Innamorami a Roma! (Part 2)

(You can read part 1 of the article here) I tick my list of romantic places and shift to the wilder sites of the city. Definitely, the Latin blood of the Romans has not always heated when declaring everlasting love, passion or devotion, but also when grabbing a sword, putting on the armors and leaving in some of the most terrible war expeditions ever!

On 21 April 753 BC, the well-known legend says Rome was founded on bloodshed and fratricide. Twins Romulus and Remus, the sons of God Mars and the priestess Rhea Sylvia were thrown in the river by their maternal grand-father, but rescued and fed by a she-wolf. Eventually, in order to found the city and ensure the royal dynasty, Romulus killed his brother Remus. The vivid memory of the legend has been immortalized in the bronze statue, Lupa Capitolina, with the two babies and the she-wolf and it can still be seen at Palazzo dei Conservatori on Capitoline Hill. Having transgressed through several eras and state forms of organization, the once tiny human settlement grew into the capital of the most expanded empires of Antiquity.

Walking over, I get in 80 AD, the times of Vespasian, a Roman Emperor who started to build the Colosseum, a huge amphitheatre designed to shelter cruel fights. It is already well known the Roman saying “Panem et circenses”, assuming that the masses would not revolt if they are given enough food and entertainment to appease their aggressive instincts. I imagine the Colosseum and the gladiator fighters while my minds start wandering to the awesome movie bearing the same name. The monument became a symbol of the Christians’ prosecutions and got out of use during the Middle Ages when pieces of stone and iron were used to built other monuments like Piaza San Pietro.

My ultimate point is Fori Romani. In 113 AD the Roman Empire had already conquered Dacia, what would become later on my country, Romania. Attracted by the extremely rich in gold and copper land of the Dacians, Trajan would lead two harsh expeditions against them (101-102 AD, 105-106 AD). The defeat of the Dacians was captured on the huge bas-relief known as Trajan’s Column, representing the birth-certificate of the Romanian people. Staying in the same area, Castello Sant’Angelo, or the Tomb of Emperor Hadrian raises graciously and fiercely. The castle was completely destroyed and replaced by a medieval fortress witnessing torture, death, Giordano Bruno’s imprisonment and eventually casting the grace of Archangel Michael who spared the city from the plague epidemics and also put an end to my journey.

Eventually, I fell in love with Rome… Rome is an artist, a misunderstood genius, easily shifting from glory to misery. He has vision; he has both spirit and spirituality.  He lives in the world of ideas and conquers the unachievable by his bold plans. Women adore him, but he’s in love with one ideal woman only and her name is…  art.