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Travelling with Stabilo #16: The Roman Forum

经纬游踪 #16 : 古罗马广场

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Rome, the Eternal City, an ancient city dating back thousands of years. It was here that the western civilisation was born and flourished. Thousands of years ago it was the capital of the world, Caput Mundi, where people in different corners of the world came to live, trade, worship and play. Today, must of the glory of Rome has faded, but the story of Rome and how it used to be, is etched eternally in history books, and reminded of by the ruins of ancient structures that survived thousands of years after the passing of those glorious days. One of largest ruins in Rome today, is the Foro Romano, or the Roman Forums.

罗马，一座有几千年历史的永恒之城，是西方文化的摇篮。数千年前她是朝气勃勃的世界之都，吸引了从世界不同角落的人来这里贸易，朝拜，生活。数千年后的今天，罗马风光不再，但她的辉煌时代已经被刻上史书，而在罗马古城留下来的遗迹经历了几千年的洗礼，仍然屹立不倒，见证着曾经的光辉岁月。在众多古迹中，规模最大的要数古罗马广场。

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Located next to the Coliseum, The Roman Forum was the ancient city centre of Rome. Dating back to 750BC when Rome was found by Romulus, the first King of Rome, the Roman Forum had been the centre of Roman’s Daily life. It was where the main marketplace was located, where people from local and aboard traded their goods. It was where citizens worship their gods, in one of the many temples built by the Emperors to honour the gods in exchange for their blessings in harvests and wars. It was also where the governing bodies held their meetings, to make decisions big and small.

古罗马广场位于罗马斗兽场旁边，相等于罗马帝国时代的罗马市中心。相传广场在罗慕路斯公元前750年建立罗马时建成，在之后的一千年成为了古罗马人生活的中心。这里是市中心的市集，人们从罗马帝国各地来到这里买卖食材，日用品，奢侈品。在这里云集着各地信徒，在历代帝王为了风调雨顺，国运亨通而兴建的众多神殿里祷告和朝拜。这里亦是古罗马的行政中心，各地官员会在这里举行集会，商榷行政的各种事宜。

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The Roman Forum is a rather expansive ruin. We entered from the Coliseum side, at the start of the main road leading into the forum, Via Sacra. It is said that the Roman army would triumphally march along this road past the forum and up Capitolline Hill after a victorious battle. Through the Arc of Titus, we came upon this garden with a good view of whole forum. We can see as far as the other side of the forum, to the Capitolline Hill beyond, as well as The Victor Emmanuel II Monument in the distance. As we walked further down along the Via Sacra, we saw a huge structure. Three half domes that are similar to what you would see in a Basilica. In fact, this is the ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius, which was destroyed by earthquake in 847 AD. Interestingly, Basilicas back in the ancient times were simply a large building with open space that were used for general purposes, such as council meetings or even grain storage. The Christian movement essentially saw these big open spaces becoming perfect meeting places to gather the masses for Christian worship, and so eventually the term Basilica became a synonym of Christian church.

古罗马广场遗址是个面积很大的古迹。我们从斗兽场旁的北面入口，朝圣路始往广场中心进发。相传古罗马军队凯旋归来时会列队从这里开始沿着朝圣路游行到卡庇多神殿山。我们像他们一样，穿过了提图斯凯旋门。前方左侧是一片小花园，在这可以看见广场对面的神殿山，以及广场外的维克多伊曼纽尔二世纪念碑。我们逗留了一会。继续往前，在右上方可以看见三个半圆顶。这里是马克森提乌斯大教堂的遗迹，在公元847年被地震摧毁。大教堂的前身是一个多用途大型集会场所和仓库，在基督教普及后才被用作能够举行大型宗教集会的礼拜堂。

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Further along on the right side of the path was a small building which was open for visitors. It was the Temple of Deified Romulus, which was later turned into a church and served as an entrance to the Basilica behind it. Inside were pieces of marble columns that was left from the Roman era, as well as wall paintings that has faded and peeled off so much that we could only vaguely see what was painted. This ancient fresco dated back to the 10th century and was probably one of the earliest arts dedicated to Christianity. Next to small church was one of the best-preserved building in the Roman Forum, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. The temple dated back to 141 AD, and was built in honour of Emperor Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina. Antoninus loved his wife so much that when she died young, he requested to have her deified as a goddess, and constructed this temple for her. He never remarried. Years later when he died, the temple was rededicated to both Antoninus and his wife by their descendants. Like many temples in the Forum, the temple was later converted into a Christian church.

我们沿着朝圣路继续前进，在右边看到了一个小礼拜堂。这礼拜堂的前身是罗慕路斯神殿。后来基督教运动时变成了礼拜堂并兼为后面大教堂的入口。礼拜堂里放着古罗马大理石柱的碎片，在墙上还有已经开始剥落的古老壁画。这些原于十世纪的壁画应该是世界上最早出现的基督教壁画之一。小礼堂旁是古罗马广场里保存得最完整的建筑，安托尼努斯和法乌斯提那神庙。这神庙建于公元141年，是罗马君王安托尼努斯用来纪念他芳华早逝的爱妻。他把爱妻法乌斯提那追谥为女神，为她建了神殿，并此后终身不再娶。到他七十多岁离世后，他的后人把他也追谥为神，把神殿献给他们两人。像广场的其他神殿一样，这神殿最后也变成了教堂。

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Walking further down the Via Sacra, we arrive at the centre of the forum. This used to be the main square of the Roman City, surrounded by many temples and various buildings. Now, only fallen marble columns and pieces of rocks remained. There are, however, some patterns in the apparent chaos that makes the different ruins more recognisable. For example, the group of three parallel columns is the remains of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, whereas the three columns that group together in a L shape is the remains of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus. The most recognisable, however, is a grouping of 8 columns that was the temple of Saturn, the god of wealth. The Temple of Saturn dated back to 500 BC and is one of the oldest structures inside the Roman Forum. It is really something to stand before a majestic structure that was built some 3000 years ago. Even though only pieces of it remain, the structure has seen the rises and falls of man-kind and will continue to stand firm as a testament of humanity and civilisation.

在朝圣路上再往前走就到达了古罗马广场的中心。这里曾经是古罗马城的中心广场，广场周边立着大大小小的神殿和建筑。现在中心广场已变为一片废墟，满地布满大理石块和一根根断了的石柱。然而在这混乱的广场上还是可以从石柱的组合去寻找不同建筑的遗迹。例如广场上三支并列的柱子就是双子神殿的遗迹，而三支以L形排列的石柱则是韦帕芗和提图斯神庙的遗迹。可是最特别的莫过于八支石柱所组成的农神庙遗迹。农神庙为公元前500年所建，是广场上最古老的建筑。我们看着这几根貌不惊人的柱子时非常有感触。这几根三千多年前的柱子，经历了多少风雨，见证的多少历史，还是屹立在这里，为后世人们纪念着人类文明的光辉。

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Going uphill towards the Capitol Hill, we walked past the Arch of Septimius Severus and the Curia behind it. The Arc of Septimius Severus essentially mark the end of the Via Sacra, where victorious troop will cross to reach the main temples and palaces at the top of the Capitol Hill. Walking further up, we came to a vintage point where we can look back and have a good view of the whole forum, from the square stone blocks of the Basilica Julia ruins in the foreground, to the bell tower of the Temple of Venus and Rome at the back.

往神殿山上走，我们经过了塞维鲁凯旋门。这里是朝圣路的尽头，凯旋军队会穿过这门到达神殿山上的主宫殿和神殿去朝拜。再往上走我们找到了一个平台，在平台上可以瞭望整个广场，从前面只剩下几块方形石的凯撒神庙遗址，到后面维纳斯神庙的钟楼，都可以一览无遗。

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Coming back down from the hill we took another path. We passed by the remains of a spring, the Spring of Juturna, which dated back to 6 BC. The blue tiles at the bottom of the spring gave the impression that it was still filled with fresh spring water. We then arrived at a large garden with two square pools in the middle, surrounded by rows of headless statues. This is Atrium Vestae, a massive palace where the Vestal Virgins lived. Vestal Virgins were priestesses of the goddess of hearth and were responsible for keeping the sacred fire in the Temple of Vestal. The headless statues were probably statues dedicated these virgins who sacrificed their whole life for the religion of the people.

下山时我们走了另外一条路。我们路过了朱图尔纳泉池，池底的蓝色瓷砖让人觉得干涸的池中还是有泉水。之后，我们来到了一个漂亮的大花园，里面有两个水池和一排无头雕像。原来这里是贞女之家，是供奉灶神和保传灶神庙圣火的贞女的住所。这些雕像应该是为了纪念她们为神奉献一生所建。

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Eventually we walked the full circle back to the entrance near the Coliseum. We were able to take a few more glimpse at this amazing ruin on an elevated platform. The ruin is so expansive that even though we spent 4 -5 hours on site we still have not explore its entirety. Unfortunately, that was the only time we have, as we have booked a tour at the Coliseum in the afternoon. All-in-all, the Roman Forum is a place not to be missed, and I think it is a pity that while a lot of tour buses stop in front of it for tourists to view the Coliseum, none of these tourists have the chance to really see and feel the history of this magnificent city inside the Forum. So if you are travelling to Rome, make sure you set aside at least half a day to visit this amazing place.

走着走着，我们又回到我们进来时的入口。不知不觉，我们已经走了四个小时多。广场里还有很多地方没有去。可惜没有时间了。古罗马广场真是个好地方。可惜很多旅游巴士只停在斗兽场旁观光，而鲜有游客进来真正的认识古罗马的风彩。如果你有机会去罗马，你一定要预算至少半天的时间，来到古罗马广场，回味一下古罗马的辉煌。

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