Elizabeth Jordan-Prince Eng. 595 – Literature of Rome Dr. Bunkers. , March 31, 2008
Reflections on Rome
(and Remembrances about Rambles through Italy)
Caesar died in noble dignity due to the artful interpretations of Marlon Brando and Louis Calhern and it played on the screen in front of the class, yet the death of Caesar was more real and concrete when standing at the place where the citizens of Rome built his pyre and cremated him. To this day, citizens lay flowers on the stones were his ashes once were. It is this juxtaposition between the personages of literature and the places of antiquity that transformed a study trip into a personal journey of discovery.
The first part of the class was concerned with gaining a grasp of basic literature and architecture through classics often studied: Shakespeare, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Greek and Roman mythology as well as the hagiography of the saints that replaced the pagan gods. For good measure, our class also viewed three films: the 1953 version of Julius Caesar, Daisy Miller and Roman Holiday. This approach can do no more than give a broad paint stroke to the canvas that is Roman literature, but it does serve to give a platform for appreciation for the great antiquity one find throughout Italy.
In ten days, it is impossible to fully cover Italy. Therefore, our tour only covered Rome, Naples, Sorrento and an optional day trip to Capri. This trip took us from the heart of antique and ancient Rome where everything started to Pompeii and Vesuvius, where nature is still making herself heard, and down through the Amalfi Coast and the blue Mediterranean. Although, as mentioned, this trip did not cover Italy, it was still enough of a swing through Italy that several different waves of conquest could be seen in the architecture and statuary left behind. It was also enough to see the different influences on the people that we encountered.
This paper could have been about the places I saw or the books that I read. They had a profound affect upon me. This paper could also truly have been about women in ancient times, and the power and mystique of the goddess – because I truly saw enough in the literature, the culture and artifacts to come up with some interesting theories. However, what interests me is people – and so ultimately, this paper becomes a paper about people I felt I’ve come to know as I’ve traveled with them, or learned about them, or connected with them in some mystical way. Of course, this brings the paper back to Caesar.
Wandering around ruins is slightly surreal. One must take in the fact that these monolithic ruins are older than any building that exists in the United States, and quite possible predate some of the Native American cliff dwellings. Rome – ancient, eternal, debauched and immoral Rome – has always seemed to exist and to walk through the paved roads of thousands years of empire is humbling. To me, though, it still seems like a worn and dirty movie set until I connect with the people who lived, and died, and mattered there. The first connection for me was Caesar. Seeing the floral tributes brought home that Caesar was real. He mattered, and people still care. He was loved, and he truly was a man of the people. This was the place where his ashes were, and the place where his body was, and the place where government was changed. People immortalized it, and a sacred place was born. This is the equivalent of our liberty bell, or our Tomb of the Unknown. Until I saw the flowers, Caesar was a pompous, though misunderstood, (historical) figure who orated himself through Shakespeare’s plays. The emotion made the connection real for me.
Connections also became factor when gazing at the remains of the Temple of Vesta. All that remains are simple, strong columns and a hearth where the eternal flame once burned. Yet, the columns helped me envision the similarly strong women who once inhabited the temple. I saw the eternal flame, now dead, and thought about the women who were charged with keeping it going. It was worth their life to let the flame go out, or to put anything above their calling as a Virgin of Vesta. Their whole identity was wrapped up in the functions they performed. This is not too different from those of use who are expected to keep families and jobs and education balanced but subsume our personalities to the roles we must play. We might not pay with our physical life, but there surely is a cost that we pay for society insisting that we can and must do it all. So I looked at the lonely un-burning flame and thought sometimes things haven’t changed as much as we really think they have.
One of the bright spots in Rome was the Dark Heart of Rome Tour. Angelo was a short, intense version of Johnny Depp – dark, vibrant, engaging and enthusiastic. He led us through the alleyways and byways of Rome while introducing us to several of the more notable personalities who inhabited Rome at various times. We met Beatrice Cenci, who is still used as the poster child for child abuse. We made the acquaintance of Pope Innocent (well, one of the not so innocent Innocents) and Pope Clement (who did not practice clemency). We thrilled to the tale of Teofania di Adama and Giulia Tofana who championed abused wives everywhere by providing the means by which (supposedly) over 500 wives managed to obtain a definitive end to their marriage (and a definite end to their spouses); namely Aqua Tofana, supposedly a tasteless, odorless poison containing belladonna and arsenic.. Most certainly, by the end of this tour, I felt that I knew several more people because I knew their stories and their histories. I had seen their faces, took pictures of their residences, and heard the stories of where their unhappy ghosts still walk. I knew them, and by extension, I felt as if I knew their city a bit more.
The next stop on our tour was Naples. We were off to discover the National Museum, where a lot of the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum reside. Having done some research on Pompeii, I knew that the women of Pompeii had relative freedom compared to the women in the whole of the Roman Empire. The topic of women’s status in particular, and gender roles in general, cropped up several times within the class. Several of us have an interest in the topic – Katie is a women studies major, Mary Beth has a pastoral degree, Liz has a background in counseling, Andrea has been holding the farm and the family together while her husband has been doing an extended stay in Iraq and Jessica and I are both feminists. Each of us has made a study of the roles of women as they occur in our professional or personal spheres of interest. I was hoping that there would be a fair amount of information at the museum, or through our guide about this subject.
I should pause here and say a word about the format of our tour. Although our guides were very knowledgeable about their subjects, each of our guides was a man. Alessandro took us through ancient Rome – the structures and places of antiquity. He also took us through the Vatican. He mostly focused on great men of the past and the achievements that had more of an effect on a man’s daily life in ancient Rome. Therefore, we spent little time on temples, homes, crafts or women. His tour was all about men, war, male artists, and male lawmakers. Even in the Vatican, when he could have talked about female saints, he chose to talk about male artists such as Michelangelo and Bernini. I ended up purchasing an excellent book in Rome about life in the city in ancient times. It was pitched toward junior high readers, but it did a wonderful job covering all aspects of social life and covered many of the facts that Alessandro seemed to think were unnecessary.
Some of our group took an official tour in Rome, the Dark Heart of Rome. This tour was balanced, in that it talked about men and women equally, but it focused on the notorious ones. This guide was also male and his name was Angelo. He focused more on where people lived and what made them famous, so it was a much different type of tour than any other tour we were on.
Our next guide was Giuseppi. He took us through Pompeii, on Vesuvius, and through the National museum. Again, his main focus was war, famous men and male artists, and the political state of the city. However, he did stop at some exhibits in the museum such as the “forbidden room” and the exhibit of the cooking utensils and glasswork, so that we got a more complete picture of the life of the people of Pompeii. As we were walking through Pompeii, although the focus was on the men, he did have many facts about things like the lead pipes in the city and the mercury cures for the ill that helped me understand what life was probably like for everybody. However, the best source of information about what life was like for the average citizen and for the women was once again, a pair of excellent books in the museum shop. One was about the art in the forbidden room, and explained the significance of the erotic paintings and statuary. The other was a book about family life in Pompeii and talked about such things as social structure, inheritance rights, and other fascinating facts that would have been great to know before I wandered around in Pompeii.
A few of us ended meeting on Capri, and enjoyed a tour around the island. Our guide was an a somewhat laconic sailor. I don’t remember his name, but he squeezed seven of us aboard his vessel, and he took us for just under two hours in and around the coastline of Capri. Although he didn’t start any conversation, he was a great source of information when we asked questions. We found out that a lot of the beautiful homes we saw were owned by wealthy owners who were only on Capri for a few months of the year. He also pointed out some of the government official’s homes. He was much more eager to point out the natural beauty of the island, and the grottoes that we explored. I am not sure if he didn’t talk as much because he was so busy attending to the boat, or if wasn’t the chatty sort. His approach was also different than the rest of the guides we had. He was not interested in the people – but he was interested in sharing the beauty of his home.
It made a difference in how each guide approached his subject. Ultimately, they were the link between the ancient people and places of the Roman Empire, the land of Italy and I. If they failed to connect me to those people, then I needed to find those connections for myself in the places I saw, the things that I read, or conversations I had along the way.
So, the connections looked for through the guides weren’t there. As mentioned, I was looking forward to Pompeii for many reasons. In Pompeii, the women had relative freedom in contrast to the restrictions Roman placed upon women. Women could own shops, participate in the economy, and actually inherit. Until the Romans took over, women enjoyed relative freedom. Once the Romans took over, their lives became a bit more prescribed, because the Romans brought with them the idea that the father is the absolute head of the household, and because the Romans also attempted to do away with some of the inheritance laws. The people of Pompeii had worshipped various gods and goddesses, although the Romans pushed for worship of more of the male deities.
I was very excited about seeing some of the temples and houses in Pompeii, and seeing modern archaeology in action. Unfortunately, archaeology digging and restoring has been halted in Pompeii. Further, what has been done in Pompeii has been looting of the largest degree. Most of what has been discovered has been removed and taken to museums and houses of private collectors. There is little to actually see on the site now, and it is hard to get a sense of what the area truly was like. Frescoes have been taken out in chunks from the wall, mosaics have been ripped out from the floors, and statuary has been yanked from everywhere it has been found. From what I understand, if one wants to truly see archaeology in action, it is better to go to Herculaneum. Most of what is being found is actually being left on site. That dig is progressing much more slowly due to the several layers that Herculaneum is under, though.
However, what connected me to people in Pompeii was walking through the houses. I could see the areas for living and imagine where I would put my furniture with that type of arrangement. I could look at the shops, with the clever counters and efficient use of space. I thought a lot about the exhibition of their cookware I had seen in the museum. Although every piece was functional, and indeed, many would not have been out of place in a modern chef’s kitchen today – each and every piece was beautiful as well. The handles or the spouts were shaped like animals or fauns or nymphs. These people were surrounded by beauty. Even the poorest houses had bright and cheerful frescoes on the walls. It is not so hard to imagine connections to our modern world, and the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs. The bigger difference is that the people of Pompeii seemed to build beauty to last, and that we chase a beauty that is fleeting because it is so intricately caught up with youth.
Although a lot of the time on the trip for me was about being in the places where people I have read about have been, a trip such as this would not be complete without chances to connect with the members in the party. I would not expect a group this large to be cohesive, and in this I was not disappointed. I was amazed though by what did happen. The group splintered decisively along the lines of drinking preference and age, and thereafter was fairly cohesive. Although there were a few members that made efforts to “cross the lines”, the two disparate groups were fairly distinct and separate throughout much of the trip. As a result, most of the people I connected with were all members of the non-drinking crowd (and there were FAR fewer of us.)
Katie and I had several interesting discussions about women’s roles in general. Gaynor and I talked about societal expectations of women, and different educational systems. Andrea and I talked about non-traditional roles of women, and balancing our roles as mothers, students and people. Sam and I talked about travel. Josh and I talked about writing, about living a life less conventional, and doing things in your own way and style. Since Jessica and I have been hanging out for 2 years, we talked about everything. Several of us are T.A.s, and of course John, Joe and Suzanne are teachers. Teaching came up pretty regularly as a topic. Spirituality also came up as a topic many times among a fair amount of us. Although many of us are from different religious backgrounds, I personally am convinced that this smaller group was open to discussion of beliefs and traditions. I know that in Suzanne’s class we had quite the interesting discussion of hagiography and how saints replaced pagan gods. Overall, I would have to say that the connections I made because of this trip are connections that I value and that I will pursue. It is an opportunity to get to know some people in an intimate setting, and get to know them well. This is the part of the trip I treasure most. I made connections to the ancient people of Rome, but I made connections to the people I traveled with as well.
I mentioned Caesar at the beginning of this paper as an example of the literary connections that were made. Certainly there were other literary connections that were made on this trip. I think the most important ones for me personally happened at the Keats and Shelley House, and at the Pantheon.
Keats, Byron and Shelley have long been my favorite poets. Of all the Romantic Poets, they are among the finest (in my personal estimation). Because of my infatuation with all things Keats, Byron, and Shelley, one of my favorite afternoons in Rome was spent with Jessica, Gaynor and Suzanne wandering through the Keats and Shelley house. It is a very narrow, old little house that would have been littler still when Keats lived there because he shared it with a landlady. Now it is filled with first editions, letters, paintings and a treasure trove of scholarly books all about Keats, Byron and both of the Shelleys. All told, there are over 8,000 books and probably more than 100 handwritten letters. It is almost enough to make a student change thesis topics . . . . I am still not sure which exhibit had the most effect on me. It was interesting to see the life and death masks of John Keats, but it was also interesting to see the paintings of Shelley’s wives, and Byron’s mistresses. I think seeing pictures of the families – brothers, wives, daughters, mothers – is what made John Keats, Percy Byshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and George Gordon (Lord Byron) come alive for me. Seeing the families made me think of my own family, and the influence a family has on a person. I want to be a good example to my children, and I want to give my children things that will make them better people. I want to be a good wife, and a good person. All of these things make school necessary. School is important to me for me, and for my family. My family is my support, my reason, and my inspiration. I looked at those pictures and could see how the people in Keats, Shelley and Byron’s lives influenced them as surely as the people in mine influence me.
The other place we visited that resonated with literary connections was the Pantheon. As is true with many antiquities, it was preserved because somewhere along the way, it was turned into a church. It has stood as a center of spirituality for thousands of years, and a sense of that reverence remains even now that the building is an obligatory tourist stop for many hundreds of people a day. Alessandro was talking about the proportions of the building, and the detailing of the dome and the floor and how it related to the ancient beliefs of science and a desire to give honor to all of the gods of Rome; but I was reflecting that nowhere in Rome is the marriage of the pagan and the religious more evident. The original statuary of the gods, the goddesses, and most probably a Roman emperor or two are long gone and those niches stand empty. The walls, which were once decorated with gold and marble, were long ago looted by the Catholic church and are now richly decorated with many Renaissance mosaics, paintings and sculptures depicting various religious scenes, and of course the Madonna. Biblical themes have overshadowed the original themes of this temple, and it is still a functioning Catholic church. Yet, one can still look up to the dome and look through the “eye of heaven” and gaze upon the sky. It might be a Catholic church, but its very nature and design invites people to ask questions about the vast infinity we find ourselves living in.
As we visited the Pantheon, I also thought about the Saints we had discussed, as well as the unit about Roman and Greek mythology. I had done some research on St. Brigid, one of Ireland’s patron saints. Although she was a historical figure, her feast day was carefully chosen to replace that of Bridget (or Brigit), the Irish goddess of poetry, healing, smith craft and fertility. Some of the saints were not so obvious a substitution; nonetheless, what happened with the Pantheon was a widespread phenomenon throughout the country as Christianity became the preferred religion and replaced the Roman system of gods and goddesses. There are parallels today as well. Many archaeologists and scientists spend a lot of time trying to debunk what they say are the myths of modern religion – and if I had to pick a modern religion, I would say that it is science. Even though many of the scientific advances are still but theories, people latch on to them with the fervor and excitement that used to be reserved for religion. Although many people seem to be searching for a deep and spiritual meaning in their lives, it seems to me that religion and spirituality is more personal at this time in history than it has ever been because more people tend to distrust “organized religion” than at any other period in time. I am not sure that this is progress, but it is interesting to note that humanity still searches for meaning in everyday life, and that organized religion still undergoes changes throughout the years.
Undoubtedly, I will look back on this trip and discover more connections than I have had time or space to write about. I will make more connections to political situations as I think about immigration, the status of women and how Americans are treating our current immigrants as I compare the status of women in stories such as Daisy Miller and Roman Fever. I will think of places I walked through every time I pick up another literary masterpiece that talks about the ancient roads of Rome. Each time I read news about Europe, I will understand the situation a little bit better because I understand the culture a little bit better having experienced it for myself. Mostly, though, I will keep and treasure the connections made with the people I learned with and about on my own personal road through Rome.