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12th -16th March 2008 - Art Tour "Roman Rome"
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Art Tour – 12-16 March 2008

 ROMAN ROME

PAUL ROBERTS, Head of the Roman Department at the British Museum, guides the tour and brings to life with his deep understanding and enthusiasm the remains of Roman Rome.

We stay in the Hotel Santa Chiara, Via Santa Chiara 21 – Tel: 0039 06 687 2979, which is just behind the Pantheon.

Wednesday 12 March

2 pm Leaving the hotel, we ascend the sweeping flight of steps leading to the Capitoline Hill. This, the most prominent and historically important of Rome’s hills is crowned by a series of buildings around Michelangelo’s beautiful piazza.  The buildings contain the Capitoline Museums, a treasure house of Roman sculpture in stone and bronze. From the rear of the hill you can have stunning views over the Roman Forum, with the Colosseum in the distance. The Roman Forum was the heart of the ancient city, and although centuries of natural disasters, neglect and wilful destruction have reduced it to a shadow of its former appearance, the remains can still impress and inspire. At either end are two great triumphal arches, the Arch of Titus, near the Colosseum and the Arch of Septimius Severus. Between them lie the remains of everything that made Roman the religious and civic life of Rome tick. The great elongated Basilicas for law-giving and administration, Temples of Saturn, Venus and Castor and Pollux deities closely involved with the city, Temples of the deified great (Julius Caesar, Antoninus Pius), and the Rostra the stage for such great men as Cicero and Mark Antony.

Leaving the Forum, we turn down the Via dei Fori Imperiali (formerly Mussolini’s Via dell’Impero) and explore the ruins, some very newly excavated, of the Imperial Fora – the Fora that were “bolted on” when the Forum Romanum became too small for the Empire’s needs! After the Forum of Vespasian, once home to the great marble map of the city and the Forum of Nerva, we come to the Forum of Augustus with the sad fragments of the Temple of Mars Ultor. Next to it are the still impressive Forum and Markets of Trajan with its basilica, libraries and immense courtyard. The markets are very well preserved and atmospheric with five surviving levels of offices, shops and even connecting roads. At the end is Trajan’s Column – one of the famous narrative columns of Rome, that recounts the conquest of Dacia (Romania) by the Emperor Trajan.

Dinner in a restaurant close to the hotel.

Thursday 13 March

9.30 am. We leave to ascend the Palatine Hill and view the site of the Imperial Palaces. From the time of Augustus the Emperors made this place their home and, even though severely pillaged and ruined, the remains can still make a huge impression. The most imposing ruins are those of the Palace of Domitian with its huge colonnaded squares, ornamental fountains and the massive throne room and dining room. There is also a dizzying sunken courtyard and a sunken ovoid stadium. From the terrace at the rear of the palace you get a superb view over the Circus Maximus – the largest chariot-racing stadium of the ancient world.

We then descend to the Colosseum which for many people is the essential icon of the city. This immense structure, the largest arena of the Roman world, capable of holding 60,000 people is immensely powerful, even as a ruin. Nearby is the Arch of Constantine, commemorating the triumph of the ‘Christian Emperor’. Close by are the ruins of the Ludus Magnus where gladiators could train in a scaled down version of the Colosseum.

In the afternoon we head to the east of the city to visit the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Palazzo Massimo. This is one of the finest collections of Roman mosaics, wall paintings and sculptures in the world, including masterpieces of painting from Roman villas in and around Rome. We finish the day with a look at one of the finest early Christian basilicas in the City, Santa Maria Maggiore. The beautiful interior, all gold and marble, gives a marvellous idea of how the pagan basilicas once appeared. It has other treasures such as a magnificent ceiling (gilded, perhaps with Columbus’ first gold from the New World?) and the tomb of Bernini.

Dinner at leisure.

Friday 14 March

9.30 am – We spend the morning in the Capitoline Museums which recently have been updated and enlarged. Among the many treasures on the lower level are the beautifully restored equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius and the remains of the Temple of Jupiter, the largest brick temple in the western world.

12.30 pm – We leave by bus for Villa Adriana, the country residence of the Emperor Hadrian. He was the philhellene ‘par excellence’ and he recreated in his magnificent Villa d’Otium his dream of a Greek world of beauty and perfection. He offered it as a tribute to the memory of his lover, Antinous who appears among the statues of the Greek Gods, the most handsome of all. The various pavilions, theatres, pools and colonnades reminded him (in his rare moments of relaxation) of his vast empire in which he loved to travel so much. The villa and its surrounding parks and gardens were sumptuously decorated with, statues, reliefs and mosaics. From the middle ages it became a rich quarry of works of art and building materials and many of the world’s major collections (including the British Museum) can trace part of their collections back to this incredible, palatial villa.

Dinner at leisure.

Saturday 15 March

9.30 am – We go to the Campus Martius (Campo Marzio). This was the monumental area of ancient Rome, but became the old centre of the city – where people settled in Medieval times.  First we visit the Pantheon. This monument is quite stunning. When you turn the corner into Piazza della Rotonda it looms above you, imposing and silently strong. It is an original Roman temple, dating to the time of Hadrian (about 120 AD) and is intact, topped by a domed roof, still with its great circular opening. If it rains while you are there it is unforgettable!) Then we go to Piazza Navona which was originally the stadium of Domitian, the venue for Greek-style games and athletics. It is now a long thin elegant piazza surrounded by cafes and bars. Along the centre are beautiful fountains and the whole square is very atmospheric, especially at night. From there we visit Palazzo Altemps a delightful small museum with a wonderful display of Roman sculptures.

Allowing a generous break for lunch, at 3.30 pm we go to Largo Argentina, a busy bus-filled square which contains at its centre the exposed remains of several Roman temples, a huge public toilet and, somewhat surprisingly, the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated. This was NOT in the Forum as many people think, but here, right next to a modern bus stop! We pass through the old (and current) Jewish quarter and arrive at the great Portico of Octavia, an imposing gateway and parts of a colonnade – the remains of a massive colonnaded complex containing two temples. Then we see, looming ahead the curved, arcade façade of the Theatre of Marcellus – the only one of Rome’s theatres to have left any trace.

From there we head for the Forum Boarium, once the cattle market of the city. It has two intact temples, one round (Temple of Hercules) and one rectangular (Temple of Portunus, god of ports); two imposing arches, the mighty four-fronted ‘Arch of Janus’ and the smaller Arco degli Argentarii (Arch of the Bankers), incorporated into one of the two early Christian churches in the square, San Giorgio in Velabro. The other church is Santa Maria in Cosmedin is the “Bocca della Verita” or “Mouth of Truth” – a Roman drain cover in the form of a sea god’s face. According to Medieval legend, if you put your hand in the mouth and you tell a lie it bites your hand off (Audrey Hepburn tried it in “Roman Holiday”!) We then stroll over not one but two Roman bridges to the Tiber Island and then Trastevere.

Dinner in Trastevere.

Sunday March 16

9.30 am – For our last day of the tour we head south via the Circus Maximus to the Baths of Caracalla, the most splendid and best preserved of the Imperial Roman baths completed in 217 AD. Then we head out to Ostia Antica, the port of ancient Rome. This amazing city, once one of the most bustling and cosmopolitan ports of the Empire, was abandoned at the end of antiquity, and fell prey to armies of stone rubbers. Yet enough remains to give you a vivid impression of its past glories. You wander along streets still lined by apartment blocks, up to three stories high, pause at a taverna, complete with counter and shelves for food and drink. Then you come to the Theatre, and behind it the incredible Piazza della Corporazioni (Corporation Square) with its numerous shipping offices. These are distinguished by mosaics showing the various activities and interests of the numerous companies – the African shippers show elephants and corn, others show lighthouses and great merchant ships. Leaving the square we come across vast warehouses, temples, baths, latrines, tanneries and many other fascinating buildings. Other than the Bay of Naples, there are few other places that give such a good picture of daily life in a Roman city.

We then go directly to Leonardo da Vinci airport to arrive by 5 pm and then to Ciampino airport for anyone flying from there. 

Price:   £1,100 (Friends £1,050)           Single supplement £160.

(Price includes Hotel, bed & Breakfast, dinner on 12 and 15 March, expert guiding, entrance fees,

transport throughout including airport transfers.  (The price does not include flights)

Accademia Art Tours,  59 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RA - Tel: +44 (0)20 7235 6650 - Fax: +44 (0)20 7235 6659 Email: info@accademia-club.com  -  www.accademia-club.com – www.accademiatours.com