There’s
something strange about the city of Rome, for me. It just seems surreal, unreal, even. And every time I go there, I have the strange
sensation of being surprised to find it more or less exactly how I left
it. But why?
Rome is, of
course, The Eternal City, by everybody’s estimation, but if I were asked to
give it a name, I would call it The Unfathomable City.
Walking through certain parts of Rome is like
stepping into an onion: history resurfaces in layers.
The Roman Forum is perhaps the best example
because it is there that, in one sweeping vista, you can see the remains of
buildings from the time of the Roman Republic (and earlier!) stacked up against
triumphal arches from Imperial Rome, next to Medieval churches, next to ancient
temples turned into Baroque churches, with a 20th Century monument as
the backdrop to all of it.
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| View of the Roman Forum |
Of course, many cities have histories
as diverse and as rich as that of Rome, but there are few places I can think of
where things have been so meticulously dissected and left for contemplation in
the way that Rome has.
It’s simply
unfathomable.
Walking in
the Forum, I feel so small, standing
next to structures so colossal that even the fragments are larger than
life. But I can’t help but appreciate
the sheer size, the largeness, the
grandiose nature of my surroundings and feel a part of it. The paradox for me is something unfathomable.
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| Constantine's Basilica |
I feel such
a sense of
permanence; the fact that
these structures have been around for twenty-one centuries (sometimes longer!)
leaves me awe-stricken. But at the same
time, I can’t help but wonder what the ancient Romans would have thought to see
their buildings in such a ruined state. After all, didn't they believe that their empire
would be eternal? That Rome would always
be the center of the world? Surely, we must learn from them that anything that we can build here on Earth is ultimately as
transient as we are. And
even in the age of 140 characters or less and fifteen minutes of fame, such
transience is u
nfathomable.
Stepping into a Rome firmly
grounded in 2012 leaves me equally perplexed.
Cars and tall buildings, wide streets: nothing like the tiny, winding,
one-way Renaissance streets of Florence that were clearly designed when horses
and feet as the primary modes of transports. Rome can hold its own among the world’s other
great capital cities. For me, it’s
overwhelming, unbelievable and, above all, unfathomable.
Rome is of
course, not a city that can be contained in a blog post or put into so many
words, but, in my attempt to help you better understand what it is like to be
in Rome, I leave you with one image, one of my favorite places in the city:
Picture the remains of 4 Roman temples dating from the 4th Century to the 2nd Century BCE.
This place was once a sacred spot, but now, large roads run on either side of the space, crammed with
trams, buses, cars and pedestrians. The holy space of years gone by can be seen only in the outline of the few remaining columns.
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| Photo from Wikipedia |
Close your
eyes for a moment. Imagine a grand,
classical, sacred space. Everything is marble. Or better-- gold! People
approaching the temples with their petitions, eyes cast down, in
fervent prayer.
Now open your eyes and
look down. There are several cats
sitting calmly at your feet. You look
down and see their brothers and friends sprawled out on the centuries
old stone, napping and taking in the golden Roman sun. Because centuries have passed in a moment: this space has gone
from being a holy place to being
a refuge for the stray cats of Rome.
Imagine the historical confusion of the stones!
Picture the priests solemnly carrying out their solemn offerings to the
gods.
Flash forward.
Now picture the stereotypical gattare (Italian cat ladies) carrying out a
huge pot of pasta for the 250 cats lying around the ruins.
In my mind, these images are laid one upon
the other like a double-exposed photograph.
And I find the combination confusing, disconcerting, unfathomable.
And I realize that after so much time spent in Italy and so many visits to Rome, I have only begun to understand this city.
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| The Colosseum |
