The Eternal City. What better place to start the record of our journeys. Rome will hold a special place in our hearts forever, as it is the first destination which all four of us visited together. Our youngest traveler, Lexi, strolled the ancient city at seven months. For our eldest, Bella, it was Barcelona at almost two years old. She’s now three.
Rome is a city that inspires. It strikes me with awe. There is so much culture that came together and transformed the world. I come away feeling changed, almost as though I’d been in the very presence of those great figures of history whose tombs I stood beside. Between Florence and Rome, these individuals include Dante, Galileo, Michelangelo, Raphael, St Catherine of Siena, and the apostles Peter and Paul. Who knows if even the very chains that held Peter and Paul aren’t those very ones which are housed in San Pietro in Vincoli and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls?
I try to imagine what it must have been like. The Greeks laid the foundation for culture, knowledge and democracy, and the Romans stood upon their shoulders. But the ancient book of Daniel described them as a “beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it.” They were indeed conquerors, and used harsh methods (think of the Colosseum), but even the various persecutions of Christians from Nero to Diocletian would conclude with the conversion of Emperor Constantine.
The explosion of Christian art and influence in Rome, especially during the Renaissance era, is such a phenomenon that it’s almost difficult to believe. Yet there it is in front of us! The passion with which the artists and the architects worked, bringing every detail to life in the imagination, burns like an eternal flame through all their works. How rare to find such great passion and conviction combined with such great skill. And among so many different people! Any one of these works of art or architecture would be impressive by themselves, but they are only one of thousands upon thousands.
It’s one thing to see it in pictures. It’s quite another to stand in the presence of such people and places. Gazing across the skyline of the Roman Forum can almost transport one briefly back through the millennia. Walking into St Peter’s Basilica overwhelms me, being met with such an expanse of brilliance that it doesn’t look humanly possible to construct! And yet there it is. The pinnacle of human passion and ingenuity built upon the grave of him who carried the torch to inspire men and women everywhere to look toward the heavens, to walk on the very water!
What a place to begin our recorded journeys. Elizabeth and I have been to many places, but now we look to keep a better record as we experience these things with our children. Rome might be likened to a magnifying glass, one which focused the light of past generations and cultures to illuminate the whole world. Outward from Rome we go. Not far, though; our next stop is the ancient city of Matera.