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(518K)IL NATALE DI ROMA (THE BIRTH OF ROMA)Roma's long history began with a tale of love?or, more accurately, lust ?almost three millennia ago. The pagan god Mars, smitten by the beauty of a Vestal Virgin, snuck into her temple in the town of Alba Longa to sleep with her. When the disgraced Vestal gave birth to twin boys, remarkable for their size and beauty, the evil tribal king ordered the infants thrown in the Tiber. The cradle containing the babies drifted downstream and washed ashore at the base of the Palatine hill, named for Pale, a goddess of shepherds. There, according to legend, a lupa (she-wolf) suckled the twins Romulus and Remus. Romans contend that "in bocca al lupo," the Italian expression for "Good luck!", stems from the twins' good fortune in finding her. However, their nursemaid may well have been human. Lupa was slang for prostitute, and brothels were known as lupanaria. During ongoing excavations on the Palatine hill, archaeologists recently discovered what could be the original lupercale, the cave that sheltered the twin boys and that later served as a shrine for their worship. In 753 B.C., after the twins had grown to maturity, they decided to build a town on the banks of the Tiber. When a violent argument erupted between them, Romulus killed his brother. Taking command, he gave his name to the settlement that would grow into a great empire. The street Latin of ancient Roma gave rise to the "Romance" languages, now spoken by more than 700 million people around the world. To get a sense of Roma's early days, visit the Palatine Hill, one of the seven Roman hills, late in the day when the crowds are usually at a manageable size. Walk among the ruins of the grand imperial residences that came to be known as palazzi signorili?the root of the word for a "palatial" building in French (palais), Spanish (palla) and English (palace). You'll also get a great view of modern palazzine (little palaces), Italian for apartment buildings. I took this image near Colosseum during the Rome's birthday parade. cheers, Dariush |
