The term Forum really refers to a public plaza, or open space, where ideas could be exchanged and refined. As such, it is a difficult place to photograph, as we are talking about what is now an open field, together with what is left of surrounding structures. I didn't get much in the way of photos.
I confess that I did like the umbrella pines that are common to Italy and the Forum area in particular.
And there was this: Three statues perched on one of the buildings.
Later I saw three statues and took the following shot that I converted to a pure silhouette, just goofing around.
It was only when I was putting this post together that I realized that these were the same three figures, just seen from the other side.
Then it was on to the Colosseum.
When I have spoken about our trip to others who have not been to Rome, their first question has been whether I saw the Colosseum. That tells me that it is perhaps the most iconic of Roman architectural works. It is, of course, in ruins. The reason for that is that, after it went into disuse around 800 CE, it as well as much of the architecture in the area of the Forum was cannibalized for other building projects. Moreover, the Colosseum is currently undergoing extensive restoration work, so a portion is hidden by scaffolding. Plus it was a Saturday and the crowds were enormous.
So much for excuses. Here is what I got.
A classic view of the exterior, showing some of the humanity.
A couple of views of portions of the interior.
An artist's conception of what the scene would have been like during an "event," complete with gladiators and lions.
And finally a panoramic view of the interior of the stadium as it exists now. The underground chambers and passageways would have been covered with a wood flooring.
The Colosseum really did have the feel of a modern stadium and according to our guide could be emptied of a capacity crowd of some 55-60,000 spectators in as little as half an hour, a genius model of crowd management for its time.
John
Yes, of course...the Colosseum. Once again, lovely pictures. I think I must be exceptionally drawn to the black & white photos though, because the B&W columns are my favorites in this series.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was a busy place while you were there. I don't remember which day of the week it was when we were there, but it was obviously not on a Saturday. Not many others but us from what I remember, however, there were quite a few cats visiting on the day we were there. This is a strange thing to ask, but did you see a lot of cats in Italy? They were literally everywhere during our visit. In fact, there were so many cats, everywhere, that this has always stood out in my mind about Italy!