July 20th

For our second full day in Rome, we had another visiting scholar (Henry Bender) lead us through the Imperial Forum of Augustus (the first Roman emperor).  I usually have ignored the imperial fora (that are on the other side of the main road through Rome, across from the Forum Romanum) since I didn't know much about them, so today was more enlightening.

After lunch, we headed to the Colosseum--since what visit to Rome is incomplete without it.  They run special exhibits in the Colosseum, and today we saw one on gladiators (very appropriate).  Here are some pictures:

One thing I never knew until this trip about Roman amphitheaters and gladiator matches in general was the way the underground system worked.  For instance, I didn't know that there was scenery used for the gladiator matches, so that it felt more like a play than a hard-core battle.  In the picture below you can see a little tree about to get pulled up to the top to add to the scenery: