SPQR Fellowship

I began Monday rising before the sun. The birds were chirping outside my window, and I was ready for another glorious day in Rome. One of my favorite ways to experience a city is to watch the sunrise and the city come alive. I enjoy the way the quiet and still of the morning gives way to the activity of the day. The streetlights changed from blinking yellow to their regulating operation, the metro unlocked its doors, and the deep blue night sky changed colors as the sun rose above the Roman skyline.

It was a great morning. When I first began my walk, there were some on the road, but very few people out walking. It was so different to see places like the Colosseum and Capitol Hill, which are normally surrounded by hundreds of people, completely empty. As I was finishing my walk the cafe bars and tabacchi shops began to open, the city workers began cleaning the streets, and Rome prepared for another day in history.

Next on my agenda was to visit some of the important churches of Rome. I walked to San Giovanni in Laterano, which was Rome’s first Christian church after Christianity was legalized in the city. My next stop was the Church of Santa Prassede to see their incredible mosaics, and then to Santa Maria Maggiore. That was one of the oldest churches in Rome as well, and contained beautiful mosaics, relics from Jesus’s manger, and the tomb of Bernini.

To continue my day I strolled down Via Nazionale, window shopping and going into an occasional store. I also walked around some neighborhoods that I hadn’t yet explored before following the Italian lead and taking a nice midday break for lunch. Since most of the churches and shops close for a few hours everyday at that time, I thought this was justified!

Then I made my way to the Church of St. Peter’s in Chains. This church holds the actual chains which held Peter when he was in the Mamertine Prison. One of the interesting things about Rome that I have been discovering is how everything is linked together. I had just been in the Mamertine Prison the day before and seen where he was chained. Another example was how the main entry doors to San Giovanni in Laterno were originally from the Senate building in the Roman Forum, where I had again been inside the previous day. That is one of the greatest benefits of getting to really explore Rome – I am having the opportunity to see how the buildings, ruins, and all of history are connected in the incredible city.

The other main attraction at St. Peter’s in Chains is that it has the unfinished work of Pope Julius II’s tomb, which holds Michelangelo’s Moses sculpture. The tomb was supposed to be a grand work of art with almost 50 sculptures and statues, and Michelangelo worked almost 30 years on it. The tomb was never finished according to the original plan, but what remains is still of a grandiose scale. It was incredible to see the Moses sculpture. The detail of his beard, the tension in his fingers, and the precision of his muscles was astounding. I read that if Moses were standing he would almost be as tall as Michelangelo’s David sculpture. It was another incredible day in Rome!

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