A Day of Rome

January 26th discussion and adventures:

The topics of my discussion centered around the artistic culture of the Renaissance, and how the role of a women fit into its culture over time. In Rome, we were able to see many artistic pieces crafted over many generations which represented a shift during the Renaissance. Here, traditional religious artworks turned into personal aspirations and passions of all sorts of character. As high demand required for ample access to art for social status and luxury, the people of the Renaissance were quick to delve into their creativity and present new approaches to artwork. Until the Renaissance, art was exclusively crafted as a relic of the Gods or of ancient prophets and legends and was kept in its traditional roots. This shift paved the way for new forms of painting, theater, music, and all types of creative passions to prosper in new and authentic ways. During this time, women's perception towards their own treatment in society began to shift too, as many women had time to reflect the treatment they had in the past, and began writing of their own intellectual pursuits and the vast disparities of inequity and discrimination within society. 

In my site visits, we explored the Colosseum, the Forum, and the ancient site Julius Caesar was assassinated. The picture above is an ancient site in Rome, where in the far background, you can see the Colosseum, and nearby off camera, Juleus Caesar is buried and still mourned for today. In the picture to the right, you can see fresh flowers that have been placed on his grave. Every year, during the Ides of March, on March 15th, the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination, they perform Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and other theatricals outside his site in honor of his death. The region outside the Colosseum is referred to as the Forum, and holds many ancient sites that have been preserved to the condition they were found in. Most buildings do not hold the same structure they once did, but with context and some imagination, we could see horses and ancient Roman generals once walking the streets of the Forum, the very streets we walked through ourselves. 

A fun fact about the ruins of Italy is that they have found so many old constructions of building pieces and pottery collections, they have a huge clutter problem, and have created massive land piles full of old relics that have no particular significance, and no place to go other than back in the ground. So many generations of people living in Rome have produced considerably large amounts of relics such as pottery or ceramics, or even building debris that Rome simply cannot handle it all, and continues to find creative tactics to clear out these old relics.

Looking to the Colosseum itself, we got to tour inside and get a feel for what it was used for and who attended. The Colosseum was a famous site for sword fights and matches between what were called gladiators: men who fought against wild animals and other warriors in a maze like structure for the entertainment of the people of Rome. People of all classes came to watch the fights, and the fights would go on from dawn until dusk, with only the limit of daylight to get in the way of the fight schedules. Men and young boys would sit in the frontmost seats while the women would sit in the highest seats on top of the Colosseum. Though there was this clear divide, men and women could intermingle during an hour long lunch period in the middle of the day, and sit with each other while divulging in food and drink.

The features of the Colosseum can be described as similar to that of the Hunger Games in the fictional story written by Suzanne Collins. In fact, the Gladiators greatly inspired the Hunger Games, and just as in the fictional story, the nature of the fights were horrific and incredibly inhumane. Gladiators of Rome were slaves who consisted of many types of people such as prisoners of war, poor people from the streets, or minorities taken into hostage. Gladiators were forced into battle with vicious animals, and when posed against each other, they were encouraged to play with their victims in battle and dishonoring them in gruesome ways for the entertainment of the people. To accept an honorable defeat, one would put down his sword and kneel, accepting a quick death. If a fighter was not willing to accept death but lost the battle, they were to face unimaginable disfiguration and gruesome treatment on the field, to the satisfaction of the crowds. Many may be familiar with the Gladiator Spartacus, or of the famous 2010 TV series. Spartacus was known for fighting against this inhumane system and the mistreatment of so many slaves during the time of the gladiators.

The picture to the left displays the region where Julius Caesar was assassinated. This spot is about a 30-minute walk from the site he is buried next the Colosseum. The site is a few blocks length of ruins surrounded by restaurants and cafe's that advertise to "come eat in the spot Julius Caesar was assassinated". Looking at the picture, the round building in the middle with pillars surrounding it was a temple that had a spiral staircase around its edges. Julius Caesar had climbed up these stairs and entered a room behind this temple where he was struck by surprise by his own colleagues and friends and killed in 44BC. He had only been Emperor for less than a year. 

Seeing the ancient remnants of life in Rome around 2,000 years ago was an incredible experience, and reminded me that though this era produced great relics and bright minds of warfare, economics, and sociology, it also produced incredibly gruesome treatment and great discrimination of its own citizens. If one was not a Roman, Pagan man during this time, they were sure to face their fair of oppression and mistreatment in various ways that today seem almost unimaginable.

Author: Madelynne Jones