WIN HERE! TAKE THE STAGE CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER GREEN ROME WHERE EMPERORS TROD .................................... 6-11 WALK, SHOP, WALK DELICIOUS ROME ..................................................12-15 PARTY DAYS ROME’S GHOSTIE GUESTS Hi... we’re WATERY ROME .......................................................16-21 Amelia and GOING GRUESOME SPOTTED OUTSIDE ..............................................22-27 Marco, and we’ve created LOOK UP .................................................................28-33 19 awesome LOOK DOWN ..........................................................34-37 DELICIOUS ROME themed trails for GOING GRUESOME ..............................................38-43 SPOTTED OUTSIDE WEAR ROME you to follow. PARTY DAYS ..........................................................44-47 MEET THE CREATURES The pushpins on this map TAKE THE STAGE .................................................. 48-51 WHERE EMPERORS TROD mark the starting points, I’M IN CHARGE! .....................................................52-57 and each trail is packed THE HOLY WAY with secrets, stories, and MEET THE CREATURES .......................................58-61 lots of other cool stuff. So LOOK UP THE HOLY WAY .....................................................62-67 whether you are a foodie, a sports fanatic, or a history WEAR ROME .......................................................... 68-71 buff, this book has got ANDIAMO! ............................................................... 72-75 something for you! WIN HERE! ..............................................................76-79 I’M IN CHARGE GREEN ROME ....................................................... 80-85 WALK, SHOP, WALK .............................................86-89 BRILLIANT BUILDINGS ........................................ 90-95 ROME’S GHOSTIE GUESTS ...............................96-99 LOOK DOWN INDEX .......................................................................... 100-102 BRILLIANT BUILDINGS FURTHER READING .......................................................... 102 WATERY ROME ANDIAMO! 4 5 THE PALATINE HILL DOMITIAN’S MYSTERY ROME STARTS WITH A FIGHT! UPTOWN TOP-RANKING ACCORDING TO ROMAN MYTHOLOGY, TWIN BABY BROTHERS ROMULUS Next to his palace (the Domus AND REMUS WERE FOUND FLOATING IN A BASKET ON THE RIVER TIBER THE PALATINE HILL The length of time Emperor Flavia), Emperor Domitian built a Domitian’s home served as walled area called the Stadium. It BY A SHE-WOLF. SHE TOOK THEM TO A CAVE ON THE PALATINE BC the main imperial palace The Palatine Hill above the Forum is the place where 753 looks like a big running track but NOW KNOWN AS THELUPERCAL (WOLF CAVE). WHEN Rome was said to have been founded. Later, it was years nobody knows what it was really THEY WERE OLDER, ROMULUS DECIDED TO BUILD A where the Roman emperors lived in grand palace The year Rome is said for. It could have been for exercising CITY CALLED ROME ON THE HILL, BUT HIS BROTHER to have been founded 300 luxury. It may have been the top spot in town in the emperor’s horses or perhaps DISAGREED AND THERE WAS A TERRIBLE QUARREL. toga-wearing times, but nowadays, it’s a great place just for taking a stroll. We’ll never for picnicking in the shade while gazing at the ruins. know, so take a guess. Like both ROMULUS KILLED REMUS AND WENT ON TO BUILD Caesar and Caligula, Domitian was THE CITY JUST WHERE HE WANTED IT. killed by his enemies. In Roman THE BEST DECORATORS times, there was a high body count on the Palatine Hill! It was Emperor Augustus who first set up home here. Some of the wall paintings in his house can still be seen SAINT IN THE STADIUM today, including garden plants and animals on the walls of a dining room. Augustus’s wife, Livia, was accused by Many churches in Rome contain paintings of some of being a plant expert, but not in a good way. They DOMUS FLAVIA St. Sebastian, a Christian Roman soldier who was POISON said she was a murderess who used poison from plants killed on the orders of Emperor Diocletian. According to kill anyone she didn’t like, including Augustus! to legend, he was tied to a tree in the Stadium and shot full of arrows. Somehow he survived and appeared later in front of the astonished emperor to tell him what an awful man he was. Then Sebastian really was killed, this time hit with clubs, but STADIUM paintings usually show him tied to the tree and pierced with arrows. 10 11 UPSIDE-DOWN ART THE FRESCO STORY MICHELANGELO’S FRESCO REPRESENTS THE BOOK OF GENESIS SISTINE CHAPEL IN THE BIBLE, FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD TO THE STORY OF NOAH. THE MOST FAMOUS SECTION SHOWS The Sistine Chapel is in the Vatican GOD TOUCHING THE HAND OF ADAM, THE FIRST MAN. Museums, part of the headquarters MICHELANGELO PAINTED GOD LAST OF ALL, BECAUSE HE of the Catholic Church. It’s where THOUGHT HE WOULD BE AT HIS VERY BEST BY THEN. you’ll find the most famous ceiling THE POPE WHO COMMISSIONED THE PAINTING WANTED TO in the world, a fresco (painting on plaster) by Michelangelo. It took SHOW THE 12 APOSTLES, BUT MICHELANGELO IGNORED HIM. him four years of hard work to paint it for Pope Julius II between 1508 and 1512. The Vatican TOUGH TIME Michelangelo painted the ceiling standing on a scaffold and craning his neck. He didn’t want the job in the first place and he complained that it ruined his health. His payments were often delayed, and cold, damp weather stopped the plaster from drying, but in the end, he had 25,000 made a masterpiece. The number of people who visit every day. That’s 5 million a year. COVER-UP STAYING SAFE In 1564, another artist was 12,000 The sweat, breath, and even skin ordered to cover up some of sq. ft . flakes of millions of visitors all the nude figures with fig leaves pose a threat to the fresco, so hi-tech and drapery. He was given the , (1 110 sq. m) air-conditioning has been installed to help nickname Il Braghettone – The size of the work. It’s control the room and keep damage down. “Big Pants” – by locals! slightly bigger than a basketball court. Photos are banned in case the light from camera flashes fades the work. 32 33 PIAZZA NAVONA Q SPECIAL S UAD search: competitive clothing SWISS GUARD prized possessions The Swiss Guard, the pope’s private Altaroma – the Roman fashion house that runs army of bodyguards, was founded Rome’s Fashion Week – holds an annual award ceremony that introduces the best of Italian-born over 500 years ago (find out or Italian-educated fashion to the world! more about them on page 67). Their ceremonial blue, red, and yellow outfit, called the gala uniform, dates from those times. The Swiss Guard also has everyday blue uniforms and ordinary business RED AND YELLOW PRIDE suits for blending into COLORS OF ROME the crowd when they are guarding the pope Rome’s official colors are gold/yellow and dark FEBRUARY FACES on tour. red, as shown on the city’s flag and worn on the CARNIVAL, PIAZZA NAVONA jerseys of the city’s soccer team A.S. Roma. At Carnival time in February (see page 44), fancy dress is everywhere, both in the Carnival parade and the watching SWISS GUARDS’ CLOTHES stadio olimpico crowds. Italian masquerade masks are often worn at this GIVE US A COOL VIEW time. They were invented centuries ago as a disguise so OF THE PAST! AN that everyone could party together, whoever they were. ACCOUNT OF WHEN THEY FAMOUSLY FIRST ARRIVED Traditional Italian party masks IN ROME DOESN’T CITYWIDE STYLE DESCRIBE THEM AS ALTAROMA Colombina DIFFERENT FROM OTHER An elegant Every other year, Rome holds Altaroma, a week mask that SOLDIERS’ CLOTHES – BUT of fashion celebrations with catwalk shows all covers half THE POPE WAS PAYING FOR around town. Italy has provided many of the world’s the face. THEM SO THEY WERE best-known fashion designers, but Altaroma is also PROBABLY THE BEST! a chance for new designers to make a style splash by competing for the prestigious talent award. Volto A mask Medico della Peste that covers A mask used by plague the whole doctors centuries ago. all around rome face and They stuffed herbs makes a into the long beak THE VATICAN great disguise. to mask the smell of their patients. 70 71 I SPY COLUMNS THE FRONT OF THE PANTHEON HAS GIANT COLUMNS SUPPORTING A PORCH CALLED A PORTICO. THEY ARE The OCULUS CORINTHIAN COLUMNS, NAMED BECAUSE OF THE WAY TEMPLE FOR ALL THE TOP PART OF THE COLUMN (THE CAPITAL) IS DESIGNED. HERE’S YOUR GUIDE TO SPOTTING COLUMNS THE PANTHEON BASED ON THE BUILDINGS OF ROME: The Ancient Romans were the first people to build domes. In later centuries, architects around the city and all over the world copied them. The Pantheon is the oldest surviving dome in the world. It’s a fantastic feat of clever engineering. BUILT FOR GODS Doric Ionic Corinthian The name Pantheon means “all the gods.” It was built as a temple to all the gods of Rome. In AD 609, ALL ABOUT MARBLE it was turned into a Christian THE PANTHEON church. It’s now the Basilica di THE ROMANS LOVED TO BUILD WITH MARBLE AND, IN LATER Santa Maria ad Martyres. CENTURIES, THE MARBLE THEY USED WAS RECYCLED TO The famous Renaissance artist DECORATE MANY OF THE CHURCHES AROUND TOWN. MARBLE Raphael is buried here, along with IS CREATED WHEN ROCKS GET SQUEEZED AND HEATED Italian kings and queens. oculus INSIDE A VOLCANO. THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS, DIAMETER VEGGIE INSPIRATION 30 FT. (9 METERS) DEPENDING ON THE IMPURITIES IN THE ROCK THAT’S The building was first created by HEATED. LOOK FOR THESE EXAMPLES: a Roman VIP called Marcus Agrippa. MODERN MARVEL PANTHEON dome His name is on the inscription on The dome was the very latest in 142 FT. X 142 FT. the front. It was later rebuilt by the modern architecture when it was (43.3 M X 43.3 M) emperor Hadrian. He is said to have created between AD 118 and 125. got the idea from looking at a pumpkin.