One day in the life of a Roman emperor. One day in the life of rome. "Capitoline Hill and Campidoglio Square"

Alberto angela

UNA GIORNATA NELL'ANTICA ROMA

CoLibri® Publishing House

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I dedicate this book to Monica, Riccardo, Edoardo and Alessandro, with gratitude for the light that you have brought into my life.

Introduction

How did the ancient Romans live? What happened every day on the streets of Rome? We've all asked ourselves similar questions at least once. This book is intended to answer them.

In fact, the charm of Rome is impossible to describe. You can only feel it - whenever you visit an archaeological site of the Roman era. Unfortunately, explanatory plaques and existing guidebooks in most cases offer only the most general information about everyday life, focusing on architectural styles and dates.

But there is one trick to help breathe life into archaeological sites. Take a closer look at the details: erased stair steps, graffiti on plastered walls (there are a great many of them in Pompeii), ruts knocked out by carts in stone pavements, and scuffs on the thresholds of dwellings left by the entrance door that has not survived to our times.

If you focus on these details, suddenly the ruins will be filled with the beating of life again and you will "see" the people of that time. This is exactly how this book was conceived: telling a great story with the help of many small stories.

Over the years of television filming of monuments of the Roman era - both within the boundaries of Rome itself and beyond - I have repeatedly come across life stories and curious details of the times of imperial Rome, forgotten in the centuries and rediscovered by archaeologists. Peculiarities, habits, curiosities of everyday life or the social structure of a now extinct world emerged ... The same thing happened during conversations with archaeologists, when reading their articles or books.

I realized that this valuable information about the Roman world almost never reaches people, remaining "in captivity" of special publications or archaeological sites. So I tried to outline them.

This book aims to bring the ruins of Ancient Rome to life with the help of a story about everyday life, answering the simplest questions: how did passersby feel as they walked the streets? What did their faces look like? What did the townspeople see looking out of the balconies? What did their food taste like? What Latin would we hear around us? How did the first rays of the sun illuminate the temples on Capitol Hill?

You can say that I aimed the lens of a TV camera at these places to show how they could have looked two thousand years ago, so that the reader would feel like on the streets of Rome, inhaling their various smells, meeting the eyes of passers-by, going into shops, houses or the Colosseum. Only in this way can one understand what it really meant to live in the capital of the empire.

I live in Rome, and therefore it was easy for me to describe how the sun illuminates the streets and monuments in different ways during the day, or to visit archaeological sites myself to notice the many small details that I give in my book, in addition to those collected for years of filming and reporting.

Naturally, the scenes that will unfold before your gaze during this visit to Ancient Rome are not the fruit of pure fantasy, but, as already mentioned, are directly based on the results of research and archaeological discoveries, laboratory analyzes of finds and skeletons, or the study of ancient literature.

The best way to organize all of this information is to arrange it as a description of one day.

Each hour corresponds to a certain place and character of the Eternal City with its occupations. This is how the picture of everyday life in ancient Rome gradually unfolds in time.

Only the last question remains: why do we even need a book about Rome? Then, that our way of life is a continuation of the Roman. We wouldn't be ourselves without the Roman era. Just think: usually Roman civilization is identified with the faces of emperors, marching legions and colonnaded temples. But her real strength lies elsewhere. This power allowed it to exist for an unimaginably long time: in the West for more than a thousand years, and in the East, albeit with some internal evolution, which led from Constantinople to Byzantium, even longer, more than two millennia, almost until the Renaissance itself. No legion, no political or ideological system could provide such longevity. Rome's secret lay in its daily modus vivendi, the way of being: the way of building houses, the way of dressing, eating, interacting with other people in the family and outside it, subject to a clear system of laws and social rules. This aspect remained largely unchanged over the centuries, although it underwent a gradual development, and allowed the Roman civilization to exist for so long.

And has that era really sunk into the past? After all, the Roman Empire left us not only statues and magnificent monuments. She also left us the "software" that supports our daily existence. We use the Latin alphabet, and not only Europeans, but the whole world use it on the Internet. The Italian language comes from Latin. Much of it also comes from Spanish, Portuguese, French and Romanian. A huge variety english words also have Latin roots. And that's not to mention the legal system, roads, architecture, painting, sculpture, which would not be what they are without the Romans.

In fact, if you think about it, much of the Western way of life is nothing more than the development and continuation of the Roman way of life. Exactly what we could see on the streets and in the houses of the imperial Rome.

I tried to write the kind of book I would like to find in a bookstore to satisfy my curiosity about life in ancient Rome. I hope I can satisfy your curiosity as well.

So, let's move to a Roman alley in 115 AD, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, when Rome, in my opinion, was experiencing an era of the greatest power and, possibly, the greatest beauty. Day as day. Dawn soon ...

Alberto Angela

The world at the time

Under Trajan, in 115 AD, the Roman Empire was as vast as ever before or since. Its land borders stretched along the perimeter for more than ten thousand kilometers, that is, almost a quarter of the circumference of the globe. The empire stretched from Scotland to the borders of Iran, from the Sahara to the North Sea.

She united a variety of peoples, different including purely outwardly: they were blondes Northern Europe, and the peoples of the Middle East, Asians and North Africans.

Imagine the inhabitants of China, the United States and Russia, who today would be united into one state. And the share of the population of the Roman Empire in the total population of the Earth was even higher at that time ...

The landscape on this vast territory was also extremely diverse. Moving from one outskirts to another, we would, reaching the warm Mediterranean shores and volcanoes of the Apennine Peninsula, met icy seas with seals, vast coniferous forests, meadows, snow-capped peaks, huge glaciers, lakes, rivers. On the opposite shore of "Our Sea" (as - Mare nostrum - the Romans called the Mediterranean Sea), endless sandy deserts (Sahara) and even the coral reefs of the Red Sea would await us.

No empire in history has included such diverse natural landscapes. Everywhere the official language was Latin, everywhere they paid with sesterces, and everywhere the same set of laws was in force - Roman law.

It is curious that the population of such a large empire was relatively small: only 50 million inhabitants, almost the same as living in modern Italy. They were scattered over a myriad of small villages, townships, individual households-villas throughout the vast territory, like crumbs on a tablecloth, and only here and there suddenly large cities sprung up.

Of course, everything settlements were connected by an extremely efficient network of roads, the length of which reached from eighty to one hundred thousand kilometers; we still use cars in many of them. Perhaps they are the greatest and most durable monument left to us by the Romans. But a little away from these roads - and around the endless wastelands of untouched wilderness, with wolves, bears, deer, wild boars ... To us, accustomed to pictures of cultivated fields and production hangars, all this would seem like a continuous series of "national parks".

To defend this world stood legions stationed in the most vulnerable points of the empire, almost always along the border, the famous "limes". Under Trajan, the army numbered one hundred fifty, perhaps one hundred ninety thousand men, divided into thirty legions with historical names, for example XXX Ulpian Victorious Legion on the Rhine, II Auxiliary Legion on the Danube, XVI Flavian Stalwart Legion on the Euphrates, near the borders of modern Iraq.

To these legionnaires, we must add the soldiers of auxiliary troops, recruited from the population of the provinces, with whom the combat strength of the Roman army became twice as large: thus, under the command of the emperor there were about three hundred to four hundred thousand armed men.

The heart of everything was Rome. It was located right in the center of the empire.

It was the center of power, of course, but also a city of literature, law, philosophy. Most importantly, it was a cosmopolitan city, like modern New York or London. Representatives of various cultures met here. In the street crowd you could meet rich matrons on stretchers, Greek doctors, Gaulish horsemen, Italian senators, Spanish sailors, Egyptian priests, prostitutes from Cyprus, merchants from the Middle East, German slaves ...

Rome became the most populated city planets: almost one and a half million inhabitants. Since its inception, the view homo sapiens did not come across anything like it! How did they manage to get along together? This book will help shed light on daily life imperial Rome, at the time of its greatest power in the Ancient World.

The lives of tens of millions of people throughout the empire depended on what was decided in Rome. And the life of Rome - on what, in turn, did it depend? It consisted of a web of relationships between its inhabitants. An amazing, unique world that we will get to know after studying one day of his life. For example, Tuesday 1892 1
The first edition of the book was published in 2007. (Ed.)

Ago…

Before dawn

Her gaze is directed into the distance, like those of those who are immersed in deep thoughts. The pale light of the moon falls on a snow-white face, barely touched by a smile. The hair is intercepted by the ribbon, leaving only a few unruly strands to fall over the shoulders. A sudden gust of wind kicks up a whirlwind of dust, but the hair is still motionless. No wonder: they are marble. As well as naked arms and thousands of folds of the robe. The sculptor who carved it used the most expensive marble to depict one of the most revered Roman deities in stone. This is Mater Matuta, the "merciful mother", the goddess of fertility, "beginning" and dawn. For many years now, the statue has stood on an imposing marble pedestal at the intersection of streets. All around is darkness, but in the scattered light of the moon, the outlines of a wide street with shops on both sides are guessed. At this hour of the night, all of them are closed with heavy wooden doors, sunk in the floor and reinforced with strong overlays. This is the bottom of the huge dark buildings. All around us are black silhouettes, sometimes it seems that you are at the bottom of a deep canyon, over which the stars are shining. These are the houses of the poor, "insulas", similar to our multi-unit condominiums, but much less comfortable.

The lack of lighting in these houses and in general on the streets of Rome is striking. But perhaps we ourselves are too accustomed to modern comfort. For centuries, with the onset of dusk, all the cities of the world plunged into darkness, except for the rare lanterns of taverns or the lights of lamps in front of holy images, usually located in places important for the orientation of night travelers, such as road corners, intersections, and so on. It's the same in imperial Rome. In the dark, the outlines of such places are guessed, thanks to the few "icon lamps", that is, lamps that are not extinguished inside the houses.

The second thing that strikes us is the silence. A fantastic silence surrounds us as we walk down the street. It is disturbed only by the murmur of water in the quarter fountain, a few tens of meters from us. It's simple: four thick travertine slabs 2
Travertine - calcareous tuff. (Ed.)

They form a square container, above which a stele rises. The light from the edge of the moon, with difficulty making its way between the two buildings, allows you to see the face of the deity carved on the stele. This is Mercury, with wings on his helmet, a stream of water flows from his mouth. During the day, women, children and slaves rush here with wooden buckets to collect water and take it home. And now everything is deserted and only the sound of flowing water breaks our loneliness.

This silence is unusual. After all, we are located in the very center of the city with a population of 1.5 million. Usually at night they bring goods to the shops, the iron rims of the carts clatter on the cobblestone pavement, you hear exclamations, neighing, indispensable swearing ... These are the sounds that are heard in the distance. They are echoed by the barking of a dog. Rome never sleeps.

The road in front of us widens, revealing a lighted area. Moonlight accentuates the grid of basalt slabs that pave the street like the petrified shell of a giant turtle.

Something in the distance, in the back of the street, is stirring. The man then stops, then moves again and finally, staggering, leans against the wall. He's probably drunk. Muttering indistinct words, he wanders down the alley. Who knows if he'll make it home. After all, at night the streets of Rome are full of dangers: thieves, criminals and various rabble - any of them will not hesitate to pierce anyone with a dagger, just to profit from something. If the next morning someone finds a stabbed and robbed corpse, it won't be easy to spot the killers in such a densely populated and chaotic city.

Turning into an alley, the drunk stumbles over a bundle at the corner of the street and, cursing, continues his hard way. The bundle moves. Why, this is a living person! One of the city's many homeless people trying to get some sleep. For several days he has been living on the street after the owner of a rented room kicked him out. He is not alone: \u200b\u200ba whole family huddles nearby, with their wretched belongings. At certain times of the year, Rome is flooded with such people - every six months, leases are renewed, and many find themselves thrown into the streets in search of new shelter.

Suddenly, a rhythmic noise catches our attention. At first unclear, then more and more distinct. It echoes off the facades of houses, preventing the source from being identified. The sharp knock of the bolt and the light of several lanterns make everything clear: this is a night round of the guard service, "vigils". How do you define their responsibilities? They are actually firefighters, but since they still have to constantly check to prevent fires, they have the responsibility to maintain public order.

Vigils have a military bearing, this is immediately noticeable. There are nine of them: eight recruits and a senior in rank. They quickly descend the stairs of the large colonnade. These people are empowered to go almost everywhere, because everywhere there could be a source of fire, a dangerous situation or negligence that could lead to tragedy. They have just checked out, and the elder is saying something. He raised the lantern high so that the recruits could clearly see it: a massive torso, stern facial features match the hoarse voice. Finished with his explanations, he finally scowls the rest of the whigils, flashing dark eyes from under his leather helmet, then shouts out the order to move. The sentry marching too hard, like all newcomers. The elder looks after them, shaking his head, and finally leaves behind them. The noise of footsteps gradually dies down, drowned out by the murmur of the fountain.

Looking up, we notice that the sky has changed. It is still black, but the stars are no longer visible. As if an invisible, intangible veil gradually enveloped the city, separating it from the starry vault. A new day will begin in a few hours. But this morning in the capital of the most powerful empire of antiquity will be different from everyone else.

Curious facts

The eternal city in numbers

In the 2nd century AD, Rome is at the zenith of its splendor. This is really the best time to visit. Like an empire, the city is experiencing a period of maximum territorial expansion, stretching over 1,800 hectares, about 22 kilometers around the perimeter. Little of. It has one or one and a half million inhabitants (and according to some estimates, perhaps even two million, slightly less than the number of inhabitants of modern Rome!). This is the most populous city planets in ancient times.

In fact, such a demographic and construction boom should not be surprising: Rome has been expanding all the time, for many generations. Each emperor decorates it with new buildings and monuments, gradually changing the appearance of the city. Sometimes, however, this appearance changes in the most radical way - due to fires that happened very often. This constant transformation of Rome will take place over the centuries and will make it, already in ancient times, the most beautiful outdoor museum of art and architecture.

The list of buildings and monuments compiled under the Emperor Constantine looks impressive. Of course, we will not cite it in full, but even if we list only the most important, the list is still amazing, taking into account the fact that the then city was much smaller than today ...

40 triumphal arches

12 forums

28 libraries

12 basil

11 large baths and almost 1000 public baths

100 temples

3500 bronze statues famous people and 160 statues of deities made of gold or ivory, to which should be added 25 equestrian monuments

15 Egyptian obelisks

46 lupanaria 3
Lupanarium - a brothel. (Approx. Per.)

11 aqueducts and 1,352 outdoor fountains

2 circuses for chariot competitions (the largest, Circus Maximus, could accommodate up to 400,000 spectators)

2 amphitheaters for gladiatorial battles (the largest, the Colosseum, had from 50,000 to 70,000 seats)

4 theaters (the largest, the Teatro Pompey, with 25,000 seats)

2 large navmachia (artificial lakes for water battles)

1 stadium for athletic competitions (Domitian stadium with 30,000 seats)

And the greens? Unbelievable, but true: in this city, so densely packed with monuments and houses, there was enough greenery. In Rome, green spaces occupied about a quarter of its area: and this is about four hundred and fifty hectares of public and private gardens, sacred groves, peristyle of patrician mansions, and so on.

By the way, what was the real color of Rome? If you look at the city from afar, what colors would prevail in it? It is possible that these two, red and white: the red color of terracotta tiled roofs and the bright white color of the facades of houses and marble colonnades of temples. Here and there in the reddish tiled sea sparkles in the sun greenish-gold: these are gilded bronze roofs of temples and some imperial buildings (over time, bronze, oxidizing in the air, became covered with a greenish patina). And of course, we would have noticed a few gilded statues on the tops of the columns or on the temples overlooking the city. White, red, green and gold: these are the colors of the then Rome.

6:00. Domus, the dwelling of the rich

Where do the Romans live? How are their dwellings arranged? In films and performances, we are accustomed to seeing Romans in light, spacious houses with columns, inner gardens, fountains and tricliniums; rooms in these houses are painted with frescoes. In reality, everything is different. Only the wealthy and aristocrats can afford the luxury of living in small servant villas. There are few of them. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Rome are crowded into large multi-storey buildings, the living conditions in which sometimes resemble life in the Bombay slums ...

But let's start in order. Let's start with the houses that the elite of Rome live in, with the houses of the rich, called domus... In Rome under Constantine, the authorities counted 1,790 such houses; the number is undoubtedly impressive. But they were not all alike: some were large, others small, due to the chronic lack of space in Rome of the Trajan era. The house that we are going to visit is arranged in a classic spirit, "the old fashioned way", to the great pride of the owner.

Most of all, the appearance of such a house is striking: like an oyster, it is closed in itself. It is best to imagine a rich Roman house as a small fortress: there are no windows in it, only a few very small, high located. There are no balconies either: the outer wall protects the house from the outside world. It simply reproduces the structure of archaic family farms of the era of the birth of Latin and Roman civilization, surrounded by a protective wall.

This "detachment" from the bustle of the streets is clearly felt even when looking at the outer door, which is almost faceless among the multitude of shops stuck to its sides, still closed at this time. The main entrance is formed by a large double-leaf wooden gate with massive bronze hinges. In the middle of each leaf is a bronze wolf's head. There is a ring in the mouth, it is used as a door knocker.

In the early morning at dawn, the first sounds of a new day were heard in Roman houses. Slaves scrubbed marble floors with beeswax, rattled dishes in the dining room, lit a fire in the stove, opened shutters and prepared details for the masters' daytime toilet. All Roman houses were happy in different ways, depending on the wealth of the owners. The owners themselves also woke up early, minus those cases when parties turned into night festivities with friends.

The Romans were in a hurry to get to work. True, they worked until noon and a day after two, since holidays in ancient Rome prevailed over weekdays, and on weekdays after dinner the Romans themselves arranged holidays. How?

The pleasure principle 2000 years ago

Unlike the principle of deprivation and suffering, legalized several centuries later by the Church, the pagans of ancient Rome followed the principle of pleasure. They discovered it long before Freud's theory. If there was no god who could become the patron of pleasure in all its forms, the Romans borrowed it or invented it themselves. They were in a hurry to live. This innate impulse was creative and destructive for those times, but no one really thought about it.

The ritual of morning washing was performed over a basin or a bronze bowl, but without soap - the Romans did not know it. Instead, they used beech ash, ground clay and lye, or bean flour. For smoothness, the skin was then softened with an oil balm. They dried themselves with a linen towel. Men shaved daily, the elderly, oddly enough, did not hesitate to dye their hair black, and bald ones did not neglect wigs. Slaves and female slaves were responsible for ensuring that men were clean-shaven, starched, and dressed in a clean toga, while women had their hair in fashion, make-up and dressed in the best way. The wealthy Romans had barber slaves (tonzors) and ornatrices for matrons. Hair was twisted with a hot iron rod - an analogue of curlers.

The Romans made their first breakfast in a hurry, very often on the way to work, having bought cold or warm snacks in one of the many shops. After that, the women either started household chores, or visited their friends and relatives. There were few working women in ancient Rome and they were mainly employed in craft workshops.

Roman Forum 2000 years ago - the meeting place could not be changed

at first they were places of lively trade or, simply put, ordinary markets. During the imperial period, they became centers of attraction for the Romans. Basilicas were erected and senate curiae appeared. Here, solemn processions of the conquerors and demonstrations of loot in the conquered territories took place. The most recent events could only be found on the forums. The former markets gradually turned into fairs, and then into cultural and political centers of the city.

Simple Romans who lived in multi-storey insulah, often in small rooms without sanitary facilities and water, they gladly rushed to the forums in the morning: this was a way to join the good and feel like a resident great empire... Here verbiage and oratory was allowed in unlimited quantities and for everyone. Anyone could address the crowd from an impromptu podium and give a speech on any topic, except those that questioned the greatness of the empire and the status of the existing government.

There were at least eleven such forums in Rome during the imperial period. Both bread and circuses - everything could be given and received here by the inhabitant ancient city in the rhythm of a rapidly changing daily. Here trade agreements were concluded, prices were set for fast-moving and slow-moving goods, and the magnificence of colonnades and painted statues filled the hearts of the inhabitants and guests of Rome with pride and aesthetic satisfaction. After work (by about one o'clock in the afternoon), the Romans, having washed and changed their clothes, flocked to the squares in the hope of getting a chance, a good offer or buying best price overseas product of the first quality.

Useful :

Roman bathing 2000 years ago

The ancient Romans believed that truth was in water. They even worshiped the goddess Veritas, the daughter of Saturn, who was believed to have lived in the depths of the wells. However, the Roman emperors, with the help of an army of thousands of slaves and noble craftsmen, allowed the inhabitants of the ancient metropolis to literally bathe in the true moisture of bliss. Aqueducts and baths were built, which completely changed the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Romans about the properties of water and its political significance.

The famous baths of the emperors became the focus of a new culture and way of life in ancient Rome. The Baths of Diocletian and Caracalla were visited daily by thousands of Romans, young and old. Libraries, playgrounds, health procedures, following the example of the ancient Etruscans, alternated with relaxation and sunny procedures, and the fate of the republic was decided "on the sidelines" of the thermal baths or directly in the pools.

The baths in the afternoon have become an alternative to forums and circuses. Especially after Agrippa's greatest decision to make them free for everyone. You could see mimes, dancers, sellers of flowers and amulets, you could have plenty of food and drink, you could place bets on gladiators, spin a love affair or just choose one of the priestesses of love. You could go in for sports or read ancient manuscripts.

The sophisticated mechanism of water procedures today, for reasons of economy, has only partially survived. Meanwhile, Roman baths had their own rules for enjoying water. Visitors first entered thiepidarium - a spacious pool with slightly heated water, in which they stayed for about an hour. Then it was the turn caldarium: Here the water was heated to approx. 40 ° C. Finally, the bather chose the laconicum - a pool with hot water in a room with heated air (a prototype of a sauna). For the final hardening served as a tonic frigidarium with cold water.

Colosseum and circuses 2000 years ago

Everything new is well forgotten old. Two thousand years before the advent of modern boxing, wrestling, fencing, horse racing, and even football, Roman civilization enjoyed the brutal struggle of male power in its many arenas and stadiums. The sight and smell of blood excited and intoxicated crowds of thousands of spectators, and the victorious gladiators became idols. Contrary to popular belief, the death of a gladiator in the arena of the Colosseum was not a common occurrence. The Romans were merciful in their own way, but at the same time practical: buying and training a gladiator cost a lot of money.

Unfortunately, Roman people did not have the same compassion for the wild beasts that were included in the Colosseum performances. According to the testimony of contemporaries, it is known that at least 5,000 predatory animals were killed in 100 days of the celebration in honor of the opening of the Colosseum.

Big Circus, or Circo Massimo, which could accommodate up to 300 thousand spectators, shook the cheers and roars of the enthusiastic audience the Roman sky is almost daily. According to the legend, the abduction of the Sabine women and the subsequent clash of the Latins and the Sabines, which miraculously ended in a strong union of the two tribes, happened just after one of the equestrian competitions in the arena of the Great Circus.

But this was only a small part of the entertainment industry in ancient Rome. There were stadiums - structures with a purely sports orientation, among which is the famous Domitian stadium, an exact copy of which is the current pearl of Rome - Piazza Navona. There were circuses in which battles were held on water and on life-size ships. Among them - Naumachia Augusta in the area of \u200b\u200bthe current Trastevere quarter.

End of the day and dinner in Rome 2,000 years ago

Tired of the sun and celebrations, the Romans ran into taverns before going to bed (an analogue of today's fast food - fast food) or rushed home, where a dinner warmed up by slaves was waiting for them. They often dined in the presence of slaves clustered in a corner of the refectory. If guests were received, according to all the rules, dinner became a loose concept. The care of the slaves was to see off satisfied guests, to light the way with a torch, or to personally harness a wagon.

After supper the couple retired to their chambers. In Roman families, if there was such an opportunity, the spouses slept separately and only as needed slept in a bedroom with a wide bed. This is one of the mysteries of the Eternal City. But the morning is wiser than the evening.

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I hope this series of photographs will bring you even closer to the "correct" Rome. So, this story is about my Rome on July 13, 2014.

To get up with the first rays of the sun calls my duty and conscience to my clients - couples in love from different countries the world who come to Italy before or after the wedding, and sometimes just for a relationship anniversary or birthday. I am convinced that only at this time can you truly enjoy the city and take beautiful pictures. On my official website jakutsevich.ru you will find more photos and ideas for walking at dawn, and not only in Italy. But today my story is not about lovers, but about love for Rome.
Most often we meet with friends and clients at the Arch of Constantine near the Colosseum. Literally in early July, she was finally freed from the scaffolding.

This is what the square near the main Roman landmark usually looks like at 6.30-7.00 am. All mass excursions start at 8.30-9.00, and until that time it is not interesting to most. This is why we appoint ours so early.

This morning I walked with Hawley and Jordan, who flew to Rome from the United States six months before the wedding. Who is interested, maybe a story about the guys.

On this day, according to all forecasts, even in the iPhone, forecasters promised torrential rains.

Of course, I don't like getting wet, but as a photographer I just adore such light and clouds. Moreover, any rain tends to end, and in Rome they usually pour not for long, but "like from a bucket." In any case, you can always while away the time in one of the many cafes for a cup.

A minute after the picture above was taken, it poured from the same bucket, and we jumped into a taxi and moved to. Then I had to wait 20 minutes under a canopy.

And, as usual, the clouds quickly dispersed.

We admired the embankment and decided to go down to the river.

Someone who, and seagulls can be found in any weather.

Bridge of Umberto I - the second king of Italy.

In front of the Pantheon, only us and a lonely seller of umbrellas, who in the afternoon turns into a seller of water or scarves.

Not far from the Pantheon is the Sant'Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio. We advise everyone to look there and admire the incredibly beautiful painting of the famous Andrea Pozzo, which creates the illusion of a dome, although the ceiling is flat.

In the early morning after the rain, even the central streets are completely deserted.

How do you like this Via del Corso without hundreds of shopaholic tourists?

And the most glamorous Via Condotti leading to.

We headed towards the People's Square.

Here we met several bored workers dismantling fences after a recent concert.

The end goal of our morning walk was Pincho Hill and one of the most beautiful Roman parks. It is from here that one of the best free views of the panorama of Rome opens up. It is here that hundreds of tourists flock during the day. In the distance you can see, as you can see at 9 am there are not many people who want to admire the panoramas of the Eternal City. And rightly so in the morning there is no such stifling heat, which everyone adores so much in July-August, and bored alone.

View of the People's Square.

It was here that we met with mom and the Holy brothers to have a small family photo session.

It seems that the Vatican is just a stone's throw away.

And this is how proudly it rises above the city located in Piazza Venezia.

You can endlessly admire the Roman churches.

What a morning without coffee? - you ask and you will be absolutely right.

The mood of our entire delegation is cheerful and positive, and with a chocolate croissant life is generally a success!

Yana Yakutsevich, the editor-in-chief of ITALY FOR ME, is always happy to join us.

Our whole walk took about 4 hours and we were a little tired, but impressed by the beauties we saw, we went on a well-deserved rest in order to meet in one of the most atmospheric districts of Rome in the evening. Surprisingly, many tourists have not yet heard or ignored this gastronomic paradise - you will not find such a concentration of bars and restaurants anywhere else in Rome.

This evening was especially deserted, as most of the tourists were glued to the TV screens in the bars - they were showing the final of the World Cup in Brazil.

The bars themselves are very small and it is not customary to sit inside, so most of the fans hang out on the street.

It is in this format that most Italians while away evenings if they want to chat and have a drink. Sitting inside and having a feast for the whole world is not particularly customary. Most often, everyone stands with glasses on the street next to the bar and after drinking a glass move to the next institution.

Such was one of my days in “correct Rome”. As you can see, it is tasty and inexpensive to have breakfast and dinner, as well as to comfortably enjoy the most popular places and attractions, no one bothered us. You can love such a Rome and you can fall in love with such a Rome for life!

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The itinerary through Rome was hastily drawn up on the evening of the previous day. On the map I had asked for at the hotel, I drew a thick curve, circling all the sights to see. The result is a kind of zigzag diagonal, crossing the eternal city in the middle from the south-east to the north-west, from the Termini district to Villa Borghese.

An early rise was planned in the morning. Gathering quickly, we went down to the lobby of the hotel, where the final preparations for breakfast were being made. I liked the Mediterranean breakfast: tasty and cheerful. For those who are not in the subject: usually coffee and a bun. And coffee, after all, is not simple, but aromatic cappuccino with a delicate milk froth, sprinkled with cinnamon on top ... And local buns are quite appetizing things \u003d)

Having famously finished our breakfast, we jumped out of the hotel, walked fifty meters and stood up as if struck by thunder. And where to go, actually? Where are we at all? On which street? These questions put my mother and me at a frank dead end.
This is where my veri-veri-pur was needed, but at least some kind of English. It turned out that most Italians understand English even less than me. That is, they do not understand anything at all.

Despite the mutual misunderstanding, we still figured out what's what. We took the path to the Coliseum, but not directly, but through the ruins of the castle of Victor Emmanuel and the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. We hadn't really heard of the last two points before, they were just marked on the map and lay just (or almost) on the way to the Colosseum.

Our long, but alas, fleeting journey across Rome began. Life in the city was in full swing, although in August all the Romans (as, indeed, all Italians) take vacations and dump far away, transferring the city to the full disposal of tourists.

On the road, on the sidewalks, all sorts of dirt is scattered everywhere - an invariable companion of the city outskirts. Migrants from South Asia and Africa scurry along and across; Fit Roman girls, one of the few Romans left in the city, run by.
And we walk leisurely, looking around and marveling at the abundance of ancient ruins and their excellent preservation.

We got to the ruins of the castle of the first king of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel.
For reference: until the middle of the 19th century, Italy as a state did not exist at all, and the territory of the Italian boot was occupied by tiny republics and principalities at war with each other. Only in 1848 did the process of the unification of Italy begin - the so-called Risorgirmento, which lasted more than twenty years. The ruler of the already united Italy was elected Victor Emmanuel, king of the Sardinian kingdom, former center associations.

But so far we did not have the slightest idea about this, as well as about the fact that this is such stretching before us. This is how we would have stood and looked at the ruins of unknown origin, if not for the complacent Italian policeman, who told us short history this structure.

The castle itself resembles a small mansion; at the foot of the ancient columns and slabs peacefully doze, and all this is surrounded by a vast park.

In the morning, here you can meet unfortunate guests - immigrants who have found some kind of shelter in the city park. One boy was sleeping carelessly on the grass between four huge trunks. I clicked him, in response to which he began to shower me with the last curses, while waving his hands indignantly. We instantly disappeared from the scene and wandered calmly on.

Soon she appeared before us - Santa Maria Maggiore, an extremely complex church in terms of architecture. It has two facades in the plan, and they are so different from each other that it seems that these are two completely different churches. The front facade is decorated with a slender clock tower (the highest in Rome).

The rear façade is surmounted by two vaulted domes that rise on either side of the center.

The lack of a clear layout is immediately evident. It can be seen that the church was built for centuries. Diversity speaks for it architectural styles: gothic stained glass windows, luxurious baroque facades, domes in the spirit of the Renaissance and their imaginable and inconceivable interweaving.

We thought for a long time whether to come in or not. Finally, having made up their minds, they crossed the threshold and were numb from what they saw. The cathedral is beautiful both outside and inside. It was definitely worth going in.

Leaving this quiet and majestic abode, we rushed to the Flavian amphitheater, or, in our opinion, to the Colosseum. Is there a person in the world who does not know what the Colosseum is? Perhaps the Papuans of New Guinea or the Eskimos of the Far North do not know this, but the entire civilized world has heard a lot about it. Everyone except my mom.
To my joyous exclamation:
- And now we go to the Colosseum! - she asks me just a discouraging question:
- What is the Colosseum?
Having recovered a bit from the shock, I began to explain.
I say: "The Colosseum is an ancient Roman amphitheater where gladiatorial fights and fights with wild animals were held." So that a clear image of this structure appears in her head, I ask a leading question:
"Mom, do you remember the movie is called Gladiator?" Zadeya succeeded, and I continued my impromptu excursion:
"The Colosseum was built in the 1st century AD by the Roman emperors of the Flavian family, which is why it is called the Flavius \u200b\u200bamphitheater. It could hold up to 80 thousand people, and everyone - from the emperor to the last plebeian - could be present at the shows. However, they were located in the Colosseum according to The lower rows were occupied by aristocrats, wealthy and respected townspeople, and the imperial box was located in the same place.The lower the position of a person in society, the higher his seat was.
The spectacles were not arranged here for the nervous. From a modern point of view, naturally. Let's say they brought a man - a slave - into the arena and let a hungry lion come close to him. And the audience actively chanted and clapped, reveling in the bloodthirsty game playing out before their eyes.
Now you have at least some idea of \u200b\u200bwhat the Colosseum is. Get ready to see him with your own eyes. "

Soon he appeared in all his genuine greatness. He looked at us exactly from a photograph. I almost screamed with delight mixed with disbelief.

Even the previous day, we found out one very useful secret: how to get to the Colosseum without waiting in a long queue for tickets. Nothing illegal, I say right away. The fact is that the ticket gives the opportunity to visit not only the Colosseum, but also the forums and the Palatine Hill. And the ticket office is available not only at the entrance to the Colosseum, but also at the Palatine Hill, behind the Arch of Constantine.

We were lucky: there were no queues at this box office. And we, rejoicing that we would not waste precious time in the painful long wait, bought tickets and went to the Palatine Hill. It was here, according to legend, that the she-wolf nursed little Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. It is from this hill that almost three thousand year history cities. It is green here and smells of history. The ruins of ancient antique and medieval buildings are visible from everywhere.
It's easy to get lost if you don't know where to go. What we did not fail to do \u003d) After wandering around and never finding the Farnesian Gardens, we suddenly remembered the time and that we have a limited number of it, and wandered off to look for a way out.

It was already around 11 am when we approached the Colosseum with tickets in hand. With pity they looked at the unfortunates who stood in a half-kilometer line, which seemed to crawl slower than a snail. And in a few minutes we reached the interior of the amphitheater, even more worn out by time than its appearance;

There is no arena in the Colosseum, but the basement underneath is visible, and there are as many people inside as outside.

I would come here at dawn on a cold November morning to sit here alone and breathe in this spirit of history, which, alas, is easily dispelled by the abundance of contemporaries darting back and forth. I would have walked through these ravaged remains of former power and would have seen an angry crowd in front of me, a sleek emperor in a crown of thorns, surrounded by a well-dressed retinue, would have seen gladiators rushing at each other with frenzied fury. However, I did not manage to strain my imagination in the seething human stream. These stones were just stones for me, and not witnesses of gladiatorial battles and faked sea battles.
After making a detour through the lower gallery, we left the Colosseum.

We moved along the street of the Imperial Forums (via Fori Imperiali). This street is also a kind of attraction. What views of the ancient ruins open from here! In confirmation, if you do not believe in the word, a photograph.

Looking around incessantly, we came to the so-called Wedding Cake, or the Typing Machine, or, even worse, the False Jaws. All these are love nicknames given by the Romans to the monument in honor of the already mentioned Victor Emmanuel. The Italians themselves do not greatly favor their first king, hence these funny nicknames (very accurate, if you think about it).

By the way, official name monument - Vittoriano. Its other official name is the Altar of the Fatherland. An eternal flame burns here in memory of the Italians who died in the First World War.

Vittoriano's style is pure baroque, lush, elegant and monumental. Nice, you won't mind. Especially if you look at him, having crossed the road in advance. Why? In the foreground, bright green, sun-drenched grass gleams, and against this background the snow-white monument looks even more advantageous.

Then we went to look for Piazza Venezia. I tell my mother, "She is behind Vittoriano, as shown on the map." She rubs me the opposite: that we need to go forward, not back. A heated argument ensues. Dashing from side to side, then forward, then backward, we asked a lot of people: "Where is piazza Venezia?" But all our respondents were the same as us, unlucky tourists \u003d) Fortunately, on the way we met a native Roman woman who literally dumbfounded us with her answer. And she said this: "This is Piazza Venezia. You are in the Piazza Venezia."
Does it mean that we have been tormented for so long in search of the disgraced square, while we ourselves were on it? And we had a great laugh at ourselves. Although, in general, we had nothing to do with it. It's just that Vittoriano is shown incorrectly on the map: he looks at Piazza Venezia not in front, as it really is, but in the back. So we got confused. We warmly thanked the kind Italian woman and headed for the Pantheon.
The Pantheon, along with the Colosseum forums, is a kind of visiting card of the city. The temple of all gods, which was once pagan, turned into a Christian church in the 7th century.

You will not see such an unusual Christian church anywhere in the world. The whole point is that it is round. No Latin and Greek crosses, no naves, nothing from a Christian temple. Moreover, there is a nine-meter hole on the dome. True, this is not a hole at all, it is such a special hole through which light penetrates here. And sometimes it rains, and hail, and everything that comes.

By the way, many outstanding Italians found peace in the Pantheon, including Rafael Santi. His grave is located in a separate niche; it is decorated with two sculptures: a bust of Raphael himself and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Who is depicted in the image of the Virgin Mary is an insoluble mystery of history. Perhaps his bride is from a wealthy and noble family, or his beloved (read - mistress) Fornarina, for whom he rebuilt a luxurious villa and which he immortalized on his canvases? ...

To be continued...

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Therefore, we will not only visit the most important sights in the city center, but also take a close look at the inhabitants of this city - how they talk, how they eat and drink coffee, which churches they prefer for concentrated prayer, and what they remember, casting a hasty glance over the buildings of the Ancient and the Modern Rome.

We will begin our walk in Piazza Venezia, where, according to Italians, “you can feel the heartbeat of the Eternal City”. Here, a true Roman will certainly drop into a bar, and after drinking coffee in one gulp, he will go about his business. Meanwhile, we will slowly climb the Capitoline Hill to the Basilica of the Virgin Mary, built on the site of the Roman temple of the goddess Juno. Pious Italians believe that you can get rid of all diseases if you turn with prayer to a wooden figurine of the Baby Jesus (Bambin Gesu), carved by the angels themselves from a tree growing in the Garden of Gethsemane.

On Capitol Hill, I will tell you the legend of the founding of the Eternal City, and we will admire the famous Capitoline she-wolf, who nursed the twins Romulus and Remus. Not far from the sculpture of a she-wolf, there is a fountain with drinking water Aqua Marcia, which to this day is loved by all Romans for its taste and coolness. I will show you how real Romans drink water, pinching the spout of the drinking fountain from below so that the stream of fresh and cold water touches your lips, but not your hands. Against the backdrop of the opening panorama of the Roman Forum, I will tell you stories about a brilliant commander and a talented architect who conquered not only peoples, but also the forces of nature.

Then we will go to the legendary Trevi fountain, where we will find out how many coins need to be thrown into it in order to make all wishes come true, and we will drink water from the tubes of lovers, because every Italian has done this at least once in his life to meet his love and live a long happy life together.

After wandering through the narrow streets, we will find ourselves in the Piazza Rotonda in front of the Pantheon, where we will try to solve the mystery of the unfinished portico of the temple to all the gods, like the Romans throughout the centuries. On the way to Piazza Navona, I will tell you about the philosophy of coffee in Italy, because in this country coffee is an indisputable unifying factor. All true connoisseurs of this drink will tell you that the best coffee in Rome can be tasted in St. Eustachia is not far from the Pantheon, and over a cup of coffee we learn the legend about this saint and why all the walls of the coffee shop are decorated with images of a deer with a cross over his head.

The last point on our route is Piazza Navona, a meeting point and evening rest for Roman youth and couples. I will tell the history of the square and its name, we will admire the fountain of the Four Rivers by Lorenzo Bernini and the church of St. Agnes, created by his eternal rival Francesco Borromini. And since catholic Christmas already very close, I will tell you how this holiday goes in a traditional Italian family. As Piazza Navona becomes the most iconic market in the city during Christmas time, it is sure to captivate you with its atmosphere and chic counters with traditional sweets!

And, of course, what about without the cherry on the cake? At the end of our walk, you will find a sweet surprise - a delicacy that, as the Italians themselves say, will make you lick your mustache like a cat! I will look forward to our acquaintance and will try to give you as many joyful moments and vivid impressions as possible!

Organizational details:

Coffee and sweets are not included in the tour price and are paid separately.
For a group of 4 people, the cost of the tour is 120 euros

Book an excursion on any of the available days in the calendar

This is a private tour in Russian, the guide will conduct it for you and your company.
On the site you pay 23% of the cost, and the rest of the money - to the guide on the spot. You can