Ancient Rome

Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus. There is no historical evidence to support this tale, but experts say it dates from around that time. The Roman Empire’s power was at its height from the century before Christ’s birth to the end of the third century AD and most of the ruins and excavations relate to this period. The photo looks in the general direction of the forum where Shakespeare’s Mark Anthony made his famous “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears” speech. It isn’t recorded whether he gave the ears back, having borrowed them.

The Coliseum symbolises Rome: buy a souvenir bag or tee-shirt and that image will almost certainly be on the it. Even in its partly ruined state it is impressive. Finished in AD 80, it held up to 50,000 spectators with access corridors are so well designed that it could be emptied in minutes. Gladiatorial contests were not always to the death and there is no record that Christians were persecuted here. However, the spectacles were bloody and on a large scale. A few years after its completion a 117- day victory celebration involved 9,000 gladiators and 10,000 animals, most of whom met their deaths. Even football violence can’t match that.

The Pantheon was dedicated as a temple to all the gods, and its current appearance dates from 120 AD. The gods must have been well pleased with this shared arrangement because the building is in a remarkably well-preserved state. In 608 AD it became a Christian church, thereupon our God must also have done his bit towards the upkeep. The photo doesn’t convey its awesome size; particularly of the roof which is the largest non-reinforced concrete dome ever made.

What is truly amazing is how some of these ancient buildings have been adapted but the end result is still visually harmonious. The photo underneath is of Marcellus’ Theatre (17BC), the arches looking remarkably like a smaller version of the Coliseum, which was initially pillaged for materials to build a nearby bridge. It was a fortress in the 11th Century, and then a luxurious palace in the 16th C, the remaining upper floors looking like apartments.