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Colosseum (Colosseo) – Just the biggest and best
attraction in Rome, and its gory history is part of its charm. Kids will
love the idea of gladiators slugging it out in the Colosseum, spectacles
of hungry lions ready to pounce, mock sea battles. It does not disappoint
for sheer monumental scale, and excellent state of preservation. (Use your
Archaeologica Card to avoid waiting in the long lines to buy tickets.) |
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The structure of the Colosseum is familiar, with bleacher
seating around the arena (seats had numbers too). What's boggling is that
it was built nearly 2,000 years ago, using concrete. Because the floor of
the arena is gone (a small section has been restored), you can see the labyrinth
of tunnels, where the gladiators and animals waited for their entrance.
An ingenious system of ramps and trap doors provided access to the arena. |
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Playgrounds and parks – After you've visited the Colosseum, if you have a toddler in tow, or the kids just need a shady place to picnic or run around, here are three tips. At Piazza Celimontana (walk south on Via Claudia), there's a large playground with swings and climbing structures. Continue futher up the hill, on Via della Navicella, and turn right (at the church) and follow the paths into Parco Giochi (Parco Monte Celio). It's a nice green park with another playground for toddlers and miniature pony rides. This park is perfect for strollers and you'll see lots of other little kids in the park. Kitty corner to the Colosseum, north of Via Labicana, on Via Domus Aurea, there's plenty of shade trees, fountains and benches, and great picnic spots. |
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Basilica di San Clemente (Via Labicana) – Stop into the Basilica of San Clemente, one of the oldest in Rome, to see gorgeous 12th century mosaics in the apse (the sheep symbolize the Old and New Testament, the doves the twelve Apostles), and colorful marble floors. |
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Underneath the lower basilica, visit the 3rd century temple to the sun god Mithras, the mithraeum. In center of the mithraeum is an altar with the sun god sacrificing a bull, stone benches on either side. Open daily, but closed at lunchtime. |
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Roman Forum (Fora Romano) – From the Colosseum, circle round
the Arch of Constantine and wade into the Forum. Today the Roman Forum
a very crumbly ruin (you have to use your imagination), but in the Roman
Republic, it was a busy spot where people came to shop, to hang out, to
haggle about politics. |
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The biggest building in the forum is still the biggest ruin,
the Basilica of Maxentius, ten stories high. Continuing up the Via
Sacra, check out the great green bronze door (1700 years old) on
the Temple of Romulus and the beautiful swirly columns of the Temple
of Antonius and Faustina. Kitty corner is the Temple of Divus Julius – the temple and altar were built on the spot where Julius Caesar's
body was cremated. |
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The Curia, the brick building, is a replica of the
Roman senate (rebuilt in the 3rd century AD). Step inside, close your eyes,
and imagine the Curia packed with a hundreds of senators (senior senators
got seats, younger senators had to stand), listening to the orations. |
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Near to the Curia is a little fenced-in area with some black
paving stones. Underneath the paving stones is an underground room where
the Lapis Niger was found, a stone slab thought to mark the Tomb
of Romulus, the founder of Rome. The writing on the Lapis Niger is the oldest
Latin inscription, from the 6th century BC. |
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Tip: The Roman Forum has a lot of bits and pieces from
different centuries, and most of the ruins are fenced off so you really
can't walk through them. There's no shade to speak of, so go early in the
day (and bring water, suntan lotion, sun hats). To get the best view of
the ruins overall, climb up to the Farnese Gardens, and look down over the
Forum. |
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Trajan's Forum – When the Roman Forum was too small to handle
the big crowds, each emperor built his own forum. Trajan's Forum has the incomparable Trajan's Column. The marble column, 125 ft
high, is carved with scene after scene of Trajan's armies clobbering the
Dacians. |
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Palatine Hill – The Palatine, the hill above the
Roman Forum, is one of our favorite spots in Rome. According to legend and
the historian Livy, it was here that Romulus founded Rome in the 8th century
BC (archeological evidence of a village supports this tradition). Bigwigs
and emperors built their fancy palazzos on the Palatine over the centuries,
and the ruins are in great shape. |
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 Farnese
Gardens (Orti Farnesiani) – If you climb up the Palatine
from the Forum, you'll pass by an underground grotto and a couple of little
sparkling pools and fern covered rocks in the gardens. The greenery and
shade of the gardens is a relief from the straight sun in the Forum below,
and the views are stunning. |
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The
southern section of the Palatine has three big ruins, built by Domitian
over previous palaces, which are open to explore and run around. The Domus
Flavia was a public palace where the emperor conducted business of state
– a large domed auditorium on one side, a banquet room on the other.
Next door was the private palazzo, the Domus Augustana (House of Augustus,
i.e. the emperor). This was a grand palace, a multi-story building overlooking
the Circus Maximus. Beside the House of Augustus was the Stadium, where the emperor could watch the horse races in comfort. |
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Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio –
In the center of the Piazza del Campidoglio is a stunning bronze statue
of Emperor Marcus Aurelius seated on a horse. |
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The Capitoline Museums, the Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori, display extraordinary collections of Greek and Roman sculpture. Here's
where you can see portrait heads of Homer, Socrates, Roman emperors, and
Helen, mother of Constantine (she looks pretty relaxed). In the Palazzo
dei Conservatori, you can't miss the mega-sized foot and head of Constantine,
but be sure to see the famous bronze sculpture of Romulus and Remus,
and the Spinario, statue of a boy taking a thorn out of his foot. |
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Circus Maximus – The beauty of the Circus Maximus
is there's nothing there. It's just a very large field to run the mile or
scratch in the dirt. You'll have to pretend there are bleachers on either
side of the arena where huge crowds watched chariot races, staged hunts
for wild animals, and athletic games. (It's easy to stop by the Circus on
your way to the Baths of Caracella.) |
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Baths of Caracella –The Baths of Caracella were once a sumptuous
place to bathe and relax – marble columns and floors, mosaics and
sculptures, hot baths (caldarium), warm baths (tepidarium), cold baths
(frigidarium), exercise rooms, sauna. Today, although birds roost in the
upper parts of the ruins, and the black and white mosaics are in chunks,
the baths are worth a visit. And it sure doesn't feel like the gym at
home. |
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Full color illustrations
of the amphitheater construction in the first century A.D., and
"games" in the Colosseum – wild animal shows and
gladiators in hand-to-hand combat. (Picture book)
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80
AD. The Emperor Titus opens the inaugural games for his brand new
amphitheater, the Colosseum. Jonathan escaped the great fire in The
Enemies of Jupiter ,
but now he's in the arena, fighting for his life. His friends, Flavia,
Nubia and Lupus, take part in a disastrous water spectacle, outwit
wild beasts, and appeal to the Emperor to spare Jonathan, but it
will take a trick lion to save the day. (Chapter book)
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In another Roman Mysteries adventure, the four friends, Flavia, Nubia, Lupus and Jonathan, come to Rome to search for a missing racehorse, before the big chariot games in the Circus Maximus. (Chapter book)
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Twin
tiger cubs, captured in their jungle home, are brought to Rome
for the Colosseum games. One cub becomes a pet of the Emperor's
daughter, the other cub is trained for the arena. Will it be thumbs
up or thumbs down, when the tigers meet again? A captivating,
exciting story of ancient Rome.
(Chapter book)
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Humorous,
handy hints for the newly minted gladiator – training and diet
(porridge and ash dessert), punishments (flogging and branding),
weapons, armor and shields, sea battles and fierce beasts. (Picture
book)
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High-quality
gladiator action figure (comes with swords, shields, trident,
net, helmet, arm and leg guards) and a drawer full of goodies
– booklet on gladiators, map of the Roman Empire, cardboard
model of the Colosseum, ancient Roman board game. (Activity pack)
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Pop-up scale model of the Colosseum and exciting story of the gladiator games, from the gladiators who put on the show, to the spectators who watch, plus a map of ancient Rome, gladiator trading cards, and tabula board game. (Activity pack)
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(More children's
books on other Rome and Italy pages) |
