On Tuesday, I finally walked through the Roman Forum itself. I know this is probably a bit overdue since it is now week 7 of my 11 week trip, but the gates to the historic area close at 6:30 and I never seem to get there on time.
One of the things that surprised me was that there's very little historic fabric left. The round temple of the Vestal Virgins, where the government-ordained 30 year virgins tended an eternal flame, was one of the more interesting structures in the Forum. There were only a few columns left, and upon close inspection, only about 10% of the stone appears to be original (below).
On my way out of the Forum, headed north towards Piazza Venezia, I stopped in the Mamertine Prison, a 2nd century BC structure. According to one of the guides I had eavesdropped on some weeks ago, this was the church where Peter and Paul were imprisoned while in Rome.
The structure, as all the other structures from ancient times, is about 15 feet below contemporary street level, so you descend one set of stairs to get to the main level, and the a second set to get to the prison space.
At the main level, originally prisoners were lowered through a hole about 2' in diameter into the lower chamber, a room with no other openings. Now a curved masonry staircase has been added, which I descended to the dungeon.
The prison is a small space, approximately round in plan, with a radius of some 5 feet, and the stone ceiling is low enough that it just barely cleared my head at the high point. I was surprised to see a door at this level, buried underground, and I don't know the history of that opening. It's definitely old, but I don't know whether it's 2nd c. BC old or 3rd c. AD old. When I first entered the room, there were about 10 tourists, which made it quite crowded, but it was actually useful to hear people talk about the site, since I didn't know too much of the history/story.
(Incidentally, the Italian word 'storia' is used interchangeably for both 'history' and 'story'.)
They said that Peter converted the other prisoners with holy water that rose from the floor, and indeed there is a cylindrical pit in the floor of about a 12" diameter that is connected to the sewer system. They also said that prisoners were drowned in this room, but I couldn't find any mention of this on the web, although numerous people were executioned in other fashions. According to Wiki, there is a good deal of dispute on whether or not Peter and Paul ever reached Rome at all.
Luckily, the tourists all filtered out and I had the place to myself for about 5 or 6 eerie minutes. Living in Rome for the last 7 weeks has given me an interesting sense of the passage of time, but being alone in this dark, damp, musty dungeon from the 2nd century BC is one of the handful of places that really feels old old old. It's a little unsettling when it hits you.
