Arcadia Italy

by justin myers, villanova student, arcadia in rome, Museum practices - fall 2018

We started out our class trip at the Trajan Forum. After having walked past the Trajan and Roman Forum many times, it was nice to understand what it is. The Trajan Forum is the last of the Forums ever built and is well-known for Trajan’s Column. The column is engraved with artwork and heavily detailed depictions of soldiers and scenes of battle. Each spiral of the column represents a different battle that Emperor Trajan won. It is interesting to consider why Trajan would build such a column. 

The strategic location of the column is interesting to consider as well. Trajan’s Column was positioned in between two libraries, which means that many Romans would have constantly seen and walked past the monument. Furthermore, libraries are places of learning and knowledge. A huge part of learning is studying the past, and what a better way to show the past by putting a column engraved with scenes of war.
The next stop of our class trip was the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum was the center of everyday life and was a place for markets, meetings, and diplomacy. It consists of temples, basilicas, triumphal arches, statues, stones, and much more. My two favorite parts of the Roman Forum were the Triumphal arches, specifically the arch of Septimius Severus, and the Curia Julia. I also found the Temple of Julius Caesar and the Temple of Vesta to be very interesting.

The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus is an amazing structure. Even in today’s world, that would be an extremely difficult task to complete. Trajan’s column must have also been a difficult task because of the amount of detail it contains. I also just think that the idea of constructing such an arch is very interesting. Triumphal arches were used to commemorate a victory so that the people of Rome would never forget about its importance. There must have been a great sense of nationalism and pride at seeing the arches. Imagine your favorite city constructing a monument every time it won the Super Bowl. Not only were the designs of the arches very impressive but so were their purposes.

Next to the Arch of Septimius Severus stood the Curia Julia. The Curia was the Senate house and was where the senators used to meet to debate laws and policies. I also found it interesting that Julius Caesar favored the renovation of the Cura. While under construction, the senators met in Largo Argentina, which is unfortunately where Caesar was killed before the Cura’s completion.

I found the Temple of Julius Caesar to be interesting because I never knew that Emperor Augustus, his nephew, proclaimed him as a god. I also find it funny that the people of Rome just outright believed he was a god just because his nephew said he was, especially after he was murdered by his peers.

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip to the Roman Forum. I was really blown away by the architecture and beauty of the various statutes and arches and columns. The Forums really must have been something special in the time of the Romans. The amount of history that is still present in the Forums is also really incredible. There is so much that could be said about each statue and each column. Every brick and every stone truly have their own back-story.