Originally posted on July 28, 2011 by Canicus

I took a tour bus that takes a different route on Sundays. From the bus I got a few shots of the backside of Trajan’s market. This part was located on the top of the hill above and beyond the curved structure that holds the hill up. Supposedly it was a food market.

I also spotted something that looked like it might be the Arch of the Money Changers near the Forum Borium. One of the problems of most of the maps are they are not very precise about the locations of some things.

I got off the bus at the Circus Maximus stop. This is the race track that is located between the Palatine and Aventine hills. The imperial palace overlooks the track. The track is 600 meters long (roughly the length of 6 football fields if you include the end zones and 150 meter wide. In imperial days there were bleachers along the track that could accommodate tens of thousands of spectators. The emperors had a prime box at the finish line that could be accessed directly from the palace on the Palatine. The bleachers are gone. You can see the track and where the spine that ran down the middle of the track ran. Archeologists say that the foundations of the spine are still under the mound of grass.

I then went to Santa Maria della Comenia, an old church used by the Eastern Rite Catholics. I had been there earlier, but all my pictures that day were black and white. After Mass I was able to get decent color pictures and to go down into the crypt below the sanctuary. That will have to count as my visit to the “catacombs.” The church is located where at one time the grain dole was distributed and, when Christianized, the scene of the diaconal care for the poor.

Partly cloudy today in Rome, but no rain. Tomorrow I think I will try one more assault to reach the top of the Palatine. Supposedly Caesar Augustus’ modest house and Livia’s more expansive villa are interesting sites.