Rome, day 2 - the Forum, the Capitoline museum and the Trajan market

After the Colosseum, we headed to the Forum. We saw the Arch of Titus, which is at the highest point of the Via Sacra in the Forum. This is the oldest surviving Roman arch and was built in AD 81 by Domitian to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem and also honour his brother Titus, the previous emperor.

We then walked along the Via Nova, where we had a great view of the Forum. (And no, I didn’t do the Antony speech.)

And the wisteria was glorious.

We visited the Temple of Romolus, which dates from AD 309 and was dedicated to the son of the Emperor Maximus. It had some gorgeous frescoes.

Then another wander deeper into the imperial forum, to see the remains of the Temple of Saturn, built in 42BC.

By this point, we were really hot and needed to sit down. So, instead of doing the rest of Palatine Hill (where I’d hoped to see the iron age pits, but never mind), we headed out past the Victor Emmanuel monument and found a caffè for lunch.

Then we walked up to the Capitoline museum. The square was designed by Michelangelo in 1537 and holds a replica of Marcus Aurelius on horseback; the original was corroding, so it was restored 1981-8 and in 1997 a bronze copy of the statue was finished for the square. The original was too fragile for the replica-makers to take a cast of it, plus they were worried that the gilding would come off, so it was all done by 'photogrammatical' plotting.

Our favourite bits from the museum included:



the Capitoline she-wolf, dating from the 5th century BC - Pope Sixtus IV gave it to Rome in 1471.


Medusa, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1630).

A variegated Egyptian marble dog.

Huge bits of statues - Constantine's head (his hand was also enormous).

The foundations of temple of Jove, which are actually part of the museum building.

The Fountain of Marforio, on the other side of museum; this was once a 'talking statue', i.e. it was hung with witty rhymes and notes commenting on politicians in the papal city.


I really liked the 3rd-century altar with a dedication to the imperial house for a safe voyage, with feet going back out then back in.





And I loved this statue with a stripy marble toga.


And of course a pose in the courtyard with the giant hand.

From the museum, we headed back across the road. This is the Column of Marcus Aurelius; this was made of 27 spiral drums of Carrera marble, and was built 180-190 AD to commemorate military victories. This area used to be the coffee-roasters' market.

Next door was the Trajan market.

The via Biberatica was named after wine shops that were once there.

And there were jars…

Out for dinner: saltimbocca, followed by zabaglione ice cream.

25393 steps today.

Rome, day 2 - the Colosseum

Bright start to the day, and we planned to go to the Colosseum - one of the places I've always wanted to visit, and which turned out to be my very favourite place in Rome (though it was close-run with the Pantheon).

After breakfast of very strong coffee, bread and cheese, we cut through the back streets by our hotel to Via Giovanni Lanza (very pretty, lined with citrus trees)

and then walked from Via Cavour down to the Forum. It felt very strange to be in an everyday high street and then suddenly see ancient ruins everywhere.

We were then fleeced by a smiling gladiator to take photos (and we learned that lesson for the rest of the week – a cheerful smile and a ‘Non, grazie!’).

And then we joined the queue for the Colosseum (very short, because we went early on a Tuesday morning. We discovered later that weekend afternoons are just heaving, so we made the right decision).

The Colosseum was begun by Vespasian in 72 AD, built on the site of the drained lake from Nero's Domus Aureus. Allegedly 70,000 Hebrew slaves were used as the labourers and 50,000 carts of Travertine stone had to be hauled from the Tivoli quarries, 27km away. There were 240 masts at the top and they were used to support a canvas awning (the velarium) which protected spectators from sun and rain.

Vespasian's son Titus inaugurated it in 80 AD with a 100-day celebration of games, during which (according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius) 9,000 beasts were killed. The building was finished by Titus’s brother and successor Domitian.

The name of the building comes from the 35m-high bronze statue of Nero that once stood at the Domus Aureus (closed for renovation during our stay in Rome, but there was a very good exhibition about Nero on the next floor up in the Colosseum) and Hadrian had to move the statue in a cart pulled by 24 elephants so that he could build a temple to Venus.


The Colosseum itself is huge. 52m high, 188m x 156m, with an arena of 3357 square metres and it could hold up to 73,000 spectators. The Emperor and the vestal virgins had the best seats, flanked by the senators; the next tier was for the equites (knights or non-senatorial nobles); the tier above that was for the ordinary citizens, with the wealthiest getting better seats than the poorest. There were also specific sectors for specific groups; and some groups (notably grave-diggers, actors and former gladiators) weren’t allowed in the Colosseum at all. Everyone had a designated seat.



There were some lovely pieces in the exhibition, including graffiti of a gladiator with a net, and a leaping wolf.

There are excellent views from the top – this is the Temple of Venus and Rome, which Hadrian started building in AD 121.


The Arch of Constantine is just outside the Colosseum (view below is from the top of the Colosseum) and was built to commemorate Constantine’s victory at the Battle of Milivian Bridge in 312. It lies across the Via Triumphalis, i.e. the road taken by the procession of a triumphant Emperor (from the Campus Martius through Circus Maximus and up to the Palatine Hill).


I think one of the nicest views of the Colosseum is the one from the arch:

Roma, day 1

Good trip from London to Rome. Saw the Alps on the way.

Got very slightly lost on the way to the hotel and had to get the proper map out to check our bearings; realised that we'd just turned left a bit too soon, and it was easy to find our way to Santa Maria Maggiore after that and then find our hotel on Via Merulana (full of lime trees - very pretty).

The hotel was fine – the staff were lovely, the room was clean and big enough for our needs, and Francesco on the reception desk recommended a lovely pizzeria nearby for dinner that night. I opted for Gorgonzola and speck (and it was so huge that Gerry had to help me out), followed by panna cotta.

Then we had a wander round the area – very pretty at night. (And, to Gerry and the children’s joy, three gelateria within a space of 200 metres…)

Santa Maria Maggiore was all lit up at night - the Rough Guide says that the 18th-century facade is boring, but we quite liked it.


13200 steps today – but I had a feeling we were going to do much, much more during the week...

Buongiorno, Inghilterra

Back from Rome, aka my research trip and quality family time. We did a deal beforehand that I wouldn't drag them round art galleries (the exception being the Vatican) but we would do all the other museums, antiquities and churches on my list. And it was a BIG list! Rome is just amazing. (And the Colosseum is one of my favourite places in the world - was a toss-up between that and the Pantheon. Both built by the same emperor, but more nerdy stuff later.)

We had a WONDERFUL time, though overdid it hugely - we walked 90km over the course of the week (180k steps x 50cm for my short, fast stride = 90km, unless my maths is really rubbish - and my pedometer is one of those posh accurate ones, so I know the step count is right).

Got home at 2.30ish last night (and DH woke me up at 6.30 yesterday morning, sob - I am so going to ban his iPod), so today am in zombie mode. But I will sort out my research photographs and post a few here over the next few days.

Nice to have the dog back - missed him. Not quite so nice doing the weekly shop (didn't dare book the usual online one in case our flight hit a snag as it did in Venice) and four suitcases full of laundry... :o)

end of term

Current work: writing new outline (aka avoiding tidying my desk)

Listening to: Joe Bonamassa, Dust Bowl (DH will no doubt make me give it back soon - really like ‘The Last Matador’ in particular)

Reading: Sophie Page, To Marry a Prince (enjoying hugely – grinning for all the right reasons)

Up early this morning to make buttercream icing for the fairy cakes, as daughter had a cake sale at school today in aid of Macmillan nurses (and obviously that’s a cause close to my heart because of my mum). Actually, while we were making the fairy cakes last night, Chlo wanted to check that she was folding in the flour the right way, and it was very much like stepping back in time 35 years with me saying exactly the same thing to my mum. We were using a recipe that had been annotated by my mum, too, so it was quite a bittersweet moment.

Anyway, they made over £100, so that’s good news. And now her mates – who bought some of our cakes – are asking if they can come over and do baking with us. That’s SO sweet. It’d be great fun, actually, and I’m not one who minds about things being dropped accidentally on the floor, so we must schedule something in.

It’s the end of term today, so I’m going to be absent from blogland and FB for a while. What am I doing? Spending a bit of quality time with DH and the kids before revisions hit and I’m back in the cave in a grump. Son also has some English homework – he has to watch “Much Ado”. Takes me right back to uni days, when our tutorial group (including one of the godmothers) did the “play within a play” with Benedick sneaking around while Don Pedro and co talk about how much Beatrice loves him. Best of all, I happen to have a copy of the version he’s supposed to see (yes, the Branagh one), so I will enjoy watching it with him and talking about it afterwards. Actually, that’s the play I think littlest would enjoy as her intro to Shakespeare, but I’m not sure she’s ready for it quite yet.

So I’ll say arrivederci for a week or so. There are research trips in the offing, so I’ll have photos and suitably nerdy stuff to relate when I’m back online.

Oh yes – before I forget! I’m jumping on the bandwagon and setting up a FB fan page. There is a link on the sidebar if you want to “like” me. Or click on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Hardy/191214794250417 Hmm. “Like” me. That sounds immensely needy, but I am using the FB terminology rather than making a sobbing, emotional plea :o)

a red letter day

Current work: writing new outline

Listening to: Joe Bonamassa, Dust Bowl

Reading: (this could seriously mess up work. Do I write the outline today and then loaf off tomorrow and read ‘To Marry a Prince’ in one lovely gulp? Or do I let myself have a bit of a treat today and read a bit before doing my outline, knowing full well I never put any of Jenny Haddon’s books down until I’ve reached the end? Hmm…)

Today is definitely a good day. Firstly, my office chair arrived. (It’s not a pretty chair, but is so, so, SO much more comfy than my falling-apart one.) Then I saw my book on sale on the shelves.

And the third thing? A new five-book contact to sign :o) Excellent. And just what I need to motivate me to write the outline. (My editor, however, might regret her suggestion that I do two linked medicals, when she sees what I’m proposing – something a wee bit outside the box…)

Oh, and before I forget to post this - I'm doing a workshop in Norwich for Mills & Boon as part of the Royal Wedding celebrations. Details are here on M&B's facebook page - basically I'm at West Earlham Library on Thurs 28 April from 10.-11.30. To book your place, just contact the library - 01603 451881 / katherine.stephan@norfolk.gov.uk

Quite a few other authors are running workshops, too - more info over at the M&B events page.

Erpingham, Southrepps and Mundesley

Current work: thinking about new outline

Listening to: Daughtry

Reading: next on TBR

From Blickling, we headed to the coast. We stopped off to see St Mary’s at Erpingham – Sir Thomas Erpingham, whose family came from the area, commanded the archers at Agincourt. (The Erpingham Gate outside Norwich Cathedral was built by the same man.) Sir Thomas's father is the man in military dress in the gorgeous brass here – Sir John de Erpingham, who died in 1370 (though the brass dates from around 1415).

The glass originally came from Blickling Hall, but was returned there and what’s in the church now is a copy. But what struck me most is something I can’t remember seeing in many churches – Venetian-style glass.

From there, we went to St James in Southrepps. It’s a huge barn of a church with the most enormous tower (one of the tallest in Norfolk). The two things that really struck me here were the medieval angel in the low window of the south chancel...

And a memorial from the 18th century Jane and William Barton (what I really liked was the skull).

And so to the sea. For a change, we went to Mundesley. The sea was so calm, and the beach was almost deserted (other than a couple of dog-owners – there was a red setter having enormous fun racing around to catch a tennis ball).

So there was a bit of gazing out to sea...

We (well, the children) made a sandcastle, and then waited for the tide to come in to fill the moat.

Just a lovely, leisurely day spent filling the well.