After a few trips to non-Roman areas we went to the source, Rome. The Colosseum is truly jaw dropping. The size is imposing. The construction fascinating with all the roman arches. The Colosseum was commissioned by the emperor Vespasian in 70AD. Fun fact Caligula died in 41AD, so he could not have been in the Colosseum with the Gladiator (Russel Crowe). Supposedly they held naval battles in the Colosseum. It had a basement, so I cannot figure out how they sealed the floor of the Colosseum so the water didn’t run into the basement. The Roman engineering skills cease to amaze me. We had booked a tour that was supposed to include the cellar of the Colosseum as the Forum – but it never happened. I’m still not sure how they screwed that up so bad.
As impressive as the Colosseum is, Pompei is the pinnacle of Roman sites since you get to see what life was like for Roman people. Pompei is only a couple of short train rides from Rome. You all know that Pompei was covered in volcanic ash from Mt. Vesuvius. Hot ash will kill you but it you can dig it out as opposed to lava which is molten rock. That is the reason why the city is so well preserved. Some of the neat sites are the baths, the fast food joints, the bakeries, the brothel, the theater, and the house with the mosaic in front that says “beware of dog” in Latin. Even the simplest of things like their roads in town are ingenious. The sidewalk is elevated, so to cross the street they provide stepping stones. Thus the sunken roadway can be flooded to clean the streets, and the stepping stones keep the pedestrians dry. Plan on spending a full day here.
