Layers of Rome

One of my favorite things about Rome is all the different layers that are visible. Things that existed in ancient times, medieval, renaissance, baroque, fascist, and modern times. They're all impossibly close to each other and interact with each other.

Here you can see several layers of Rome

(Left to Right) The theater is from Augustus' time,the apartments above it are medieval, the columns are from the imperial times, the square domed synagogue is post fascism, the yellow building on the right is post renaissance.

Fasces, a symbol in Augustus and Mussolini's times.

 Fasces are bundles of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity".

The theater.

A church that was squeezed in between two temples.

Ruins that are thought to be from between the
occupation of the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill.

A temple to Hercules oddly enough.

Its round shape usually makes
people think it's for a goddess.

A four way arch.

And closer.

Arch of the Argentarii. or Arch of the Money-Changers.

I almost wrote a paper on this but it's been so
damaged it would have been too difficult.

This depicts Septimius Severus and his wife preforming a sacrifice.

This would have depicted Caracalla
and his brother Geta, but Caracalla
had all images of Geta erased.

Gallery of Modern Art.

We went to a modern art Museum. I'm not really a fan of most Modern Art. However, in this museum, "Modern" starts with the Unification of Italy in 1861. Which made it a little better.

Don't know what this is but it was cool.

The mirror floor with statues was awesome.

Immigrants leaving Italy.
Lots of people shown in their traditional dress.

Miners carrying one of their fallen co-workers.
The title is "The Victims of Work"

One of the wars for a unified Italy.

And again.

And another. This one depicting a sense of defeat.

One of the Generals dying.

Some of Garibaldi's Soldiers.

Woman dressed in a fancy style.

An artist that would
later radically change styles.

This is by the same artist as above.

Pictures depicting the "glory" of Fascism.

Mussolini at the top is depicted almost like a deity.

Van Gogh.

Creepy little kid carved from wax.

And an old lady also carved from wax.

Uhh yeah this is where modern art and I split ways.

ooooh metal.

Burned see-through plastic.

So this is supposed to look
like the earth. It's not too bad.

This one wasn't terrible either.

Burlap sacks.

I do actually like things with strong classical references.

Hercules literally, "killing the messenger."

6 of the twelve Olympian gods

And the other 6.

This was cool, but I'm not sure what
it is because it wasn't on the exam.

Hercules Again.

Ceres, goddess of fertility agriculture, nature, and the seasons. 

Neptune. Lord of the seas, earthquakes and horses. 

Minerva. Virgin goddess of wisdom,
handicrafts, defense and strategic warfare.

Venus. Goddess of love, beauty, and desire.

Mars. God of war, violence and bloodshed.

Apollo. God of light, knowledge,
music, poetry, prophecy and archery.

Diana. Virgin goddess of the hunt, virginity,
childbirth, archery, the moon, and all animals.

Pilgrims that are crawling towards a sacred monument.

Peasants working while a landlord supervises.

A girl who has been cast out of a church.

Cleopatra.

St. Andrew being tempted by visions of women.

A Muslim man practicing Salah. (Italy and
especially Sicily has a strong Arabic influence.) 

Colosseum 

Carnivale (Mardi Gras) in Rome.

The facade.