The Colosseum and the Forum

The morning of Day 3 in Rome was spent on a guided tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. While the guide was only so-so and I don't feel like I learned a lot in terms of new information, the experience of seeing all these monuments and the entire layout of the Forum for the first time was simply fantastic. The complexity of the architecture and the sheer size of the all the monuments was very impressive. For a fan of ancient Roman history, it's like being a kid in a candy store!

The Colosseum in the morning light.

Detail of the outer wall.

From another angle.

The floor of the arena with all the underground structures.

The mandatory group photo, with Maggie.

The Arch of Constantine, right next to the Colosseum.

Detail of the Arch of Constantine.

Overview of the Forum with the Colosseum in the background.

Another view of the Forum.

The massive Temple of Venus with part of the dome still visible.

The remnants of the Temple of Castor and Pollux and of the Temple of the Vestal Virgins .

The Arch of Titus.

Trajan's Column.

Detail of Trajan's column, recounting his victory over the Dacians, and told like a cartoon strip wrapping all around the entire column.

The Emperor Augustus was said to have proclaimed to have found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.

I guess we should be grateful to Augustus for his contribution to the embellishment of the city.

Mario