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Gallery: 2005-01-Rome-Day 3 hidden
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Rome day three. Kristina was under the weather, so this is just pictures of stuff seen by will wandering around. Includes a trip to the ruins, a bunch of arches, and some big gladiator thing.

On Day 3, I took off for parts unknown, with no agenda, no idea where I was going, and no Kristina. She was not feeling well, and stayed in bed most of the day. While this was by no means a good thing, I figured it would be good to just roam around Rome and see what there was to see. This is the street and hotel where Kristina spent the day.

Here's the first REAL shot of the day - a chruch just across the street from Trajans Column. Trajan's Column actually has St. Peter on top of it, and I have pictures of neither since it was surrounded by scaffolding.

On the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, there are a number of these giant statues. I have no idea what any of them are, but I got pictures of several. This "Monumento" was our guiding light for most of our forays around Rome - it's visible from lots of places around the ruins, and is unmistakeable thanks to the aforementioned statues.

This statue is on the left side of the monument. I think it memoralizes the time that an angel spanked some guy in a sheet and a bowling ball on his head while some other angel offered him a really long cigarette. A good time was had by all.

This shot was taken from the steps leading up to the Basilica Di Santa Maria in Aracoeli. The Basilica isn't all that much to look at, but it had some great views of a lot of other stuff - including these statues at the entrance to the Piazza di Campidoglio.

This is a column on the back of the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. It's a relatively new column as far as Roman columns go being built after 1870 when Rome was established as the capital of Italy.

This is another shot of the two statues guarding the cordonata to the Piazza di Campidoglio. Fodors tells us that the whole ordeal was built in the 1530's to welcome Emperor Charles V to Rome. They are Castor and Pollux, respectively. The Piazza houses the Museum di Campidoglio. (Go figure)

The guy on the horse is Marcus Aurelius. This is in the middle of the Piazza de Campidoglio. This is a copy of the original found in the museum next door. The original was done around 160 - 180 AD.

This guy, Kristina tells me, is famous. Apparently it's a fragment of a gian statue of the Emperor Constantine. I didn't really know anything about that when I shot this photo, just that he's really big, and was behind a normally closed door, that was opened as a construction worker stepped out. I suppose if I was willing to pay to get into the museum, I could have taken a better shot.

This is an arch connecting two of the buildings in the Piazza di Campidoglio. Through the arch are part of the ancient ruins of Rome, and a Yugo.

This is one of two of the statues flanking the Palazzo Senatorio. It's Marcus Aurelius again, this time reclining on what is supposed to represent the Nile. The one on the other side is him reclining on the Tiber. They were originally in the Baths of Constantine.

I know, it's a cheap camera trick, but I had to. There was no way to pass this up.

This is the Arch of Severus near the Rostra built in 203 AD. This shot was taken around the right hand side of the Palazzo Senatorio, which afforded a good vantage point higher up on the arch.

This is the Column of Phocas. Rick Steves tells us that it was the Roman Forum's last great monument, donated to Rome by the Byzantine Empire. It was built at around 608 AD. By the 1700's it was covered up to the it's columns in silt and dirt.

It's tough to tell what all these wrecked columns and buildings are because they are all piled up on each other, but this might be the speaker's corner.

Another shot of the Column of Phocas, this time from behind.

Looking down this row of broken columns, it's hard to visualize it, but this is the Basilica Aemilia. While you might be tempted to think "Basilica" means it was a church, don't be fooled so easily! This "basilica" was a long rectangular hall of justice. The three columns you see in the center of the shot are not part of it - they are what remains of Caligula's Palace. The palace itself was quite huge (as apparently most architectural undertakings in Rome are) - it covered from the hillside, down past the far left of this photo.

Just a fallen column of marble. It's amazing how much of it is actually still intact given its age.

This is the Temple of Vesta (No that's not Temple of Vespa)... Rick Steves indicates that it was Rome's most sacred spot. In this round temple, the Vestal Virgins were employed to always keep a fire burning. Vestal Virgins were selected from noble families at the age of 10, and employed until 30. They had to remain virginal for those 20 years or face being buried alive after public humiliation. If they made it, they were given a huge sum of money, married off, and got a free statue of themselves put up in the forum. Apparently they were also able to be land owners (something most Roman women were prohibited from).

The temple of Antonius Pius and Faustina, and a now church. As with a lot of the old Roman stuff they found lying around, the Christians converted the temple to a chapel. This was a temple Emperor Antonius Pius built for his dead wife, and what after his death became a temple to them both. The columns used to support a triangular roof with decorations.

This is the backside of the Vesta Temple. The muddy looking lump with columns laying on it is actually part of the house of the Vestal Virgins where all those fire tending women lived.

This is Palintine hill, or at least part of it.

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