Our last day in Italy took us even further back in time. Around 30BC, Augustus had just defeated Egypt and he wanted to bring back to Rome items that were symbolic of his victory. One item he brought to Rome was an obelisk from the Pharaoh Ramses II. You can see the hieroglyphics still on it. Ramses II was the Pharaoh in power when Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea, so they would have walked right past this same obelisk! There are 13 obelisks in Rome that were taken from Egypt, another one of which is in the picture of St. Peter's Basilica a few posts down.
A few years later, the Pantheon was constructed. This was originally a temple built for the seven planets, but became a Christian church in the 7th century. I've seen pictures of this before in books, but seeing it in person is amazing! The roof is still original, dating from 25BC.
Our walking tour of Rome then led us to the Colosseum. This is probably the most notable building in Rome because of its elliptical arena which held gladiator games. It first opened in 80AD, and seated up to 60,000 guests at a time for over 450 years. Once the Roman Empire fell and Christianity took hold, the Colosseum was abandoned. It's building materials were then used for the large churches and Basilicas, which is why the Colosseum looks depleted today.
As evening began to set in, we enjoyed the walk home surrounded by so much history. Every Roman ruin was a treasure to keep in our memory. But, we missed our kids, and were so thankful that Grandma Linda was able to stay with them so we could enjoy this trip. It was truly the vacation of a lifetime!
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