Can You Hear the People Sing?

So today was Martyr Day. Our professors said on multiple occasions "the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church." So naturally I've had Can You Hear The People Sing from Les Mis stuck in my head all day. Hence the title of this post. But in all seriousness, today was the first day of actual class and I learned so much! 

First, I went with a few friends to the Colosseum for an early morning visit. We got there around 9 and wandered around for an hour. Besides the shame of losing my buddy-system buddy, it was a lot of fun! It's very awe inspiring to stand in the same place that people stood in almost two thousand years ago. The stairs were the best, because they were all grassed over and had faded into almost a slope. There was also an exhibit where they displayed artifacts found in excavations, and explained what they showed about what people did while at the Colosseum. We only stayed for about an hour because then we had to head back to the dorms for class. Luckily there was time for our first of many trips to the gelato place down the street. 

Mandatory selfie

After a class session and lunch break, we went back to the Lay Center to meet up with Professor White. First we went to learn about Palantine Hill, which is where Rome was founded, according to legend. It's also the hill where many of the early emperors lived with their families. It was interesting to learn that when Nero allegedly started the fire that burned down 1/3 of Rome, he did it to acquire that hill. In the picture below you can see the ruins of the palaces and a church built to honor St. Sebastian. 

We also learned that when they started expanding Rome after World War I, they'd find artifacts under the city. Because there were so many of them, they'd bring them to this site to be dealt with later. You can see them all lined up in the center-ish of the picture below. 

We also went to the Case Romane del Celio. Basically, two brothers who had a secret church in their house, were killed by Roman authorities after Emperor Julian revoked the legality of Christianity. A church was built over it in the third century, then another church was built over it in the twelfth century, which is still open today. In the nineteenth century someone excavated the house, and now you can walk through it and look at the rooms and frescos.

One fresco I found interesting was in the dining room. Professor White explained that while there weren't many images of Christianity present, there was one piece that was contested.  Many people think that the figure in the picture below is a woman worshipping God, while others think it's supposed to represent philosophy. We learned that people often used a female for images of people practicing Christianity, because of the idea of humans as the bride of Jesus. Also, it was fascinating how well preserved the frescos were for the most part. 

The church that is on that site now was really beautiful. The outside has remained the same since it was built in the 12th century, but the inside was renovated during the baroque period. Here I realized that I really have no idea what the rules are in a Catholic church. I was afraid to walk up to the alter, in case I was supposed to cross myself or kneel first or something. I guess that's one more thing I can look forward to learning more about on this trip!

Once the tour was over, we were free to do what we wanted. I went with some friends to the Trevi Fountain. We wanted to see it at night and during the day. After learning about it a little bit during class, it was impressive to see the statues in person. It was definitely bigger than I expected. I think it's fascinating how every statue has a meaning, like abundance and purity on either side of the building. It makes me wonder what symbolism I'm missing out on in other statues and paintings!

Woohoo more selfies!

After a delicious dinner, I'm ready for bed! Tomorrow is another early start, and I need to catch up on more sleep. Bye for now!