the Roman Empire is reflected in the bodies of women. That’s one of our favorite phrases, and true one to boot.

Then, we tried to go the Basilica of San Clemente, but to our great dismay, it only opened at 3pm. So sad that we had to have our second sit-down lunch of the program. Professor Stewart guided some of us to a FABULOUS restaurant near the Colosseum. She asked and got us a table on the upper deck, with a spectacular view of the Colosseum. It’s called the Royal Cafe, and we highly recommend.

At 3pm, we reconvened at the Basilica of San Clemente, which was surprisingly full of visitors. This basilica is very interesting because on the top it’s a beautiful Catholic church, but underneath, there’s another church, and a Mithraeum. What is a Mithraeum you might ask? You should ask Leo, who gave a fascinating presentation on the cult of Mithras.

After Leo’s presentation, we hurried to Italian, where some us learned about the past tense and others learned to talk about biodegradable plastics in Italian. Guess which class (beginner or intermediate) did which.

Overall a great day, and now all of the oral reports are done. Huzzah!