3 days, spend mostly exploring “Ancient Rome”…
Arrived on August 7, for business. Dinner at Tullio, a restaurant near and booked by
the hotel (Intercontinental on Via
Sistina where I stayed that night for business purposes), with Roberto and
Gustavo of ABRAMUS. Business meeting with SIAE the day after, on August 8, at
10am, at their office, in a building legacy of Mussolini as I recall, somewhat
out of central Rome!
We spend the weekend in Rome! Leisurely lunch on the 8th
at Ristorante Lagana, with Cynthia
(who just flew in from Paris), a (very good at that!) recommendation from the
hotel, nearby where we are staying (Hotel
Due Torri – from its website: “The Hotel Due Torri was a residence for cardinals, bishops and
famous noble Roman families, then became the renowned Campana's Inn… The
peculiar Vicolo del Leonetto, where is located the hotel, takes his name
from a little marble lion on the corner of the street and reminds to the roots
of this district, now suspended between different ages…”) . The hotel is OK, with very good service. It’s
located just north of Piazza Pavona,
in a small street – (the taxi could barely accessed – but that is the norm in
Rome!) Aircon provided; wifi working well; small bathroom – shower OK; room
503, at the top and with a small balcony where we took our breakfast). We saw
some (Inoffensive) drug addicts on the street nearby at night!
This is the 2000th (yes, you read right,
2000th) anniversary of the death of Caesar Augustus, Octavius, the
first emperor who died on August 19. 14 AD, having served as emperor for 41
years (the longest of any Roman emperor). The month of August is named after
him! I saw the exhibition in Paris earlier this year (April 9 – “Moi, Augustus,
Empereur de Rome…” at the Grand Palais, organized with the Louvre as well) to
commemorate the bi-millenary anniversary of his death.
It just struck me: Rome is a layered city! When it comes to ruins, there is a certain
place (say, the Foro Romano) described as it was during the king period (753 BC
to 509 BC) that one can “see”, the same place during the Republic (509 BC to
27BC) and the same place during the Empire (27BC to 476AD).
Went “to the opera” that night: Il Barbiere de
Seville. Special setting: Terme di
Caracalla (picture above), built at the time of the emperor Caracalla (and completed by his
immediate successors) as public baths at the beginning of the 3rd century AD.
Imposing ruins! At the time it was more than “baths” I understand, but a sort
of community center with multiples functions (sports facilities among other
things) About 15 minutes by taxi in the south of Rome. Interesting to note that
it is made of bricks (hence it did not take long to build), coming from nearby,
to the north of Rome. The Terme worked for about 300 years, until the beginning
of the 6th century when invaders destroyed the aqueduct that was
supplying it with water. It also became later on a source for bricks and marble
to build palaces and churches! Works of Art that it contained were recuperated
starting around the 16th century, among which a large “vasque” that
became a fountain we saw the following night on piazza Farnese! The French
version of Wikipedia gives a very detailed description of the place and
concludes with the following:
« Les Thermes
de Caracalla sont, parmi les nombreux grands établissements thermaux de
l'époque impériale, ceux qui nous sont parvenus dans les meilleures conditions.
Les ruines montrent encore bien la répartition des pièces, bien que dépouillées
de leurs marbres et de leurs décorations, l'établissement offre un exemple
important des caractéristiques de l'architecture romaine : plan axial,
symétrie et fonctionnalisme. C’est sans doute l’édifice thermal le mieux
conservé et le plus luxueux de l’époque impériale. Sous l’Empire, les thermes
se multiplient. Il en fleurit partout dans les villes. On en recense 70 à la
fin du Ier siècle av. J.-C., et
plus d’un millier deux siècles plus tard. Les thermes de Caracalla ne sont donc
pas un projet autonome, mais s’inscrivent dans un large mouvement de
construction. Ce qui structure la ville romaine ce n’est pas son plan, mais
bien la présence dans tout l’empire de monuments comme les thermes grâce à sa
portée sociale. Cet ensemble, inspiré des thermes de Trajan, est donc à la
fois représentatif d’un certain type de thermes et original : par sa
taille d’abord, qui préfigure l’immensité des thermes
de Dioclétien, par
la richesse de son décor et les techniques de construction employées»
.Rome, August 8, 2014.
