Week 3: Start-up mode continues

Stairs from Trastevere up to Janiculum

The nights in Rome are now getting a bit cooler – down to around 60 F.  The afternoons are still warm – usually around 80, but feel quite a bit warmer in the afternoon sun, particularly if I’m walking back up the large hill of the Janiculum (Gianicolo), to the Academy and our apartment.   The shortest route from the centro has a long flight of stairs straight up the hill, terminating near the Spanish Embassy, and Bramante’s Tempietto (one of the true jewels of the Italian Renaissance). Aside from the occasional shower, the skies are often clear and crisp, with great views across the Eternal City from here atop the Janiculum. 

Bramante's tempietto in the courtyard of the Spanish Academy

Start-up mode continues this week at the Academy, although we are all settling in.  We had our second of the three weeks of Italian language classes this week (3 hours each morning).     

On Tuesday we enjoyed the first lecture in our weekly in-house lecture series, which are informally called “Shop Talks”.  This week was Professor Corey Brennan lecturing on Roman sports arenas – the circuses and colosseums, with special attention to Roman chariot racing in the circuses.   The famous elongated shape of the Piazza Navonna in Rome’s Centro derives from a circus on that site (though the track was about 30 ft. below the present pavement surface). For authenticity of a Roman chariot race, Corey said the 1925 version of the film Ben Hur beats the early or more famous later version by a longshot. It’s a wild, crash-ridden race scene, with dust and chaos everywhere.  In the 1925 film, an accident on a turn results in a violently all-too-real multi-horse, chariot, and rider pile-up.  

On Wednesday we had a walking tour of the Centro (historic center) of Rome led by Roberto Caracciolo.  Roberto did an amazing job of merging practical recommendations for expats on a budget (where to get a bicycle repaired, where to buy a used jacket, where to get the best slices of pizza, etc.) with a brief tour of some major architectural and artistic monuments (e.g.,  Borromini’s Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza).  Here’s a wonderful photo taken by the artist Stephen Westfall (a painter who is a fellow at the AAR) of all of us gazing up at the remarkable lantern and spire of Sant’Ivo: 

Stephen Westfall photo of AAR walking tour admiring the spire of Borromini's Sant'Ivo

On Thursday we had a tour of the Fototeca (Photographic Archives) of the American Academy.   In addition to the library, the Fototeca is another in-house resource for our research.  It houses photographs of Rome dating back to as early as the 1860’s.  The photographs of the forum and other major monuments prior to major archaeological and restoration work could be important resources for me – to see what they looked like in their “before” state. 

publication on Esther Van Deman

One of their photographic collections in which I’m particularly interested is by Esther B. Van Deman.   She was a woman way ahead of her time, investigating and assessing and documenting methods of Roman construction.  She took about 2,000 photos of Roman construction in the first decade of the 20^th century.  Many of these look like photos I’ve taken on my investigations of historic buildings in the US – photographs of the nitty gritty details of the construction and coursing of masonry walls, often with a tape measure in the photo.

In addition to applying for permissions to access my first round of study buildings, I’ve also been spending some time in the library and doing some preparatory readings on prior studies of Roman construction.  Scott Craver of the University of Virginia, a Fellow in ancient studies, was kind enough to spend some time with me helping me to assemble a bibliography of the key works, most of which they have here in the Academy’s library.   Scott’s study is on Pompeii, and after talking with him, I’m now convinced that I’ll need to spend examining the construction details of buildings in Pompeii as part of my research project – the details of construction of the buildings there are much more intact (in general) than on the ancient Roman buildings in Rome.  I’ll put together a permission request now for measuring and documentation at Pompeii, and probably plan a visit of a couple days this fall.

Fireworks at Villa Aurelia

On Saturday night, a private party was held at the Villa Aurelia (the c. 1650 villa owned by the Academy), which is right across the street from our apartment.  The Academy often rents out the Villa for the evening for high-end weddings and celebrations. The party this Saturday included fireworks, which were detonating about 120 yards from our apartment windows – a spectacular scene.  Best of all, somehow my 3 month old daughter managed to sleep through it – I’ll never fathom how.

We’re starting to feel more at home in the neighborhood where we live.   I’ve become friendly with the folks at the small family-run corner bakery/store that I frequent for things like bread, cheese, and milk.   A husband and wife who work there together are expecting their first child in the spring, and they love when I bring my 3 month old daughter in to the store with me – she’s a nice preview for them of what is to come.  Here in the Enternal City, life is constantly renewed…