Friday, November 26, 2010

A Pilgrimage to Rome

On November 6, 2010, Ellie and I flew to Rome to begin a long planned vacation.  Our travel companions were Paul and Kendra Moloney, Ellie's brother and sister-in-law.  Also on the tour was a church group from a little town outside of Austin, Texas.  They were mostly Mexican-Americans and were a delightful group.  We couldn't have had more pleasant traveling companions.  The tour was set up in such a way so we would all stay at the same hotel and could visit the various sights and places of interest as a group or go off on our own.  We chose not to go with the group on a tour of the Vatican as Ellie and Paul and Kendra had been before and felt that we didn't need a guided tour.  We went by ourselves.  But we did go with the group to Assisi (the only time we went outside Rome), and we took a night-time tour of Rome with the group.  We also went to two restaurants with the group.  At the first restaurant, a guitarist played popular Italian songs during the meal.  At the second restaurant, there were two male tenors and a female soprano and a mezzo soprano.  They were opera singers and had remarkable voices.  I had never heard opera live before; I had only heard it on television.  I was blown away by the quality of their voices and wished I understood the language.  But you really don't have to understand the language to appreciate how good they are when you hear it live.  I enjoyed eating in the restaurants.  They typically serve three course meals but serve smaller portions than we have in our restaurants.  I think they eat healthier than we do.  I noticed very few overweight women or men in Rome.  The smaller portions did not bother me as I don't have the appetite I used to when I was younger.


This was not Ellie's first visit; she had made three previous trips but it was my first and our first visit together. Ellie had not been there since 1973,so she was anxious to go back; and I was anxious to see it for the first time.  As she has for the last thirty seven years, Ellie was to be my guiding light for this visit to this most glorious city.  These writings that I am leaving for posterity or for whoever cares to read them, will be based on readings that I have done either in books or magazines, or newspapers, or periodicals, or some other printed material.  But in this case, the printed material that I have relied on are travel guides. "Rick Steves' Travel Guide to Rome" was helpful. The two travel books that provided the most detailed information were "Insight Guides to Italy," published in 1989, by APA Publications and "Fodor's Exploring Rome" (third edition), published in 1996, by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Though not recent publications, these two travel guides provided a wealth of information concerning the history, the culture and the art and historic treasures that make Rome and all of Italy such a fascinating tourist destination.

First, let me provide some history.  From 509 BC to 50 BC Rome was a Republic ruled by a Senate chosen from the upper classes.  During the last years of the Republic there were conflicts between the wealthy classes and the middle classes (plebeians) and Rome was in danger of slipping into civil war.  It was at that point that Julius Caesar, a popular General who had returned to Rome after having defeated an army in what is now France but was then called Gaul, seized power and made himself a virtual dictator.  He restored order but was murdered in 44 BC by a band of assassins including his adopted son Brutus, who wished to restore the Republic.  He was succeeded in power by his grand nephew Octavian who took the title "Augustus" and became the first of the emperors who would rule Rome for the next 500 years.  It would be impossible to describe in detail the sights and points of interest in Rome without writing a book.  In Rome there are more than 700 churches, many of them remarkable for their beauty and structural design.  There  are also other points of interest as well, the Colosseum, the remains of the Forum, the Baths of Diocletian and many other places of interest.  I will instead focus on a brief history of Rome and on a few interesting facts. I will begin by discussing the Colosseum. 

The Colosseum took about ten years to build.    It was started in 70 AD and completed in 80 AD.  The work was done mostly by slaves brought to Rome from Judea.  In 70 AD, the Jewish people of Judea rebelled against Roman rule.  The rebellion was crushed and the Jewish temple was destroyed.  The Jewish people scattered throughout the world. and approximately 50,000 were brought in chains to Rome to be held in bondage.  In 81 AD, upon completion of the Colosseum, a one hundred day festival was decreed to celebrate its' opening.  There was no admission.  Any Roman citizen could attend at no cost.  During this inaugural festival, approximately 2,000 gladiators and 9000 animals were slain.  Workers squirted perfume around the Colosseum to mask the stench of blood.  A typical day's entertainment might begin with women gladiators fighting each other, followed by midget gladiators fighting, then followed by the main event, male gladiators fighting wild animals or fighting other gladiators.  The blood lust of the Roman mob knew no boundaries.  It was not just the lower classes that thrilled to the spilling of blood, but the middle and upper classes as well.  As Rome went into decline, the bloodletting finally ended and the Colosseum severely damaged by earthquakes, became a decaying relic of a once great Empire. 

Constantine became Emperor of Rome when he defeated the Emperor Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD.  Constantine's mother and sister were Christians and after his victory, Constantine converted to Christianity.  In 313 AD, he issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity.  Thus 313 AD is one of the seminal dates in World history.

I will not attempt to describe the magnificence of the basilicas and churches of Rome .  Words are inadequate; you have to see them.  I could not help but thinking when I was within the walls of these awe inspiring monuments to the glory of God, were they in fact monuments to the glory of God, or were they monuments to the earthly glory of the Catholic Church and to the Popes who built them.  Father Peter Curran has built fourteen humble churches in Brazil in his thirty years of missionary work there.  What would Jesus think of these magnificent churches in Rome as compared with the simple little churches built by Father Peter in Brazil ?

During the reign of Constantine, he divided the Empire into two parts.  In 324 AD, he removed the seat of power to Byzantium, present day Turkey, and ruled from there.  He built a great city, Constantinople, which is present day Istanbul.  The City of Rome continued to be the capital of the Western Roman Empire, but its' greatness was diminished.  The Eastern Roman Empire lasted until 1453, when it was invaded and defeated by the Ottoman Turks.  The Western Roman Empire did not last as long.  In 410 AD, the Visigoths, a Germanic Tribe sacked Rome but they did not stay.  They came back in 476 AD, defeated the Roman army and occupied the city.  That was the end of the Western Roman Empire.

Without doing more reading and research, I cannot offer a definitive opinion as to what caused the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.  However there is one thing that appears clear to me.  I am of the opinion that the strength and viability of a nation is dependant upon the virtue of its' people.  If the virtue of the people collectively, is diminished, then the nation will be weakened.  It seems to me that virtue of the Roman people became so diminished that Rome was greatly weakened and ultimately collapsed caused as much from internal causes as from pressure from without.  What lessons should we in the United States, the most powerful nation on earth, draw from the rise and fall of the Roman Empire ?  Will we continue to be a strong and prosperous nation ?  Or will we become a nation of crumbling monuments and faded dreams ?