Mark Meek's Ideas: Rome

Rome, the capital and largest city of Italy, is known to the world as the "Eternal City". It was founded in 753 B.C. and became the capital of the Roman Empire. Rome has an especially colorful founding legend. Two infants, Romulus and Remus were breast-fed by a wolf. But Romulus later killed his brother and got the city of Rome named for him.

The three basic eras of human history, ancient times, the Middle Ages and modern times, are actually defined by Rome. Many historians consider the end of ancient times to be the fall of the Roman Empire. The knowledge that the Romans had, particularly about building such as arches and vaults and domes, was forgotten in western Europe.

Actually it wasn't forgotten it was just taken elsewhere and added to by Moslems. When Constantinople, now Istanbul, was conquered by the Moslems in 1453 many scholars loaded all manner of writings and texts onto pack animals and headed westward. Bringing this knowledge to western Europe brought about what is known as the Renaissance, which is considered as the beginning of the end of the Middle Ages.

Maybe it was a good thing that the Roman invention of concrete, a mix of clay and limestone, had been lost. If not, the medieval cathedrals across Europe might have been made from concrete, rather than stone, and that may have not held up as well over hundreds of years.

Constantinople, Rome's counterpart in the eastern half of the Roman Empire, was actually known as the "Second Rome". Upon the Ottoman conquest of 1453 the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had separated from the Catholic Church, based in Rome, shifted northward, first to Kiev and then to Moscow, and Moscow thus became known as the "Third Rome". We saw this in the compound posting on this blog, "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", January 2016.

The city of Rome is famously built on seven hills. The Book of Revelation refers to a city of the Last Days that is built on seven hills. This has begun a legend of cities that are built on seven hills. Constantinople and Moscow claimed, like Rome, to be built upon seven hills. There is a Wikipedia article about cities that claim to have been built on seven hills.

After the passing of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church was based in Rome. For more than a thousand years, from 754 to 1870, Rome was part of what is known as the Papal States, the literal kingdom of the papacy. Rome saw the founding of, and gave it's name to, the Holy Roman Empire, although it's boundaries fluctuated and Rome wasn't usually within it. The Holy Roman Empire would be more centered on Germany and would also last for about a thousand years.

That is the reason that there is still a division between northern and southern Italy today. The north was part of the Holy Roman Empire while the south wasn't.

The two best-known of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, were both martyred in Rome. But the Christian religion spread as fast as it did along Roman roads and widespread communication was helped by the "Pax Romana" that prevailed.

The Roman Empire was full of internal strife. Julius Caesar defeated the General Pompey, who had brought the Holy Land under Roman control, in a civil war but then was assassinated. His grand-nephew Octavian, later known as Augustus Caesar, ultimately became what could be called the first Roman Emperor.

Have you ever noticed that the months seem to have been once numbered? The "sept" of September means 7, although September is the ninth month. Likewise, the "oct" of October originally meant 8, "nov" means 9 and "dec" means 10. The reason that the months are pushed two forward is that July and August were added, July was named for Julius Caesar and August for Augustus Caesar.

Have you ever wondered why the year begins on January 1? It was because the Julian Calendar, that Julius Caesar introduced, was scheduled to take effect on January 1. The Julian Calendar is not used any more but the reason that Russia's "October Revolution" is actually in the November of the present Gregorian Calendar is that it was still using the Julian Calendar at the time.

Not all that Rome came up with was entirely original but encompassed contributions of the Greeks that were part of the Roman Empire but had their own great empire before it. However I do not believe that the city of Rome was of Greek origin, as is believed by some like the cities of southern Italy. For one thing Rome is not on the coast and all cities that started as Greek colonies seem to be coastal.

Ancient Rome was where the Latin Alphabet, which we are using here, originated. The languages that are primarily descended from the Latin spoken in the Roman Empire are called Romance Languages, named for Rome, and include Italian, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese and, Romanian. The present Italian alphabet does not use the letters j, w, x or, y. The country of Romania was named for Rome, formerly known as Dacia, it was where Roman soldiers often went to retire.

Italy became a united country in 1871. The country was a monarchy from then until 1946, when a referendum was taken on abolishing the monarchy and it became the republic that it is today.

The center of ancient Rome is what is known today as the Forum, a square with the ruins of Roman government buildings. This is adjacent to the Colosseum, the ruins of Rome's great amphitheater. The following scenes begin inside the ruins of the Colosseum. Notice how the Arch of Titus in the forum resembles Napoleon's Arch de Triomphe due Carrousel in Paris. We can see where Napoleon got the idea from, and Napoleon in fact declared himself to be a Roman emperor.

These two images, from Google Earth, are of the Forum.

These three images from Google Earth are of the Colosseum.

The Arch of Titus is part of the Forum, from Google Street View. This arch was a memorial of the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple after an uprising. Jesus had foretold the Temple would be destroyed so that "not one stone would remain upon another". The wooden parts of the Temple ignited and the heat melted gold and caused it to flow among the foundation stones. The Romans later pried the stones apart so that indeed "not one stone remained upon another". The looted wealth was used to build the nearby Colosseum.

This is around the Forum and Colosseum.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8904325,12.4919677,3a,75y,193.02h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNoASmyIiEs9ZlxsLR_n0BDBD5Pqvnz_P5K4Q8f!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNoASmyIiEs9ZlxsLR_n0BDBD5Pqvnz_P5K4Q8f%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya189.76926-ro0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Castel Sant Angelo is the massive cylindrical fortress near the Vatican. This was built in the Second Century as a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian. It has also been used as a fortress. A causeway was built to link it to the Vatican so that it can shield the pope, if necessary. The dome that can be seen is that of St. Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican. The nearby bridge, now only for pedestrian use, is Ponte Sant Angelo and dates from Roman times. The river that passes through Rome is the Tiber River.

The first four images of Castel Sant Angelo are from Google Earth and Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.902895,12.4664008,3a,75y,233.54h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPtw2YuS0dfV_5fQkrW4lx8R4QuW5GyM9oyQNQi!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPtw2YuS0dfV_5fQkrW4lx8R4QuW5GyM9oyQNQi%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya69.209145-ro-0-fo100!7i4000!8i2000

Another famous sight in Rome is the Trevi Fountains. These fountains have gained some notoriety due to the occasional tourists who think it is acceptable to jump into the fountains in order to cool off in the summer heat. The dome that you see inside is the Pantheon, from ancient Rome.

The monument with all the columns is much more modern, a memorial of the first king of united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. It is adjacent to the Forum. These two images of it are from Google Earth and Street View.

This image of the Trevi Fountain is from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9007693,12.4833883,3a,75y,340.4h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNMyVgy0gPS8avYbpv3BGl0MEbPEFZjM0TvVL0r!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNMyVgy0gPS8avYbpv3BGl0MEbPEFZjM0TvVL0r%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya37.689342-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000

Here is some more of central Rome, beginning inside the Pantheon. This is an ancient Roman dome, with the very top left open. Remember in our visit to "Paris" that there is a Pantheon built there also. The mathematical proportions that are necessary to build a dome was forgotten after the fall of the Roman Empire. But upon the Renaissance, the regaining of ancient knowledge, massive domes became very popular features of cathedrals. This led to the building style that replaced Gothic and was known as Baroque. The Pantheon in Rome was originally a temple of the Roman gods but is now a church.

By these two domes in Rome, that of the Pantheon and of St. Peter's Basilica, we can see the three great eras of human history. The dome of the Pantheon was built in ancient times. But the end of the Roman Empire marked the end of ancient times and the knowledge of how to build such domes was forgotten, this was the Middle Ages.

But the knowledge hadn't been lost, it had been taken elsewhere. The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans led to an exodus of scholars that brought the knowledge westward, this was the Renaissance and the beginning of modern times. The result was the other dome, that of St, Peter's Basilica not far away. This Renaissance architecture, revolving around great domes, is known as Baroque and replaced the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages.

Notice all the obelisks in public squares in Rome. There is actually more Egyptian obelisks in Rome than in any other city, Egypt having been part of the Roman Empire.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8986127,12.4768779,3a,75y,171.11h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOB8a6FcAUR3AXoyqOsv9CI9NIw9qmuMy4ULEjq!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOB8a6FcAUR3AXoyqOsv9CI9NIw9qmuMy4ULEjq%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya342.36026-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3260

There is even a pyramid in Rome, the Pyramid of Cestius. it was built in ancient times but is not as old as the pyramids of Egypt. The nearby walls are the Aurelian Walls. The adjacent castle was a gate in the Aurelian Walls. Just as Napoleon's conquest of Egypt in the Nineteenth Century would bring ancient Egypt back into the world's consciousness so Romans were fascinated by the earlier Egyptian civilization, which is why so many obelisks were brought to Rome. The first three images are from Google Earth and Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8763797,12.4811982,3a,75y,294.98h,95.03t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s2lX6Lcr8fV46aIeYvV0UKg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D2lX6Lcr8fV46aIeYvV0UKg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D92.64739%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

The first of the following scenes is on the Via Condotti, which leads to the Spanish Steps. The first image of the Spanish Steps is from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9055471,12.4815727,3a,75y,180.09h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sjES2Gp2O5MRIXdQLwh6nJw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DjES2Gp2O5MRIXdQLwh6nJw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D180.06404%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

What is now Italy had been several smaller independent states. The catalyst for the unification of the country, which has the same language and primary religion, was the series of revolutions that swept Europe in 1848. It would be the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia that would conquer and unite the rest of the country. Piedmont is the region around the northwestern city of Turin. The unification of Germany was taking place at the same time, and in a similar way, led by the dominant state of Prussia.

Rome itself had nothing to do with this mostly bloodless unification process, known as the Risorgimento, and was actually the final place that would be added to newly-united Italy. Rome, at the time, belonged to the Papal States, the lands actually ruled as a kingdom by the pope. The first capital of united Italy was, of course, Turin. The capital was then moved to Florence, and finally to Rome.

Italy would be a kingdom. There would be four successive kings, all from the House of Savoy that had ruled Piedmont and Sardinia which had united the country, before Italians decided in a referendum to abolish the monarchy in 1946. Italy then became the republic that it is today. Two of the four kings took the name Victor Emmanuel and the other two Umberto. The final king, Umberto II, went into exile in Portugal when the monarchy was abolished. Victor Emmanuel II had been the first king of a united Italy.

The second king, Umberto I, was assassinated in 1900. The third king, Victor Emmanuel III, abdicated in favor of his son, Umberto II, and went into exile in Alexandria, but the monarchy was abolished soon after by the referendum.

The leading figure of Italian unification was Giuseppe Garibaldi. But he was a military leader and never actually ruled the country. His life is an adventure story that is definitely worthy of a movie. Remember that the Italian alphabet doesn't use the letter "J", so Giuseppe is the equivalent of "Joseph", just as Giovanni is the equivalent of "John".

The Quirinal Palace was one of the palaces that belonged to the pope. Upon completion of the unification of the country, this palace was seized by the Kingdom of Italy in 1871, and is now the residence of the Italian president. These two scenes of the Quirinal Palace are from Google Earth.

Italy today has both a president and prime minister. The president taking the place of what was formerly the king. Benito Mussolini, although he expanded his power into a dictatorship, was actually a prime minister, having been appointed, and then later removed, by King Victor Emmanuel III after a vote of no-confidence, just as prime ministers are appointed by the president today.

Mussolini did do a lot for the city of Rome, actually being the one that created the modern Vatican, with the Treaty of Lateran finally making peace between the Vatican and the Kingdom of Italy, which had taken control of the Papal States. The Vatican today, technically an independent nation within Rome, is what remains of the Papal States. Mussolini also built the street that leads into St. Peter's Square.

Another project of Mussolini was the EUR, being built in the 1930s for what was to be the Universal Exposition of Rome. The exposition never took place, due to the Second World War, but later use of the buildings as a "new downtown" of the ancient city, makes it a predecessor to La Defense in Paris and Canary Wharf in London. The first image of EUR is from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8324092,12.4703985,3a,75y,300h,110t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOMoSi86j3XuqmS6hPbHZwg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DOMoSi86j3XuqmS6hPbHZwg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D300%26pitch%3D-20%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is a residential neighborhood not far from central Rome.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8819913,12.5666612,3a,75y,120h,110t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGIBuj4OiqO_iunmUuErMGg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DGIBuj4OiqO_iunmUuErMGg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D120%26pitch%3D-20%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

THE VATICAN

Finally, we come to the Vatican. This is the independent city-state within the city of Rome that is the center of the Catholic Church. There are actually more than twenty separate Catholic Churches, all in communion with the pope but having different rites. But more than 98% of Catholics belong to only one of these churches, the Western or Latin Church. The others are referred to as the Eastern Catholic Churches.

For all it's fame, the Vatican or St. Peter's Basilica within it, is not actually the center of the Catholic Church. There are only four major basilicas in Catholicism, all of them in Rome. Every other basilica in the world is referred to as a minor basilica. St. Peter's is one of the major basilicas but the chief one is actually the Lateran Palace, which is outside the Vatican but within Rome. The Vatican was originally an alternate papal residence.

The reason again that the focal point moved to the Vatican is that during the time the papacy was in Avignon, France, as we saw in the posting on this blog, "The Third Split", the Lateran Palace was damaged by fire. So when the dispute was resolved, and the papacy returned to Rome, the court moved to the Vatican instead.

This is a look at the Lateran Palace, which is technically the center of Catholicism. As with St. Peter's Square there is an obelisk from Egypt. The first six images are from Google Earth and Street View.

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The following scenes of the Vatican, and surrounding area of Rome, begin inside St. Peter's Basilica. Straight ahead in the first scene is the high altar. The twisted wooden structure is known as a baldachin. St. Peter, martyred in Rome in 64, has his tomb directly under this altar. There is some controversy over whether St. Peter was actually buried there. St. Peter is considered as the first pope, or Bishop of Rome. Since the Catholic Church is centered in Rome, the Bishop of Rome is also the pope.

Nearly a hundred popes are buried beneath this basilica. St. Peter's Square, actually oval in front of the basilica, was set up in the 17th Century. The obelisk in the center of St. Peter's Square was brought from Egypt by the Roman Emperor Caligula. The obelisk is sometimes referred to as "The Witness" because it witnessed the martyrdom of St. Peter.

This is not the first St. Peter's Basilica to stand on the site. The tomb of St. Peter was first marked by a simple shrine. The first St. Peter's Basilica was built several centuries later by Constantine, the emperor who legalized Christianity and also founded Constantinople as Rome's counterpart in the eastern half of the empire. That basilica was where Charlemagne was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor, on Christmas day of the year 800. But it's altar was in the same place as that of the present basilica. Papal coronations used to take place there.

The previous centuries-old St. Peter's Basilica fell into disrepair and was demolished to make way for the present one, built in the 17th Century. No one person designed this basilica. Michelangelo was responsible for much of the design of the dome. The nave and the façade was the work of Carlo Maderno.

St. Peter's Basilica is certainly magnificent, but may have come at a heavy price. Indulgences were sold to raise money for it's construction. These were certificates that ones sins had been forgiven. One person that was outraged by the idea of selling salvation for money was named Martin Luther, the figure most closely associated with the Reformation, which began in 1517 and split the Protestants away from the Catholic Church.

Before the new St. Peter's Basilica was built, completed in 1626, a new Apostolic Palace was built adjacent to it. Within the Apostolic Palace is the living quarters of the pope, a great art museum and the famous Sistine Chapel. The lavishly decorated Sistine Chapel is where new popes are chosen by votes of the cardinals. A new pope is indicated by white smoke as the ballots are burned afterward. Black smoke indicates that no one had a sufficient majority to take the papacy, and the vote must be done over. Michelangelo, prominent in the design of the basilica dome, spent years on scaffold painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Here is the Vatican, beginning inside St. Peter's Basilica, with the high altar straight ahead. The columns that are "embracing" St. Peter's Square, with the Egyptian obelisk in the center, are known as the Colonnades.

The first eight images are from Google Earth and Street View.