Originally posted on July 11, 2012 by Canicus

The Palatine

The Palatine hill has probably been inhabited for 2,750 years. Roman tradition has it that Romulus had his “hut” there. There are some round building foundations that are about that old on the hill. That, plus the fact that later Romans held the area to be sacred and did not build there may lend some credibility to the tradition.

From the time of the Roman Republic on, this area was the “high rent” district, where the rich and famous lived. Eventually, in the era of emperors, the hill gave us the word “palace.” It should be remembered, though, that then (and now) a palace was more than the dwelling place of rulers. It provided places for certain events of State and offices (and residences) for bureaucrats. The ancient palace was not unlike the American White House.

It is fun to try to decide who the first Roman emperor was. Some say G. Julius Caesar, some would have Augustus Caesar be the first, and others Tiberius. The word “imperator” designates general of legions. There were imperatori who were not “emperors” in our sense. “Caesar” (from which modern languages get Kaisar and Tsar) is a family name, although beginning with Vespasian, it was bestowed on those we would surely call “emperors.”

Augustus Caesar (born G. Octavius, adopted as G. Julius Caesar Octavianus) eschewed royal titles, preferring to be known as Princeps, i.e., First Citizen. After the battle of Actium he was unquestionably the absolute ruler of the Roman Empire and probably the richest Roman. He did acquire a resident on the Palatine, much of which still stands today. It is quite modest by the standards of the day in keeping with that low key image he maintained in Rome. He did, however had several lavish villas outside of Rome. Next to Augustus’ house on the Palatine is a house owned by his wife, Liva. Roman women often exercised major power through their husbands, and Liva is a prime example. I am not sure whether Liva’s house – which is somewhat more lavish – was her house while Augustus lived, or whether she moved there after his death and when her son, Tiberius (the Caesar of the Gospels) was ruler.

I had planned more for today, but focused instead on the Palatine. I was feeling my age just getting there. It is a 125 foot climb from the level of the Coliseum to the top of the hill. I kept reminding myself that Augustus Caesar at my age climbed this hill virtually every day as he went home from a busy day in the forum.

Today the hotel elevator is not working. Getting internet access is a hassle. I have to get a new user name and password each day. But there is never anyone around to get it from. Tonight they wanted me to go to the fifth floor. I complained enough that they did the running up and down stairs.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 10, 2012 by Canicus

Two Roman Museums

Today I visited the Roman National Museum and the Roman Epigraphical Museum. The former contains a lot of Roman sculpture on its main two floors. The top floor contains a lot of frescoes and mosaics as well as some preserved rooms. The basement contains a lot of common artifacts – jewelry, tools and the like. One of the most extensive collection of Roman and Italian coins in the world is on display in the basement as well. The exhibit includes lumps of bronze dating to probably the 5th century BC, hundreds of bronze, silver and gold coins of the Roman Republic and Imperial periods right up to the Euro coins.

The other museum is located across the street in what was the Baths of Diocletian. It focuses on inscriptions, but there are other items of interest including a lot of ossiaries.

One of the tricks in doing this is that you can buy an Archaeological Card without dealing with lines. The card is good for 7 days and gets you into the Coliseum, the Palatine, the Forum, the Baths of Caracalla and five other sites. About the only two major museums not on the list are the Capitoline Museum and the Vatican Museum.

Today I was robbed. It was the classic heist. I was eating lunch at a sidewalk restaurant. A man came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder to distract me while his accomplice lifted my camera case. I’ll write it off as a botched job though. The contents of the bag are worth less than $100, all replaceable. And mostly utterly useless without a Canon PowerShot camera. They did not take the $500 camera next to the case.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 9, 2012 by Canicus

Transfer Day: Naples to Rome

Today was another transfer day. I checked out of the hotel in Naples and caught a morning train to Rome, arriving shortly after noon. I had considered spending the afternoon at one of the museums near here. I had visited both previously and enjoyed them. The big deal is I could buy a pass for the Forum, Coliseum, Palatine and some other places without having to stand for hours in the sun. But, alas, the museums were closed. I should have known better. In fact, the design of the trip was to make Mondays travel days precisely because many attractions are closed on Mondays.

So I stopped by the nearby post office to buy a box in which to ship a bunch of stuff back home – probably on Friday. It will contain mostly travel guides and maps (with some clothes as filler – all stuff easily replaced in the U.S. if the package goes astray. It does seem that the contents of luggage seems to grow as the days accumulate. Part of it is doubtless due to souvenirs, like books on Herculaneum and Pompeii. But even without that it grows. I remember learning in high school Latin, reading Caesar that the Latin word for baggage was impedimenta – which it certainly is.

I am getting by with one pair of convertible pants and a white polo shirt for churches, a couple of pair of cargo shorts and polo shirts for everything else. All of these are lightweight, wicking and quick dry fabrics. I can rinse them out in the evening, hang them in the shower and they will be dry in less than 24 hours. I did bring a light rain jacket which I will send back with the books. I’ve not needed it and, the truth is, even if I get caught in the rain these clothes will quickly dry.

The hotel is across the street from where I stayed last year. It is really odd; there are three or four hotels all in the same building. Mine is on the 2nd (and maybe other) floors. Here the 2nd floor is what we would call the 3rd floor. Fortunately there is an elevator that is slightly larger than a telephone booth (for those who remember what a telephone booth looks like). The room is about 7 feet wide and about three times as long (including the bath). Unlike the hotel I was in last year there is a table and a chair. And I can actually access WiFi from my room. Last year I had to go to the lobby; in Naples I had to go to the room where they serve breakfast. I can’t say whether it is cheaper or more expensive than last year. Last year it was 1 euro per hour; this hotel charges 5 euros per 24 hours.

The bed in Naples was awful. It was a “full size” bed that seemed to be constructed of two twin mattresses, but with nothing to fill the gap between them. They were laid on a spring frame (like camp cots). The bed here in Rome is the size of a camp cot, but seems far more comfortable.

I’ll not do a photo journal today, I think I took only three pictures, none of which are particularly interesting.

I’m not sure, but I think they have removed that awful statue of Pope John Paul that “graced” the plaza in front of the Termini railroad station – or else they built a plywood box around it.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 8, 2012Canicus

Naples: Duomo

Today, being Sunday I attended Mass at Duomo, the cathedral church of Naples. It is very much in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Somehow I still prefer the Gothic perpendicular of northern Europe and England. Mass was in Italian, with a longish Italian sermon. The “Shape of the Liturgy” is the shape of the liturgy, which enables one to know what is being said even if in a strange tongue; Dom Gregory Dix was right about that. Still a short sermon is even more appreciated if one has no idea what is being said.

After Mass I took a few pictures of the church which are today’s photo journal.

Then to one final lunch of Neapolitan spaghetti. I’ll probably do my last pizza before returning to Dallas. Tomorrow I leave for a week in Rome. I learned last year that Rome is not the city for pizza – there is better pizza at Alfredo’s in Dallas a couple of miles from where I live. This year’s lesson is Naples is not the place for gelato. That’s better in Rome, or at least easier to find.

After lunch I shopped for a newspaper. Seems the news stands do not carry English language newspapers, so I settled for a copy of Le Monde. There is absolutely no mention of Mitt Romney.

There is one page about Le Tour de France, but virtually the whole thing is about Lance Armstrong, his associates and doping.

In front of the Napoli Centrale station there is a plaza dedicated to Garibaldi, the patriot revered for modern Italian independence and unity. My hotel is located on one side of the plaza. The plaza is totally torn up. Part of it will become an underground shopping mall, the other part a park. But right now it is a mess.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 7, 2012 by Canicus

Paestum

Paestum was a Greek colony dating back to the 6th century B.C., before Rome became a Republic and when it was still an insignificant town to the north. It has several temples, one of which is one of the best preserved anywhere in the world.

Getting there is quite easy by train from Naples, although it is somewhat problematic discovering what train you need to take and at which stop you need to get off. It is clearly labeled Paestum, but you may not be able to see the sign from the train.

It is a pleasant walk of about 500 meters (about five football fields) from the train station to the archeological site. There is a modern street running along the edge of the site. You probably could see most of the things of interest from this street. Entry to the site itself requires a ticket which, curiously, is not sold at the entrances. For that you have to visit the Museum which seems to be carefully hidden on the other side of the street in the midst of abundant souvenir shops and restaurants.

One of the confusing things about planning this has to do with a variety of railroads in this area. There is a Circumvenusian railroad which goes to Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae. That railroad also runs on the other side of Mount Vesuvius and, if you are feeling ambitious and athletic, goes part way up the mountain where you can get off and climb to the top. You cannot use a Eurail Pass on this railroad. You have to buy tickets at Stazione Garibaldi, which is in the lower level of Napoli Centrale, the main train station. That railroad does not go to Paestum. To go to Paestum you have to board a train at Napoli Centrale that goes to Solerno. (Paestum is beyond Solerno, but the signs at the station don’t indicate this.) You can use a Eurail Pass for this trip. If you don’t have a spare Eurail Day, you have to buy tickets at the station. If you do that be sure to also buy the ticket BACK to Naples, as they don’t sell tickets at Paestum.

On the train, both ways, I saw people swimming in the Bay of Naples. Looks like fun on a July day.

But Paestum is an interesting sight to visit and is apparently becoming more popular.

Canicus Modius.

Originally posted on July 6, 2012 by Canicus

Naples: Museo Nationale Archeologico

Today I had planned on going to Paestum, but I hadn’t figured out exactly how to get there. I suppose for 250 euros I could have taken the packaged tour, but that didn’t seem to make sense to me. So I visited the Museo Nationale Archeologico in Naples (which had been on the schedule for tomorrow) instead.

Note that the photo journal is rated XXX for nudity and explicit sex. Minors under 18 should view with eyes closed.

The museum dates back to the 16th century, when the Kings of Naples had archeological treasures brought to their palace from places like Herculaneum and Pompeii. They were primarily interested in collecting artworks (remember this is the Italian Renaissance) so most of the fine art from those cities ended up here. Some ended up elsewhere in Europe, as the kings from time to time would make presents of some art works to visiting monarchs. Conversely, some other works (such as from the baths of Caracalla in Rome) ended up here as well.

The discovery of Herculaneum occurred when a farmer was digging a well and hit the mosaic floor of the amphitheater. Remember, this was over 60 feet down through solid volcanic rock that covered the city. The well, quite literally became a mining project. Tunnels were dug and statuary were brought up for the king’s collection. The engineer who supervised the mining did make some contribution to archeology by mapping the ruins he explored in his tunnels. He was not particularly interested in “junk;” he was after the fine artwork.

Over the centuries, archeologists have become far more “scientific” and interested in even the junk – and where it was located.

I hope I have figured out how to get to Paestum. I have a couple of railroad tickets which are supposed to get me there and back. Paestum is a major archeological site, but hasn’t become one of the top tourist must-see places.

Incidentally, if you are interested in visiting Herculaneum and Pompeii, I suggest you do Herculaneum first. A ticket can be bought there for both places (and some others) and the lines are virtually non-existent. Buying the ticket at Pompeii involves long lines.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 5, 2012 by Canicus

Stabiae

The route of Circumvesuviana seems to be a closely guarded secret. There is, to be sure, a map posted on the wall of the ticket office. And there are some on the trains which are not easily visible and consulted. But apparently maps for travelers are not available. Today I took a pencil and paper and copied the stops from Pompeii to Stabiae from the map. It was a good thing I did because, on the trip to Stabiae the station signs south of Pompeii were, with one exception, not visible from the train. But counting stops did get me to Stabiae – again not marked.

Coming out of the station, there was absolutely no clue as to how to get from the station to the archeological site. I debated whether to get back on the train and return to Naples or not. But eventually I persuaded a taxi driver to take me to the archeological site. I would have never found it on my own. For that matter, I’m not even sure I visited the site I had planned to visit. But I had a guided tour from the taxi driver – albeit no one there spoke any English and my Italian is not much better.

The place I visited was called the Villa de San Marcos. I have no idea what the connection of the villa to Saint Mark might have been. I am positive it has absolutely nothing whatever to do with the evangelist.

This was the “country villa” of an extremely wealthy Roman. That I do know. The place was huge with gardens, pools, a big kitchen and a private bath. What I know of Stabiae is that when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Admiral Pliny the Elder, who commanded the Roman fleet stationed at Misenium at the other end of the Bay of Naples set the fleet to sail to Herculaneum to rescue people there. He was unable to get to Herculaneum because of the winds, currents and volcanic ash which made navigation impossible and risked setting fire to the ships. He sailed south, by passing Pompeii, and landed at Stabiae where he sought shelter at the villa of a friend. It is possible that this is the villa I visited today, but I am not sure of it. It would be appropriate for a friend of someone of Pliny’s importance.

The accounts are that Pliny spent the night there, bathing and then sleeping. They decided to evacuate Stabiae in the morning. The reports are that as they were leaving Pliny stopped to look at the progress of the volcano because of his interest in natural phenomenon. He had written numerous volumes on natural history, some of which we have today. Apparently, though he was not in good health and collapsed. Lying on the ground he quickly suffocated from the noxious gases close to the ground. Others in his party did escape.

Pliny the Elder did not, of course, leave a record of the disaster. His nephew, known to history as Pliny the Younger, did witness the eruption from Misenium and lived to write a detailed description of it and the “umbrella cloud.” Long thought to be an exaggeration, modern volcanologist have verified its accuracy as a description of what is known today as a Plinian eruption, similar to that which occurred several years ago at Mount Helena in the U.S.

Canicus Modius

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Canicus

Pompeii

Pompeii is a city which, had it not been for the tragic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, would have been a footnote in history. But as it turns out, we are provided more information about everyday life in ancient Rome than most other sources. The city is actually older than Rome itself, dating to early Etruscan (the name is Etruscan), Greek and Samonite inhabitants. Some of this is reflected in the ruins – the entry to the city is Etruscan, and there are many Greek names. It was an aristocratic city up until an earthquake a decade before the famous eruption. It did considerable damage, not all of which had been repaired when the city met its end in 79 AD. It was a bad year for the emperor, Trajan. A plague had killed many people, a major fire destroyed much of Rome and then Vesuvius caused extensive damage around the Bay of Naples. Titus did send rescue mission to the area, but recovery was hopeless. The ruins were discovered by accident centuries later during the construction of an aqueduct. The early excavations were concerned primarily with removing worthy artwork for European museums, where one has to go to see much in the way of statues, frescoes, mosaics, jewelry, coins and the like. Later archeology is more concerned with preserving, conserving and restoring. Not all of the city has been excavated.

Getting to these sites from Naples is “easy,” using the Circumvesuvio railroad. It is not elegant. DART rail is far superior. I have found the trains to be mostly very crowded, and it is difficult to determine your stop. Today I was very worried because the interior notice stop signs were not operating, if there were audio announcements I could not hear them because of the noisy passengers. To make matters worse, the window where I sat had been covered with graffiti so I could not see signage on that side; and the signs on the opposite side seemed to be also covered with graffiti and illegible as a result. Graffiti is nothing new in Italy – there is graffiti from ancient times at Pompeii and everywhere in Italy today. Fortunately the sign announcing Pompeii was clean. It is a short walk from the station to the site, but a very steep climb to actually enter the ruins which are mostly flat. We were serenaded by an accordion going to Pompeii and a violin returning. For reasons I do not understand the train was not at all crowded returning today.

I end up taking hundreds of pictures, not all of which can be put into the slide show, partly because some aren’t that good and even with the duds cut, there are still far too many. Today there is an overflow at the website.

I have quick dry clothing. Mostly rinse a set out when I get in and hang it up. Seems to be dry within 24 hours. Hotel Ideal is inexpensive, but needs new mattresses and for the first time in my life does not provide soap or shampoo. Strange. WiFi is free – but restricted to the bar and the breakfast room. So I do most of this not connected to the internet and then go to the break room to upload it.

My pedometer tells me I took 14,258 steps today for 6.75 miles, burning 609 calories. My doctor will like that, but not the calories consumed. My average pace was 3.0 mph and the elapsed time three hours, 33 minutes and 53 seconds. I suspect that not all steps are counted or timed.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 2, 2012 by Canicus

From Venice to Rome
Today was a transfer day from Venice to Naples. This time it was straight through from Venice to Rome with no transfers. I’m still trying to figure out why I had to transfer in Bologna on Friday. For some obscure reason, today I was assigned to a paired seat, while they broke up a family assigning on to a single seat. So we swapped. I did have to change trains at Rome Termini. It is supposed to be a 1 hour 10 minute ride to Naples. But for some reason (explained to us in Italian) we parked for an hour in a tunnel just south of Rome.

Before I left Venice I attempted to get cash from an ATM with my VISA debit card which was refused for international withdrawals. I sent panicked emails, one to a former colleague of mine who uses the same credit union, asking to get this straightened out before I had to resort to begging. After I got to Naples he sent email saying it had been fixed. So I located an ATM and successfully withdrew some Euros.

The eastern coast of Italy has a diverse ethnic history. Naples (Italian Napoli) is a Greek colony – Neopolis or “New City” – probably predating Rome. So is Herculaneum (named after Hercules) which I hope to visit tomorrow. Wednesday is Pompeii – and Etruscan city originally, subsequently Greek and Roman. Stabiae I think is Roman. Paestum is Greek.

I’ve owned five digital cameras. (I’ve forgotten how many film cameras going back to a Kodak Hawkeye when I was a kid. I do love the convenience of the digital cameras. No more 36 exposure rolls to wait to be developed, etc. Last year I lugged a Pentax K200D DSLR and five lenses around Rome. This year I brought a much smaller and lighter Canon PowerShot G12 instead. Both cameras can be operated as “point-and-shoot,” but have a lot of advanced features that handle special situations. One feature unique to the Canon is a setting to deal with settings with wild differences in light and dark. In Saturday’s slide show there is a shot of the Golden Staircase that illustrates this. The staircase is dark but at the top landing is a window, so I was shooting something dark, with that glaring bright window. The function does seem to tame the window and enhance the staircase – actually better than Photoshop would and certainly better than a darkroom guru in the film days. The problem with fixing the exposure afterward is that once something is underexposed (i.e., the dark parts) or overexposed (i.e. the bright parts) you really cannot recover the lost image.

Today I was experimenting with a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second to see if I could stop scenery flashing by the train window. It does work except for things very close to the train; there are settings up to 1/4000th of a second that may even do better. Another feature that is neat for taking pictures out of train windows is a setting that keeps taking pictures (a bit more than 1 per second) as long as I hold the shutter button down. I still may get a telephone pole, but I will also get shots just before and just after that darn telephone pole.

Unfortunately, the SDHC card’s directory for today got scrambled. I will be able to salvage the pictures, but not tonight. There wasn’t anything all that interesting.

Tomorrow I’ll try to get down to Herculaneum – with a new card in the camera. That should yield some interesting shots.

Useless statistics. On Saturday and Sunday I took 13,708 steps for a distance of 6.48 miles, burning 585 calories. I walked at an average speed of 2.9 mph, and walked 3 hours, 31 minutes and 51 seconds. Today I took only 2,685 steps for a distance of 1.27 miles, burning 114 calories. I walked a bit faster – 3.0 mph – in 24 minutes and 45 seconds. Obviously most of the day was spent sitting on trains or waiting for trains. I not ready for the Roman Legions obviously.

Canicus Modius

Originally posted on July 1, 2012 by Canicus

San Marcos Cathedral

Today’s target was the inside of San Marcos Cathedral. This Byzantine Church, dedicated to the Evangelist St. Mark, is sometimes called the “Robber Church.” It seems that the city fathers were not impressed with their patron saint and wanted a more prestigious patron. Being rather late to the relics game, they decided to “borrow” one.

There are various traditions regarding St. Mark, to whom the gospel is assigned. It is thought that he was an associate of St. Peter, being the John Mark mentioned in the New Testament who served as Peter’s secretary and translator. The name, John Mark, is interesting because, like many first century Jews he has a Jewish name (John or Yohanathan) and a Latin name (Mark or Marcus). Tradition assigns the “second gospel” (in modern Bibles) to him, although most modern scholars think it is the first of the four, Matthew and Luke borrowing much material and ordering (synopsis) from Mark. Tradition also connects this gospel to Peter through Mark, and in much of that gospel Peter is the primary witness. It is supposed that the gospel was written either shortly before Peters martyrdom in Rome or shortly after in Egypt, where he appears to have gone.

So the remains of Mark were in Alexandria. The Venetian city fathers arranged to have the remains stolen and brought to their city. And they built the cathedral to house his relics. But this is not the only theft. Over the main entrance of the cathedral are four bronze horses which originally were at the hippodrome in Constantinople. The horses over the entrance today are copies, the originals now on display inside the church.

I attended Mass at the Cathedral. There was organ and choral music, although not the elaborate sorts of things that Giovanni Gabrielle wrote with antiphonal organs, brass and choirs at the four ends of the church. Still the acoustics are quite fine for the simple chant which was today’s music.

Photography is not allowed in the church. I did see several people taking pictures, though. Although I did have a camera in my pocket, I refrained from taking pictures lest I be asked to leave and/or have my camera confiscated. But apparently less honorable people got away with it.

The interior of the church is cruciform with all four branches of the cross and the central transept covered with domes. There are essentially three “levels.” The lower level is faced with various types of marble. There are quite a large number of marbles from different sources artistically presented.

The second level consists of galleries all around the cruciform space. The third level would be the domes and an apse dome at the east end. Both of these levels are completely covered with mosaics in which gold is the dominate color. But there are the usual assortment of saints, angels and various religious themes and, of course, Christ. Most of the floors in the nave were covered with a rather cheap looking carpet. Where exposed, the floor reveals geometric mosaics in black and white.

I didn’t take many pictures. One in the gallery is of a three dimensional Jerusalem Cross above one of the domes. Think of a Jerusalem Cross with a second at right angles. The arms are quite thin and each endpoint is finished with a golden (probably real gold) ball.

Canicus Modius