A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Today was action packed with exciting visits, including the Mouth of Truth, the Capitoline Hill, the Ancient Roman Forum, the Paletine Hill, the Circus Maximus, and the Capitoline Museums. Perhaps the highlight of our dusty trek today was through the Ancient Roman Forum, where we first took a trip inside the Senate House, which is currently housing an exhibit on Nero. The inside of the Senate House was enormous, and it was hard to believe that such a brick structure has survived for thousands of years. Though I had originally planned to focus mainly on the Senate House, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the ruins that are scattered throughout the Roman Forum. My reaction to these ruins was the opposite of what I expected. Instead of being struck with awe, I was struck with sadness. Tall grass, rocks, and dust now outlines what were once massive basilicas, baths, and temples. Only select columns and portions of foundations remain from buildings that were once colorfully painted and stood higher and more expansive than most buildings today. When our group was preparing to enter the forum, one of the chaperones showed us a book that used transparencies over pictures of the ruins to show how the ruins fit into the original forum. This was absolutely stunning and made the rubble seem like a cheap and unworthy replication. The sad truth is that the ruins of the forum are all that are left of the most powerful nation in the history of the world. Back home, we used to have a local amusement park named Idora Park, which burned down in the late 1980s. Looking at the current forum is like looking at the remnants of Idora Park. They make you consider how a place so wonderful and magnificent can be reduced to such a shadow of its former self.

The Forum, Before and After