The Colosseum

The Colosseum and the Roman Forum

The Colosseum was...well, colossal. At some point we were told  exactly how big something had to be to be properly described by the term and the Rome icon makes the grade.
We entered through the arched doors that gladators would have gone into the arena by.
We were taken first to a reconstructed gladiator platform where we stood upon sand there and were able to look up into the levels where the spectators sat and below into the remains of many enclosures where animals were kept to be used in the games.

 We were provided a view from each level. At the top, it was cold and windy but the view was spectacular. I got a great photo of my baby sister as she stood looking over the edge of the ancient site, drinking it all in.

The fact that so much of the structure remains, despite time and pilaging and earth quakes is pretty amazing. Those who study the architecture in Rome are said to be able to date various areas by the way the bricks or stones were laid and by the materials used to make them. There are excavations sites all around the area in which the colosseum sits.
We passed several on our way to Palantine Hilll; we stopped briefly at the Arch of Titus and spent some time learning the significance of its markings.
We stopped, too, to have a drank water from a natural spring and filled our water bottles there.
From there we walked up and down and all around the forum.
Along the road there are remnants of great buildings and statutes. It seemed to me that only those structures since converted to churches remain and have been maintained. Elsewhere there are pieces and parts of what once was. The many levels of consturction were visible once again. Layer upon layer was built upon. Now many areas  have been or are being dug out once again. metal fencing and flags marked those sites. The excavation methods used now sift through soil one inch at a time so as not to miss anything valuable for study or preservation.The terra cotta tubes from the ancient baths remain amazingly intact.
Palantine Hill was a brilliant green. The trees there and all around the forum were budded out in shades of green, pink and purple.
Our guide, who we liked immediately, had witty and interesting commentary. Our group was small enough that we had plenty of opportunity to ask questions. This was good for we had many.
We sat upon the stone platform where Mark Antony came "to bury Casear, not to praise him." The site where Caesar was assassinated was covered still with flowers and other memorials from the Ides of March just days past.

The path back up the hill and then back past the area from whence we came took us eventually to Capitoline Hill.

The Forum

The road into the forum was rough and uneven, like most of the Roman roads.
The walking was not easy along the way.

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Along the remaining buildings in the Forum one can tell where the the various levels of building over time began and ended.

Chestnuts were sold on street corners all over Rome. The one above was near the Forum.

Friends, Romans and countrymen....

The Arch of Titus

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The Ides of March having just passed, memorials to Caesar were still visible at the site where he is said to have been assassinated.

Marker at the site of Caesar's demise...