(photo, Robert Heller photography)
Walk up via Cavour and enter the Roman Forum ruins and then explore the Coliseum. If you are a progressive American, it is impossible to miss the dreadful ironies.
When it opened, there were 100 days of fighting. Gladiators were chosen from prisoners and the poor, but if successful in fighting dreadful animals, they could attain the status of today's sports stars. The Emperor and his Vestal Virgins had special seats, and others sat according to their social ranking. Special employees sprinkled perfume about to dilute the smell of blood. Even the site of the Vatican was a race site with human torches. Crucifixions were entertaining.
It was impossible to miss the irony of how barbaric the current United States is seeming, with torturing (such as at Guantanamo and various secret sites) and executions (such as the innocent man in Georgia that travelers from all over the world are asking us about.) Think of Putin being photographed with a tiger, or Dick Cheney luxuriating on a hunting trip.
One man today was wearing a Canadian flag shirt, lest people mistake him as an ugly American. I got an email from a French person that said, "Watch this video and see why we still like Americans, despite the execution."
Many people we talk to when traveling do realize that we are much more similar to them in sentiments than we are to some of our own countrymen. "Have you joined the Tea Party?" teases a French friend. Then they go into a diatribe against the fascist Le Pen or lament the fragmentation of the left (and the demise of their hope, Strauss-Kahn.) John Edwards, Elliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner - even Bill Clinton - sex scandals did not damage just Republicans, unfortunately.
We ALL understand the ramifications of globalization, from our unemployed though educated offspring to the prevalence of SUVs in narrow streets in Europe as in the US now.
At the end of the ancient Roman site discussed above is a more modern monument from which Mussolini delivered speeches. I was able to find a current day postcard in which jets take off behind the garishly baroque building in the colors of the Italian flag. How Berlusconi must lust after this rostrum as he approaches his 75th birthday. Is it any wonder he was admired by Khadafi, with the "bunga bunga" parties and all.
By the way, parts of Rome (near the train station) appear to already have been given the "austerity plan" that some Italians have been protesting against. The subway line is crowded with young and attractive people, but it's easy to wonder how many have been affected by the high unemployment rate. I am watching Italian news right now (without subtitles) and even not understanding it, I can feel the tension.
On a lighter note, travel guru Rick Steves calls Rome "bella chaos." I noticed that there are no toilet seats - in a patriarchical culture, the men won (though these are an update of "Roman toilets," which are essentially holes in the ground.) There are often no street signs - you just head off in the general direction. There are often no bus stops - the bus just stops in the street and you climb on. There are often no "walk" lights - just weave quickly through when there is a traffic jam, just as the motorcycles do. There are only two subway lines and they are crowded, Japan-style. Rome is 6x the size of Paris, but there are 2 train stations instead of 6 or 7, so they are massive. At Termini, we got off the subway onto 6 lanes of escalators and we took four sets of them to get out of the building. Sometimes there was minimal lighting or no toilet paper - austerity again.
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