It's lonely at the top of Olympus.

Except we were on the Capitoline, so it wasn't lonely at all. In fact, we had four hours in a museums surrounded by more than sufficient marble friends to keep us company. After the museum (this is all happening on Wednesday), everyone pretty much went home and had a nap. We had class again from 4-5:30, and at 6:30pm Professor Stroup walked us over to a local wine shop and bar, where a second or third generation wine seller and connoisseur, Massimo, gave a two hour wine tasting/education. It was really fun; the guy had a total Godfather voice, and used Italian grammar with English words, not to mention repeating phrases like "shemical proshess," and "modificated." He had us taste three very different wines, all within the 7 to 12 euro range (about $12-18), and they were all really good. He talked to us about how to look at wine, smell wine, drink it, and think about it. He explained a lot about the history of wine and the proshess through which it is made, very little of which I'm sure I'm going to retain for very long, but all of which was really interesting.

Colossus of Constantine; cult statue from the 4th or 5th century C.E.. Photo also featuring Chris, who is not so colossal. I commented on one of the first days about how I was glad the tallest person in our apartment was 5'8", which was promptly followed by someone in the next room shouting "five-ten!"

Part of a building, possibly a keystone. Weeping women dressed in ethnic or traditional clothing of a conquered land were often used by Romans to represent the entire country they had conquered. It is not clear where this woman is from, but I think, personally, that the long curved thing in the back is a Gallic war horn, which would make sense with the large oval shield, making this a Gallic conquest portrayal. The women were often pictured bound, but not in this particular depiction. The pattern lining the top is a really common Roman pattern called "egg and dart," for pretty obvious reasons.
Now we're actually inside the museum (the first two are in the courtyard). This is part of a wall listing all of the consoles of Rome for a certain period. I can only make out so much that I can read, because A. it's mostly names, B. they use a lot of abbreviations, and C. it's incomplete.
B.C.E. Greek pottery (several thousand years old, for sure). I only took pictures of the pots with people fighting...
Greek reclining sculpture. I look oddly superimposed in this photo, but I'm actually right next to the sculpture, I was just taking the photo of myself by myself, so it's kind of a weird angle.
My newfound preferred means of transportation. Now all I need is a horse...and a gate.
Sculpture of someone's dog. This is for dad, and Dunc. No, I didn't bark at it, no, there are no Roman sculptures of pugs, and no, I don't think any Romans probably had pugs.
Sarcophagus depicting the "great hunt," unfinished.
Some Romans just hanging out (some more so than others, if you want to get punny).
Roman drop spindles.
Roman tavern sign. This is interesting because it's of low quality, and would have been a common thing. This particular sign is from the late empire, and you can tell that the language is already going through changes from Latin to early Italian, because the "habemus (we have)" does not have an H at the beginning, and is just "Abemus," meaning there was already confusion on how the word was pronounced (Romans breathed on Hs like we do, Italians don't pronounce any Hs). Also at the bottom, it says "Bena," instead of "Vena," denoting the confusion between B and V. Also common in Romance languages.
Not only is it okay to run in museums in Italy, but they actually prefer that you do (as long as it's in the appropriate direction).
Hebrew inscription. Rome had a pretty sizeable Jewish population for a long time, and it still does. We weren't allowed to use flash in the museum, and the stone was not in a greatly lit place, so I'm sorry if the Hebrew is a little tough to make out. The translation the museum provided reads: "How great was my fortune the day I was quarried from the mountain! Thus, here I am, I am the crown upon the head of an honest man and I confer grace to every exhausted soul. It is for this reason his name is inscribed upon the door, the honorable Mr. Shabbetal Cammeo, who died the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), the sixteenth of the month Fammus (30 July), in the year 320 (c. 560)." If any of that is wrong (dates don't line up, the month is spelled wrong) it's because I took a picture of the translation so I could remember it, but without the flash and in the dark area it got a little fuzzy and I couldn't make out every number/letter/word, so correct me at will.

Busting a move.

Busting out.
Dust busting.
Spontaneous comBUSTion (...okay...). But this photo makes me kind of angry, really. I gave these guys plenty of warning, and only Caracalla looked at the camera.Roman copy of a Greek statue, the "Dying Gaul." This is my favorite sculpture of all time. I'm a little biased, as one of my personal favorite historical figures is Vercingetorix, the Arverni chieftain who led a Gallic revolt against Caesar during his campaign in Gaul, and was the only general to ever defeat Caesar in battle (although Caesar's own account says he wasn't even there, and some other general lost to Vercingetorix, plenty of other sources say Caesar was there). The original Greek statue (I think in bronze) predates the Gallic Wars by several hundred years, however, so by the time Caesar was fighting I'm pretty sure the Gauls were at least clothed in battle (many Celts were not, however, for a long time; machismo's a drag).


Latin Word for the Day: donum, doni (n., tr: gift)

Vale, amici.