We ate lunch not far from del Popolo, and then we split up. The ladies wanted to do some shopping and Brian and I had our plans for rounding out the sightseeing. Our plan was to meet in front of this giant marble monstrosity at the center of Rome and then find a place for dinner. Until 7:30, we were on our own...
This truly is a monstrous building, if you look closely at the small dots behind the right-hand flag...those are people's heads & shoulders. The building is called "Il Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II," The Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of Unified Italy. It was started in 1911 and completed in 1935. It is the symbol of Italian Nationalism in Italy, and naturally the modern day Romans hate it. It has been controversial since the day it leveled an ancient part of the Capitoline and medieval Rome.
Inside is a museum dedicated to the history of Italian unification, but only a few things were in English, so I was at a loss for most of the exhibit. That was unfortunate because I did find out that next year is Italy's 150th year as a unified nation, so I am sure that there was more info on Italy packed into the exhibits than I will ever see again. There was however, an amazing view from the top of the monument. Here is the southern part of Rome with St. Peter's off in the distance and the Pantheon's domed top slightly left of center...
Here is Rome north of the monument with the Colosseum behind the forum and the Palatine. This picture also justifies the seven Euro trip to the top, because without going to the top I never would have known what to look for while searching for my next stop, the Capitoline Museums.
They are actually at the top of a giant stair case that I would have walked right by if I hadn't known to look for this building...
Inside the Capitoline Museums is one of the largest collections of ancient Roman artifacts and sculptures. Here are the fragments of the colossus of Constantine...
Yes, I was actually touching the statue. It would have been amazing to see it in real life. Here is the Capitoline Wolf with Romulus & Remus the mythical founder's of Rome...
Here is the Capitoline Hill as it would have looked with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus completed at the top.
This is all that is left of one lower wall. What you are looking at is only about 1/30th the full length of the original Temple and it is only about half the lowest portion of the Temple's base. So the little tiny wall that the columns are sitting on in the artist's rendering.
This is probably the most famous sculpture in the entire museum: The Dying Gaul. It is a Roman Marble copy of a sculpture thought to have originally been commissioned in the 230's BC. The Gauls the Celtic people of the European continent in the time of Rome. They were renowned for their mercenary exploits. Caesar conquered the Gauls in France, and gained fame and wealth for having done so. The Gaul portrayed in the sculpture is about life size and is dying from a grievous wound to his right torso. It is incredibly lifelike, you feel as though the sculptor captured an actual man in stone.
The rest of the museum was filled with sculptures and busts dating back to Roman times. Here is a bust of Pompey the Great and a statue of Minerva/Pallas Athena...
This last photo is taken from an ancient Roman building that was built over by succeeding generations. Up to now, it is easily the oldest building I have ever stood in. It is called the Tabularium, the official records office of Rome, and was completed in 78 BC. That means my view of the Roman Forum would have been much the same as Caesar's had he been standing in the same spot. I just wish that I had known that at the time, I would have taken a picture of the building's insides :(
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