Today we went to Ostia Antica, which is 30 km to the west of Rome. We took three different trains to get there and didn't have to walk (thank goodness!). Ostia Antica was a Roman city abandoned over time. I've noticed that everyone is getting very well-versed in what we're looking for, so it almost seemed easier, though I was extremely tired from staying up all night then night before.
The first thing we saw was a sarcophagus what looked like a female Endymion on it. AND I IDENTIFIED IT AS ARIADNE. :D (Btw, the general theme of today was EVERYONE GOES CRAZY because we were all so tired and yeah. I also saw the wheel on it, and Dr. TerTer pointed out the moon goddess.
Quote from the Train Ride Over:
Kathryn: What just happened?
Hutch: We're in the middle of the forest.
Kathryn: Back to sleep.
Other Things Kylee Learned Today
I learned that they tried to build an airport at the edge of Ostia Antica and then ended up finding ships in the riverbed. The ships are now in museums. I learned that a columbarium is a name for a niche that can hold an urn...or a pigeon. The word translates directly into "pigeon house." :P A necropolis had many rooms, and the Christian idea (or at least the part in the Bible) about heaven being a place with many rooms comes from the idea of a necropolis. Probably. Also, every Roman city had at least two roads: one running from north to south and one running from east to west. A stoa was a covered porchway.
I'm sorry that I'm not elaborating or ornamenting today. I'm just so tired.
Roman insulae built up from the ground up. Most had three or four floors. They kept their food off the floor so that animals wouldn't eat it and some had charcoal stoves. Said charcoal stoves were outlawed after the fire that happened.
AND THEN WE SAW A THEATER. Katie gave us a presentation on that. There was the house and the orchestra there. The temple to a god was kept in the middle, so that people had a reason to upkeep the temple and use it for things other than shows. The particular one we were in held 3000 people but it was expanded to 4000. It held very lewd performances. If actors (which were all men) were playing men, they wore brown masks, and if they were women, they wore white ones. First, people stood to watch shows. They eventually moved to sitting. The first two rows had comfortable stone chairs for the wealthy. Ancient Greek temples had spots for the gods and muses, and performances were meant to please and appease the gods, but the Roman theater business was...exactly that, a business.
They originally thought that Christians and Jews didn't go to theater performances, but they changed their minds when in Turkey, they found seats inscribed with Hebrew. TerTer made a connection to the bible (Bible? I never know if or when you're supposed to capitalize it) when she said that the gospel writer Luke (who was Greek and a Gentile) used comic roles in his gospel and was therefore probably acquainted with theater. Romans considered comedy better than tragedy.
We also saw mithraeum there, and I need to take more time later to talk more about this, because I didn't know anything about it before this trip, and it's really quite interesting. NOTE TO SELF. Y'all remind me, okay? :)
Dr. Sebastian went a little batty today. :P
You have to love that man.
We went to a museum right after that--it was on-site, and while the rest of the group went to a synagogue, Antonia and I had lunch with Elizabeth, who shared her three-course meal with us (I LOVE HER). Antonia and I were both running on extremely small amounts of sleep, and our iron levels (we're both anemic) were running low. Especially hers. So we had lunch (PORK SANDWICH FTW) and headed back to St. John's for a nap and for packing for Naples and everything.
Gosh, this is such a dry post, and it wasn't even a dry day. When I get back (three days...or four, I suppose), I'll post about Pompeii and about the ridiculous day that was today and Michelle's birthday party, which was tonight.
MICHELLE'S 21ST BIRTHDAY IS TODAY...OR TOMORROW...OR SOMETHING BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE IT'S HER BIRTHDAY AND SHE'S 21!!!
^ YAY FOR SPARKLETEXT!!! See y'all in four days!
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