Corinthian Columns & Ancient Archways

Have you ever seen anything quite so beautiful? Okay - maybe that's a slight exaggeration on my part but on the afternoon of Thursday, November 22nd, I was finally able to explore the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill - and to say that I was enthralled the entire time would be an understatement. Y'all - I just really love anything and everything to do with ancient Roman architecture and history and mythology, etc...and so on. It fascinates me completely and so I wandered around in pure enchantment the whole afternoon!  

Welcome to the Roman Forum!

The Temple of Antoninus & Faustina

What remains of the Temple of Castor & Pollux

The sunlight filters across the Roman Forum.

The Roman Forum would have once been the central hub of the ancient city of Rome and the remains of the buildings in the Forum would have been important to day to day life in the city. Triumphal processions, public speeches, elections, criminal trials and public executions would all have taken place within the Forum. It was the heart of ancient Rome and many of the most important and oldest structures of the ancient city of Rome can be found in the Forum.

There isn't much left of the Shrine of Venus Cloacina.

The Arch of Septimus Severus. 

Collapsed columns & ancient etchings...

All smiles in the center of Ancient Rome!

The Basilica Julia; the covered area marks the spot where he is thought to be buried.

The tomb of Julius Caesar (so they think).

Ruins abound - & I just ate it all up. 

The site of the Forum was once a marshy lake area that was drained by the Tarquins (fifth king of Rome, so these were likely his followers) via the Cloaca Maxima (the sewer system). The final paving of the roadways was done in travertine and is still visible today; this paving dates back to the rule of Augustus, who was in power from 27 BC to 14 AD. It's only a little bit crazy to think that the paving stones that you're walking on have been in place for thousands of years... right? Is that just me?

This may be... the Column of Phocas - not certain on that. 

Just taking in the Roman Forum!

The remains of the Temple of Saturn behind me.

Making my way around the Arch of Septimus Severus.

The Temple of Saturn.

Temple of Vespasian & Titus.

I believe this may be the remains of the Temple of Concord - but I am not 100% certain.

The beginning of the excavations of the Forum began in 1803 but the official excavations did not begin until 1898 with the aim to restore fragmented pieces, uncover the lowest layer of habitation within the Forum and identify already uncovered structures. The excavations continued through 1925, halting on briefly for World War I - and they continue today, with pottery and emblems of daily life being found near the outer wall that indicate the area was in use as early as the 8th century BC - a full century before the establishment of the ancient city of Rome.

Smirking with the Temple of Saturn.

The Temple of Saturn.

The Arch of Septimus Severus.

A fallen column & the Temple of Saturn in the background. 

An Arch framing the Forum, extending into the distance. 

The ancient Romans did love their arches!

The Forum of Caesar.

The Seven Hills of Rome form the geographical heart of the city of Rome and Palatine Hill is the center most of the seven; forming the epicenter of Rome - especially in ancient times. Tradition tells us that the city of Rome was founded atop Palatine Hill by Romulus and Remus in April of 753 BC. The word "palace" stems from the word Palatine and it was on Palatine Hill that the leader of ancient Rome found their homes.

Retaining walls built around Palatine Hill...

Remains of the retaining walls/portions of the Forum alongside the Hill. 

Looking upward to the top of Palatine Hill. 

We ended up making a rather circuitous path all the way around the base of Palatine Hill - which was fine. The afternoon was really lovely and it allowed us the chance to see the retaining walls and the ruins of the palaces built on the Hill. The palaces once belonged to Augutus, Tiberius and Domitian but I cannot tell you which ruins belonged to which palace...sorry about that.

Remains of retaining walls & palaces - scaffolding for work being done.

All forms of ruin are utterly fascinating to me...

I don't know what this is - I liked the umbrella pine, ha-ha!

The arched retaining walls around Palatine Hill. 

My sister and I goof off a lot...and because of this, we were pretty quickly left behind by my parents. Likely because we spend our time doing things like taking the pictures below, ha-ha!

Are you excited to be walking around Palatine Hill?

Holding this arch up all on my own... hehehe

Ruins & such - I just really like ruins y'all. 

Some blooms in the midst of the ruins.

Ruins of a portion of what was likely a palace built on Palatine Hill. 

Cheese!

I suppose you can see that I wasn't kidding when I said we made a fairly circuitous route around the base of Palatine Hill in our quest to gain entry to the upper levels. I'm not kidding when I tell you that by the time we arrived at the portion of the walk way that allowed us to climb the steps to the top of Palatine Hill, we'd almost made a complete circle around the base of the hill. Thankfully it was a gorgeous afternoon and the walk was filled with plenty to see - which is why there are so many pictures, ha-ha!

Another portion of what was likely a palace on Palatine Hill. 

Ancient construction is a marvel...

There is no way to deny it - the Romans love a good arch.

Case in point - arches upon arches!

Essentially a perfectly shaped umbrella pine - I love them.

The remains of the Palace of Domitian.

Palace of Domitian Selfie!

Nymphaeum & cisterns - where water was supplied to the Flavian Palace.

Palace ruins...

Palace ruins & some perfect umbrella pines in the background.

Fountains were everywhere - because the aqueducts brought water - because the ancient Romans were legit.

Tilework - still on point, thousands of years later.

Palatine Hill has numerous structures atop it - and one of them is not ancient, it's a large viewing platform that allows you to see the entirety of the Roman Forum laid out below you. You better believe that I stood on that platform and snapped all sorts of pictures...

The Roman Forum - the large building in the center is the Basilica Maxentius.

The Farnese Gardens atop Palatine Hill. 

Just sampling the waters atop Palatine Hill...

The Colosseum & the Arch of Titus at one end of the Roman Forum. 

The Basilica of Maxentius

Just a quick selfie with the Roman Forum, taken from atop Palatine Hill.

All the ruins from the ancient city of Rome!

It's gorgeous, right? Is that just me?

The Roman Forum & the city of Rome in the background.

We made our way down the step on the side of Palatine Hill and re-entered the Forum; our parents decided they'd rather have a seat near the Arch of Titus than keep wandering with us and so my sister and I decided to make a quick run to catch a couple other sights before the Forum closed - which happens at sundown, and in November in Italy - that's at like 4:45!

The Flavian Palace

The Arch of Titus

The Basilica of Maxentius

Foliage growing in the midst of the ancient ruins.

Frescoes in the Temple of Romulus.

The Temple of Romulus.

One of the areas of the Roman Forum that was really interesting was the House of the Vestal Virgin. Vestal Virgins were chosen from families' of prominence when they were between the ages of 6-10 and served for 30 years... they were afforded luxuries that were normally reserved for the wealthiest families and were seated with the Emperor when visiting the Colosseum. However, if you broke your vows you were buried alive... so I mean - there's that. They were allowed to marry once their 30 years of service were completed, but many did not because it was considered unlucky.

The entrance to the House of the Vestal Virgin. 

The House of the Vestal Virgin.

Statues lining the courtyard of the House of the Vestal Virgin. 

The statues are meant to represent the Vestal Virgin.

The walkway along the courtyard of the House of the Vestal Virgin.

Once we finished making our way through the Roman Forum - we had intentions to go back and re-enter the Colosseum since our earlier experiences was a little wetter than we'd hoped for - but remember when I said the Roman Forum closed at dusk? Well the Colosseum stopped letting people in at 4:30 and we arrived on the scene at about 4:32... so that was a no go! We snapped a few more pictures from the exterior and made our way back toward our apartment - with a stop for gelato on the way, of course!

The mighty Colosseum!

The Arch of Constantine!

A view of the outer & inner walls of the Colosseum.

Each of these arches would have once supported a statue.

Absolutely amazing - right?

Look at all the beautiful gelato...

The apartment we stayed in was on the fourth floor and it also had a rooftop terrace that had gorgeous views of the skyline of Rome and the Colosseum in the distance. We took our gelato up to the roof and had it while the sun set in the city - it was really nice! It was Thanksgiving Day and it didn't necessarily feel like it but I know I was very thankful to be sitting in the middle of Rome, having seen all the wonderful sights that I'd seen!

Gorgeous views from the rooftop terrace...

We packed up our suitcases because we had a 6 AM pick-up time on Friday morning for the airport (ew) and then we walked right down the street to a restaurant on the corner for our dinner. We ended up sitting outside and while it was a little brisk sitting street side, their were heaters and when it was all said and done, the meal was great and the food was delicious. It was a lovely way to close out our time in Rome.

A little cheese for your pasta?

The most delicious cheese & spinach ravioli! 

Can you tell that my Dad has a mouthful of food?

My Mom may have a mouth of food too, ha-ha!

Sampling the house wine - straight from the bottle.

Divine Margharita pizza... yum!

Tiramisu to close out the day.

Rome was absolutely the most amazing experience - and I feel like we only scratched the surface of what the city had to offer. I was completely enthralled by everything we saw that was ancient in nature and seeing the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill were highlights of our trip to Italy.

I'll be back tomorrow to share my final post about Italy - all about our short time in Sicily! Ciao!