ROMA — AMOR: ROME’S EPIC TALES
Titus Livius’ masterpiece Ab Urbe Condita narrates the monumental history of Rome. His work starts with the legend regarding the epic arrival of the Troian hero Aeneas in the lands which are now known as “Latium” and which saw in 753 BC the founding of the most glorious city in the world, the great Beauty: Roma. The founding of any city can be investigated through history, literature, archeology, though what it concerns Rome, the mythical legend of the twins Romulus and Remus suckled by a she-wolf makes the ancient Roma Caput Mundis more intriguing and fascinating at the eyes of its visitors and pilgrims.
The shadows of maritime pines and olive trees hide today the ruins of the first metropole humanity has ever witnessed. Rome tells and dictates history since three millennia. Rome has been the beating heart of one of the most brilliant civilisations in the world. Imagine that we still use the Latin alphabet to type our words; imagine that modern European languages (Italian, French, Romanian, Portuguese, Catalan, Castilian) see their roots in Latin. Imagine that the Romans set the basis of contemporary law; not to mention that Romans set an example for many yesterday and today’s architects and engineers, as they understood how to build a cupola without the employment of scaffoldings, how to perfectly build strong stone bridges and aqueducts, and how to fascinate the planet thanks to giant marble temples, amphitheatres and palaces.
Rome is unique in its kind. There is no city in the world where different historic periods coexist harmoniously. The visit to the Palatine Hill is a complete breath of history, an astonishment of giantness and magnificence. The visiting path leads to a terrace which invites oneself to a sensational and unique panorama over the central archeologic area. “A view of ruins”, many visitors tend to say. Well, they are not simple ruins: these are marbles, porphyries, columns, collapsed temple’s pronaos, old fountains. However, the most suggestive thing is to see the same ancient amazement in each and every corner of the city. All other Italian cities have an archeologic surface separated from their city centre. Rome, on the contrary, shares a unique variety of historic coexistances.
Rome is known to be the eternal city thanks to its epic heroes and to the immortal mythical Empire. Nevertheless, Rome can also be identified as the Holy city, the epicentre of Christianity which witnessed the marthyrdoms of the first Christians as well as the power struggles of simoniac Papal dinasties.
I spent my entire last day of stay in Rome at the Vatican; a day surrounded by the immense beauty of marbles, statues, canvas and frescoes. While there, everyone can realize that Rome is the apotheosis of visual arts, the guardian of the most precious World’s cultural heritage. Michelangelo Buonarroti is a name among thousands, but the most emblematic one. His name fully confirms my previous statement. The characters painted in his overwhelming frescoes in the interiors of the Sistine Chapel seem to be alive. While observing both the Genesis’ cycle of frescoes and the very famous Giudizio Universale (“The final judgment”), it seems that each and every character talks to you, that the souls destined to hell scream to you; it seems that Charon throws with anger and strength those damned sould towards you; it seems that Jesus, in his omnipotence, comes close to the visitors to judge them with his finger. It is usually inappropriate to define frescoes as majestic: one can describe the Colosseum as such. But indeed, the Jesus of Il Giudizio Universale is as majestic and astonishing as the entire Saint Peter’s architectural complex. Bernini’s collonade at the entrance to the Vatican city and the monumental Basilica deliver to each humble Holy city’s visitor and pilgrim an unforgettable hug. This spectacle of visual art leaves everyone breathless and, most of all speechless; so speachless that the feelings might be undescribable.
