Day 19: Walking Three Hills of Rome

Baths

Baths

Today was mainly a walking tour heading out over Ponte Palatino across the Tiber and on the Aventine Hill above the Circus Maximus where we passed the taxi drivers congregating for a protest against the government austerity measures.  We traveled down the Appian Way to San Callisto, the largest of the dozen or so excavated catacombs of Rome (there are apparently 1100).  San Callisto has four levels spread over 90 acres and date from the beginning of the 3rd century.  They have both Christian and non Christian graves but many of the former as they were used as places of prayer during persecutions.  There are 16 bishops of Rome and lots of martyrs buried there.  The tombs, family tombs, underground chapels were adorned with frescoes which reveal lots about what was happening at the time.  The Christian symbols mainly used in the frescoes are doves, olive branches, Jonah and the whale, Jesus as a shepherd, the anchor and, later, the ☧ (Chi Rho) symbol used first by Constantine after his 312 CE victory at the Milvian Bridge.   


We made our way back to the city in bus 118 (only come every 1/2 hr) and stopped off at the Baths of Caracalla.  Caracalla was Emperor from 211-17 CE and thought he was chanelling Alexander the Great so wanted a BIG monument.  The baths were certainly that:  

• could fit up to 1500 bathers at any time
• used ~15-20  ML fresh water a day brought in via aqueduct
• gainfully employed 1000 slaves to heat water, clean etc
• had a complex of shops, gardens, 2 libraries, gymnasiums, pools, massage rooms, spas, saunas, dilaptariums, toilets, change rooms etc.  Only thing close now would be an Olympic Village.

Here is a pic of what they looked like: 



These baths were not a big as Diocletians later but were still enormous and were used until 537 when the invading Goths cut off the water.  There were still lots of the original mosaic left and some marble although most of it was nicked for later projects.  Two two huge statues that were dug up in the 16th century ('Farnese Bull' and 'Hercules') are now in Naples. 

mosaic floor at Baths of Caracalla

Some trivia: Caracalla has a bad reputation because his marble bust is unflattering, and he had most of his family and many rivals killed.  However he was a good military commander and actually granted all free men in the Roman Empire full Roman citizenship (not women but still progressive) .  He was eventually murdered by a soldier in 217 CE.  

From the baths we walked up the Caelian hill (one of the seven) which overlooks the valley in which the Colosseum sits and looks across to the Palatine Hill.  We stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Colosseum - great view (food not as good!) and then up the valley to the Church of San Clemente which has four levels: 12 century basilica built over 4th century church built over first century Roman house next to a Mithraic temple (roman cult).  As we could not take photos here is a good tour of the levels.  This basilica is a great for understanding how things were built on top of each other and also has great religious significance with the tomb of Saint Clement (3rd bishop of Rome and well historically documented) and St Cyril (9th Century) here. Our reflections in the basilica were cut short by a mob of French school children ( I am getting old) so we continued our walk now up the next hill (The Esquilline) on which were Nero's enormous home (Domus Aurea) and Trajan's Baths.  Both of these structures are mainly underground and a lot of archaeological work is going on there. The Domus Aurea is closed for visitors.

Moses by Micheangelo

There are lots of churches on teh Esquiline hill including 'San Pietro in Vincoli' which we visited to see the famous statue of 'Moses' done by Michelangelo for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Moses is part of teh huge marble memorial and interesting has horns on his head. You can look up the reasons why Michelangelo did this!  Moses was another seminal example of Michelangelo being able to craft marble like butter and liberate three dimensional figures correct both anatomically and proportionally.

Final stop not far from the main station and still on the Esquiline Hill was the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (Mary Major) (one of the five great ancient basilicas of Rome built in 5th Century). I could not take good pictures but here is a fantastic website with views around this truly beautiful basilica. Notable features of the basilica were the apse mosaic (5th Century later than St Cosmos and Damian), ornate Borghese Chapel, the tomb of Bernini (famous 17th century architect, painter, sculptor and planner who shaped much of renaissance Rome). It is still a busy place for prayer and devotion and we were able to reflect there for an hour as the evening closed in.

We finished a great day with pasta near the Termini station and ten a bus ride home.  If you ever come to Rome avoid eating near the main tourist spots - expensive and ordinary!