AAR CSS: Day 11

We started off the day in the basement of the Capitoline museums, where we saw the Tabularium and the Temple of Veiovis (young Jove).

Remains of the threshold of the Temple of Veiovis (you can see the columns to the left, the altar above the grate in the middle, and the doorway with square recesses for the doors in front of the marble wall on the right):

Afterwards, we walked to Largo Argentina (the line of Republican temples near where Julius Caesar was murdered). It is now a cat sanctuary:

Then we saw the remains of the Theatre of Pompey in the basement of the Da Pancrazio restaurant (off of the Campo de' Fiori):

...and did a long walking tour of the Circus Flaminius, which was not actually a sports arena like the Circus Maximus, just a defined space with something like eleven temples around it. It is now entirely built over, with little bits of antiquity sticking up here and there:

We had the early afternoon free. Walked back to the Centro with a few people and grabbed pizza on the way up the Janiculan.

At 4 we visited the AAR Study Collection with Katherine Geffcken (Professor Emerita, Wellesley College), who spoke about the collection and then gave us a half-hour talk on coins (with pretty specimens for show and tell, too). Turns out she's been trying to get Alan Stahl (Princeton numismatics curator) to come catalogue their hoards from medieval Venice - his specialty. Given that he's now full-time at Princeton, I somehow doubt he'll make it over here in the near future, though.

Dinner: Risotto ai quattro formaggi | Spezzato di tacchino all'ischitana | Crostata di mele

AAR CSS: Day 10

Double digits!

We were originally supposed to go to Cosa today, but instead we went to Vulci, another Etruscan town. It involved quite a bit of hiking.

The most boring triumphal arch ever:

Cat alert:

In the cryptoporticus ("hidden portico", a system of underground hallways) of a giant house:

Coffered ceilings (still underground):

Another Mithraeum (with re-enactors! members of the cult of Mithras were all male):

Another re-enactment, this time with crosswalk boulders:

A little translation trouble?

Inside the François Tomb:

A giant statue of a kantharos (wine vessel) at a rotary/roundabout/traffic circle:

The beach at Tarquinia:

Bus driver: Carlo (Fabio's brother - they have a family run bus business)

Dinner: Spaghetti alla carbonara | Ovoline e prosciutto e pomodoro | Profitterol (hand-made!)

AAR CSS: Day 9

This was a half day for the CSS but a full day for me.

We started in the morning with the Republican temples of the Forum Holitorium (vegetable market) and Forum Boarium (cow/bovine market). The best example was under scaffolding, of course.

A church using a wall from a Republican temple in the Forum Holitorium:

A spoliated column (ancient material reused as part of the later building) in the above church, with an ancient inscription:

Other side of the church:

Republican temple in the Forum Boarium (best preserved Republican temple at Rome, once thought to be to Fortuna, now thought to be to Portunus):

Temple to Hercules(?), formerly called Temple of Vesta, in the Forum Boarium (the round plan is Greek; the use of marble indicates a date after 146 BC, when the Romans sacked Corinth):

Then onto Santa Maria in Cosmedin to see the basement, a crypt of Pope Hadrian I built next to the foundations of the Roman Republican altar called Ara Maxima.

The church (the entrance portico has the Bocca della Verità - the Mouth of Truth):

The crypt of Pope Hadrian I:

The custodian who let us down there decided to light incense. Maybe that was his way of making sure we didn't spend too long in the crypt.

Next up: the Circus Maximus. We staged our own version of a race - Tom (far l., in red) won:

From there to a Mithraeum (sanctuary to Mithras; the cult was in some ways similar to the Masons):

And finally Tiber Island, starting with the Pons Fabricius (made by L. Fabricius, curator of the roads, as this inscription shows - you can click on the picture for a bigger version):

At 2 we were dismissed. I went over to the Colosseum to ambush meet up with Ms. Lewis, my high school Latin teacher, and her class.

We did the Forum:

...and ended up at Trajan's Column and Markets. It was hot, but fun. Our tour guide was approached by a plainclothes police officer, who stopped him to check his special tour guide ID. Apparently everything checked out.

Dinner: Pasta e fagioli | Braciole d'abbacchio con patate arrosto | Anguria

AAR CSS: Day 8

Didn't do much today. Walked to the cartoleria (notebook store) with a few people, got some pizza at Da Simone on Via Carini, hung out around the Centro, had a Clue party (as in the board game) and played some cards.

Seth and Susann gave a lecture on building materials and techniques at the AAR at 4 in the afternoon.

Saw these cuties on the way back:

ETA: Dinner: Mezzemaniche alla Sorrentina | Petto di pollo all'arancia, spinaci sultanini | Crem Caramel

AAR CSS: Day 7

Finally, the weekend! I slept in - til 9. Then I headed out to the park a block away. It's really the sprawling estate of the Villa Doria Pamphili (or Pamphilj). I went in, looked around, found the villa and its various gardens, then went back for lunch. On the way out, I ran into Julia Scarborough (also from Harvard - there are three of us total from my program here in Rome), who asked if I had made it to the lake with the swans and the turtles. So after lunch I headed back in, went past the villa, and found the lake. I think I spent over five hours in the park altogether. Here are some highlights:

First impressions:

Soccer (a.k.a. football):

Random ancient statue with later basin:

The Villa Doria Pamphili above the Fountain of Venus:

The Grotto:

The Theatre:

A bee:

A fountain in the shape of the she-wolf's head with inscription SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus - the Senate and People of Rome):

The Villa and its hedge maze:

On the way to the lake:

From the lake:

ETA: Ended the day with a cookout. We got permission from Franco to use the grill, and we finally found some charcoal for heat. Tripp, Tom, and Chris led the cooking side of things. In addition to veal, burger meat, and "pure swine" wurstel, there was mozzarella cheese, chocolate chip cookies, and a wine called Bacchus - which is particularly amusing to a classicist because the name Bacchus (as in the god of wine) can also be used as the word for wine in Latin.

From l. to r.: Chris, Tom, and Tripp

From l. to r.: Katie, Kenny, Ross, Colby (hiding), Erin

Bacchus, a red wine of Piceno:

Tom and Chris cross swords spatulas in front of the grill: