Today was a day for the class to do their own excursions. My original plan was to get some rest, wake up at 8 and be out the door at 9 for a trip to the Etruscan Museum. Somehow, I don't think the moving crew received the message because they decided 6am was the perfect time to break down the graduation stage in the court yard. Keep in mind that I slept through the iPhone alarm in the Common Room and the 3am drunken ramblings of our lovely neighbors from the University of Houston on many occasions with ease. In short, bombs could go off and I would probably roll over and continue my snooze. A part of me was impressed with the movers for achieving the impossible.
Anyway, my body rebelled against the 6am wake up call and I managed to get myself together around 9:30 this morning. I set out with Rebecca, Michelle B. and Catherine to the Etruscan Museum to discover that it was closed. Turns out many museums in Rome are closed on Mondays. We decided to roll with the punches and come up with a Plan B, which was San Clemente. Unfortunately we forgot about siesta. The churches closed at noon and we were forced to wait at the dorms until they reopened. Again, rolling with the punches. I decided to utilize the time and researched San Clemente, Giovanni e Paolo and Ostia Antica for tomorrow. I also found a new outfit because we didn't think the bishops would have agreed with the cut off shorts and purple t-shirt I donned that morning.
We set off for Circo Massimo around 2:30. Our first stop was San Clemente. This visit was a change of pace for me because I didn't fulfill my usual routine of milling about the church and viewing the paintings and wall frescoes. Instead we went straight for the mithraeum. I was able to piece together a few images based off the information from Chris' Weebly, but I honestly wish we had a guided tour just because I wasn't familiar with it. Having an expert available to speak about the mithraeum would have helped me connect the dots. Also, seeing the mithraem after researching the church was kind of like studying for a huge Math exam only to discover minutes before that you confused the dates on your calendar and you'll instead walk into your English exam. But it's okay because I still walked away having learned something new. Plus I was able to get a few cool pictures:
I know I'm not supposed to be taking photos at some of these sites. Lauren and I even got called out by one of the employees at the exhibit - which I thought was absolutely hilarious, forgive me, I'm still working on fighting off the shutter bug.
This mosaic is of brothers Saint Cyril & Methodius. They were known for revolutionizing Slavonic biblical literature; developing the Slav alphabet and teaching in Slav, improving the literacy rate and developing Christianity in Eastern Europe. They also found the body of Saint Clemente and brought him to his final resting place. Clement was martyred by the Romans; tied to an anchor and thrown into the Black Sea. I remember Antonia mentioning during her presentation that early Christians used the anchor as a disguise for the cross. She also said on her Weebly that it was a symbol of salvation and a metaphor for "anchoring the port" of faith. This photo is blurry, but the actual mosaic has an anchor on it. Cyril and Methodius were nicknamed "The Apostles to the Slavs" and were named co-patron saints of Europe with Benedict of Nursia after their deaths.
After our tour of the mithra under Basilica San Clemente, we continued to SS Giovanni e Paolo. We got a little lost, but thankfully a friendly couple pointed us in the right direction. It wasn't too far away from San Clemente. I didn't expect to see the domus raised to ground level, but the archaeologists that raised the walls and reconstructed the rooms did an amazing job. If I didn't know any better I would have assumed the original house was built at that site.
John and Paul were Roman soldiers and eunuchs to Constantina. They were secretly beheaded and buried in their home in 362 by the Romans when it was discovered that their house was used as a meeting place for some of the earliest Christians in Antiquity. They created a nymphaeum inside the house that paid homage to the female nature deities described in Greek mythology. The nymphaea of John and Paul had an array of geometric patterns, leaves and rams on the borders of the walls, common symbols associated with the nymphs. There was also a beautiful fresco in one of the larger rooms. Archaeologists have agreed on two interpretations: A) It's a depiction of the return of Proserpine to Hades on and island between Bacchus and Ceres
B) It's a depiction of the re figuration of Venus Marina while Bacchus pours her a drink
I'm not well versed in Greek mythology, but I would say both of these theories could be correct based off their stories. I liked Giovanni e Paolo because there were so many relics on display and because archaeologists are still trying to determine the symbolism of some of the relics left in the domus (the building was created in phases; a cult building was installed during the 5th century, making some of the relics different than those from the lifetime of John and Paul).
After John and Paul we walked to the Circo Massimo train station. We ended up waiting for a semi-empty train for 20 minutes before biting the bullet and boarding one anyway. Being from the tri-state area, I've been on many packed subways. But I was shocked at this one. There was almost no room to turn your head. I was nervous when I saw a woman help her two children - one an infant in a stroller and the other no older than age 2 - on to the train. Under those conditions it would have been easy for them to get sick.
We got back to the Collegio just in time for classes. We discussed the influence The Aeneid had on Dante's work in addition to the metaphors in the cantos. In Dr. Bednarz class we discussed mockery of the royals in the scriptures, specifically Kings Herod and Eglon. I made a mental note to keep my eyes open for imagery that delegitimized royalty within the next few days.
Classes ended later than expected, which I'm thankful for because we were able to fit the sites in. Kylee, Lauren, Jacob and I decided to go out for dinner and ran into Dr. Bednarz, Dr. Sebastian and Elizabeth. We found a pizza place a few blocks away from the Collegio where I tried my first ever anchovy pizza at Dr. Bednarz's request. I wish I took a picture to document it, because I know my family at home probably read this paragraph, laughed, re-read it and laughed again. Italy has made me much more adventurous with my eating habits, because at home I probably would have stared at the fishy slice for about twenty minutes until it got cold. But I loved it! I don't think I could have eaten an entire pie by myself, but I did try and I was pleasantly surprised. I also enjoyed the Sausage and Potatoes I ordered. Dear Protein, I miss you! Dinner lasted a lot longer than expected, but I enjoyed every minute of it. We didn't get back to the Collegio until 11 because we stopped for gelato afterwards. I did my best to handle some work when we returned, but my pillow called me, so I settled with reviewing some background information on Ostia Antica with Kylee. I even made a list of places I wanted to visit.
Anywho, my bed is calling me. Ciao.
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