This week, Rome officially celebrates her birthday, with 2,763 years ad urbe condita. If those last three words mean nothing to you, grab a copy of Livy and start brushing up on the last two and more millennia of Roman history. As a tour guide, I finally get to make use of the many years of study I put into learning all about the Eternal City and its (ancient) language, but rarely do I have the chance to see history ACTUALLY come alive before my eyes. Return readers will know of my secret love for the gladiator/centurions outside the Colosseum, but the pleasure I receive from seeing them at work pales beside the spine-tingling euphoria I got this morning.
Having been pretty sick with the flu these last few days, I showed up to work at the Colosseum this morning not exactly bright eyed or bushy tailed. Nonetheless, a cup of (heavily milked-down) coffee and a really fantastic group of tourists turned my morning into a fairly pleasant experience. It looked like this morning might be ruined, however, when my explanation of the Forum was interrupted by what sounded like a man yelling nonsense Italian over the 'Gladiator' soundtrack. This continued on, and eventually my group and I tried to discern what, exactly, had this man so excited. It was difficult to pick out, since the music was pretty loud and the sound was reverberating off of all the ruins, so all I could make out was that the man kept shouting "Roma! Viva Roma!" over and over again. Knowing that Wednesday (the 21st) is Rome's birthday, I guessed that the Romans were starting the celebrations a few days early.
As it turns out, boy was I right. The modern Romans, in homage to their illustrious ancestors, were marching in what I should probably call a parade, but which I would like to deem a 'triumph' in the Ancient Roman sense of the word. Here is a video of a part of it (listen for the man shouting 'ROMA!' over and over again in the background):
There were entire legions of Roman soldiers, groups of Senators, Vestal Virgins, dancing girls, Gallic slaves, Etruscans, Cleopatra with an Egyptian retinue, a variety of Emperors (I saw both Nero and Hadrian, and everyone booed at Nero), and even a cohort of gods and goddesses. The man with the microphone announced them all, and the triumph moved down the Via Fori Imperiali, around the Colosseum, and ended in the Circus Maximus, where the soldiers and gladiators spent the rest of the day having battles and demonstrating Roman military tactics.
As a long time fan of the Romans, and an ex-pat in love with the Eternal City, it struck me that these modern Romans take great pride and care in the preservation of ancient traditions. The fact that these people in costume were recognizable to the people watching the parade (enough for them to hiss at Cleopatra and cheer the legions by name) is both impressive and uplifting for a nerd like me. 21st century Italians seem to have mostly abandoned the organization and manliness of the ancient Romans, and I often ask myself what happened between antiquity and the modern day (especially when riding the bus, or, heaven help me, visiting the post office). It is comforting, therefore, that for one day (or really, one week of festivities) in April every year, the modern city of Rome celebrates its magnificent past on a personal level.
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