I Just Might Pee on a Gladiator – Day 4 in Rome

Greetings!

Oh.  Oh.  Oh.  This was a magical morning.  We went to the Colosseum and The Forum today.    Ten years ago, we went to the Colosseum by ourselves.  We did not understand at the time that you are only allowed on a couple of levels, unless you are with a guide.  There are different types of guided trips (depending on what you pay).  The most deluxe tour gets you a trip to the underground where the gladiators and wild beasties lived, and also to the topmost tier of the nosebleed section.  We figured out what we had missed the first time, and were determined to see the whole thing this time.

I had booked a small group tour of six people.  Our guide, Michele (Italian for Michael) holds a masters degree in history.  He was simply amazing and could answer every question posed to him.  He took us through the Forum, which was the heart of ancient Rome for  more than a thousand years.  I was in total hog heaven.

I won’t bore you with the historical details, but Oh. Oh. Oh.  I had one of the best days ever.  Okay, I will bore you with one detail.  Rome at its height had over a million people living in it.  After the empire toppled and the Popes were rising in power (we are talking Middle Ages here) the population fell to around 60,000 – possibly as low as 40,000.  Would this not be the weirdest thing?  This giant, amazing city of marble, inhabited by so few. 

Advertisement