Rome, Italy

Rome is the capital of Italy. It is Italy's largest and most populous city, located on the Tiber River. The City of Rome boasts 2 1/2 thousand years of history. It was once the largest city in the world. Rome is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, which controls Vatican City as its sovereign territory. Rome is the third most visited tourist city in Europe. It is the headquarters of three of the world's one hundred largest companies: Enel, ENI and Telecom Italia.

Legend tells us Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf. According to Roman legend Romulus was the founder of Rome and Remus was his twin brother. Numitor, king of the ancient Italian city of Alba Longa, was deposed by his brother, Amulius. Amulius and Numitor were descendants of fugitives of Troy, and they received the throne of Alba Longa upon their father's death. Numitor received the sovereign powers as his birthright, while Amulius received the royal treasury, to include the gold Aeneas brought with him from Troy. Since Amulius held the treasury he had more power than his brother, and he dethroned Numitor as the rightful king. Amulius was afraid Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, would produce children who would one day overthrow him as king, so he forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, which meant she was made a priestess of the goddess Vesta and was forbidden to marry. Even so, Mars, the god of war, fell in love with Rhea, and she gave birth to twin sons. They were of remarkable size and beauty, and in his rage Amulius ordered the twins and Rhea Silvia killed. Accounts vary as to how he intended to do this--in one account he had Rhea buried alive, the standard punishment for Vestal Virgins who broke their vow of celibacy, and ordered the death of the twins by exposure. In another version, he ordered the twins and Rhea Silvia thrown into the Tiber River. The servant ordered to kill the twins could not do it because they were so beautiful, and instead he placed the twins in a basket and laid the basket on the banks of the Tiber River and left. The river was in flood, and rose gently and carried the basket and the twins downstream. They were kept safe by the river diety, Tiberinus, who made a cradle catch in the roots of a fig tree growing in the Velabrum Swamp. He then brought the twins to the Palatine Hill, where they were adopted by a she-wolf who nursed them and fed them her milk. A woodpecker also brought them food, because, like the wolf, the woodpecker was sacred to Mars. Another version of the legend gives the suggestion that the she wolf, known as Lupa, was actually human, and a courtesan, who were also called she-wolves.

The twins were later found by a king's shepherd, Faustulus, and he and his wife, Acca Larentia raised the twins as their own. The twins grew into bold young men and led a band of warlike shepherds. The twins' noble birth showed in their beauty and size, and as adults they were manly, high-spirited, of invincible courage and daring. Romulus was thought to be the wiser of the two and the more political. In discussions with his neighbors he showed a disposition of command rather than following. Because of these qualities, Romulus and Remus were loved by their equals and the poor alike, but they despised the king's officers, and felt the officers were no braver than they were. They paid no attention to the anger and threats of the king's men, and led lives of men born to nobility. They defended the land against enemies, captured plunderers, did not value sloth and idleness, and avenged those who had been wronged. They became famous throughout Latium for these qualities.

When Romulus and Remus were eighteen years old, an argument occurred between the shepherds of Numitor and the shepherds of Amulius. Numitor's shepherds drove off many of Amulius' cattle, causing Amulius' men to become enraged. Romulus and Remus gathered the shepherds together, found and killed Numitor's shepherds and recovered the lost cattle. To the displeasure of Numitor, Romulus and Remus took into their own company many of the needy men and slaves of Numitor, exhibiting much boldness and temper.

One day Remus was captured and brought before Numitor for punishment. Numitor was in fear of Amulius, and went to Amulius for justice since they were brothers and Amulius had been insulted by the royal servants. The people of Alba Longa also felt Numitor had been wronged, and Amulius was forced to hand Remus over to Numitor to treat as he saw fit. Numitor noticed Remus did not look like the usual shepherd's son and began to question him. After hearing of Remus' daring acts and deeds and of his noble virtues, Numitor asked Remus about his birth. Remus told Numitor he had been found and nursed by a wolf on the banks of the Tiber River. Before long, Numitor realized who Remus was. During this time, Romulus had been engaged elsewhere, and upon his return was told by Faustulus that Remus had been captured by Numitor and told Romulus to go to Remus' aid. Romulus gathered an army to invade Alba Longa and set out to bring Remus back. Faustulus took the cradle in which he found Romulus and Remus and ran to Alba Longa. When he reached the gates of the city he was stopped by the guards, one of which happened to be the servant who had taken the boys to the river. He recognized the cradle and knew Faultulus was telling the truth, and hurried to Amulius to tell him what was happening, bringing Faustulus to Amulius. The servant admitted Romulus and Remus were still alive, but said they lived far away from Alba Longa and worked as herdsmen.

Amulius became alarmed and enraged, and quickly sent a friend of Numitor to him to see if he had possibly heard of any possibility of the twins being alive. As the man entered Numitor's house he found Numitor embracing Remus, which confirmed Remus was Numitor's grandson. The man advised Numitor and Remus to act quickly as Romulus was marching on the city with an army of men who hated and feared Amulius. Remus incited the citizens of the city to revolt at the same time Romulus was attacking the city. Amilius, out of sheer confusion, was taken prisoner without any resistence. He was soon put to death.

After Amulius' death the people of the city offered Romulus and Remus the joint crown, but the twins refused as long as their grandfather, Numitor, was still living. They also would not live in the city as subjects. After restoring the kingship to Numitor and properly honoring their mother, the two left Alba Longa to found their own city along the slopes of the Palatine Hill. Before leaving Alba Longa they took with them fugitives, runaway slaves and anyone who wanted a second chance.

Once Romulus and Remus arrived at Palatine Hill they began to argue over where the city should be. Romulus was intent on building the city on the Palatine Hill, but Remus wanted to build on Aventine Hill, which was easily fortified. One story says they agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilitues as augurs and by the will of the deities. They each sat on the ground a distance apart and Remus saw six vultures, considered to be sacred by Mars, while Romulus saw twelve. Remus was enraged by Romulus' victory, claiming that since he saw the six vultures first he should have won. Romulus started to build walls on the Palatine hill where his city's boundary was to be on April 21, 753 BC. Remus ridiculed some of the work and obstructed other parts. He jeered the walls, saying they were too low, and to prove it he leaped over the walls. This was an omen of bad luck, since this implied that the city fortifications would be easily breached. Romulus became angry, and picking up a rock, killed Remus, stating, "So perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my wall." Romulus buried Remus, and then continued to build his city, naming it Roma after himself, and serving as its first king.

The first citizens of Rome were fugitives and outlaws to whom Romulus gave the settlement on the Capitoline Hill. Romulus divided the people of Rome who were able to fight into regiments of 3,000 infantry and 300 calvary. He called these regiments "legions". The rest of the people became the populice of the city, and out of the populace he hand selected 100 of the most noble men to serve as a council for the city, calling them Patricians and their council the Roman Senate. He called them Patricians not only because they were the fathers of legitimate sons, but also because he intended the great and the wealthy to treat the weak and the poor as fathers treat their sons. This symbolically delineates the inauguration of the patron-client relationship, known as clientela, which was central to Roman culture and society, and was later passed down to medieval societies.

Romulus spread the reputation of Rome as an asylum of all who desired a second chance. As a result, Rome attracted a population of exiles, refugees, murders, criminals and runaway slaves. The population of Rome grew so much that five of the seven hills of Rome were settled: the Capitoline Hill, the Aventine Hill, the Caelian Hill, the Quirinal Hill and the Palatine Hill. However, Romulus realized another problem was rising: few of the foreigners had wives, so Romulus decided he needed to fill the city with women too.

To solve the problem of not enough women, Romulus held a festival, the Consualia, inviting all the neighboring Sabine tribe to be his guests. The Sabine came en masse, and brought their daughters with them. Romulus planned to kidnap all the women and take them back to Rome as citizens. When the Sabines arrived Romulus sat amongst the senators, dressed in purple. The signal for the onsalught was to be his rising and folding his cloak, and then throwing it around himself again. Armed with swords, many of his followers kept their eyes on him, and when he gave the signal his nobles drew their swords, rushed in with shouts, and captured the Sabine's daughters. They also permitted and encouraged the men to escape unharmed. There were 700 Sabine women captured and taken back to Rome. This event has been remembered in various works of art as the "Rape of the Sabine Women"
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The Sabines were numerous and war-like, but now they found themselves bound by precious hostages and fearing for their daughters. They sent ambassadors with reasonable and moderate demands that Romulus should give back their young women, disavow his deed of violence, and then by persuasion and legal enactment, establish a friendly relationship between the two peoples. Romulus would not surrender the young women, and demanded that the Sabines should allow their marriage with the Romans, causing long deliberations and extensive preparations for war. While most of the Sabines were still busy with war preparations, the peole of a few other cities banded together against the Romans, and in a battle they were defeated and surrended their cities to Romulus with the territory to be divided and the people to be transported to Rome. Romulus divided all the acquired territory among the citizens, except that which belong to the parents of the young women, having the owners keep it for themselves.

This enraged the Sabines even more, and caused them to appoint Titus Tatius as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the Sabines, who then marched his army on Rome. The city was difficult to access, having its fortress on Capitoline Hill, where a guard had been stationed with Tarpeius as the captain. Supposedly Tarpeia, the daughter of the commander, betrayed the citadel to the Sabines, having her heart set on the golden armlets that she saw them wearing, and in payment for her treachery she asked for these armlets. Tatius agreed, so Tarpeia opened the gates at night, letting the Sabines in. Once inside Tatius ordered his Sabines not to begrudge Tarpeia anything they wore on their left arms. Tatius was the first to take from his arm not only his armlet, but also his shield and give them to Tarpeia, and his men followed suit. Tarpeia was smitten by the gold and buried under the shields, and she died from the number and weight of them.

With the Sabines controlling Capitoline Hill, Romulus angrily challenged them to battle and Tatius accepted. The Sabines marched down Capitoline Hill and battled the Romans between the hills in a swampy area which would one day be known as the Roman Forum. The Sabines overran the Romans and they were forced back behind the walls of Rome upon the Palatine Hill. From behind the walls, the Romans began to flee the battle. Romulus bowed down and prayed to Jupiter and the Romans rallied back to Romulus and made a stand. Romulus led the Romans on and they drove the Sabines back to where the Temple of Vesta would later stand.

As the Sabines were preparing to renew battle, they were stopped by the sight of their ravaged daughters rushing from the city of Rome through the infantry and the dead bodies. The Sabine women ran up to their husbands and fathers, some with young children in their arms. Both armies were so moved to compassion, they drew apart to give the women a place between the battle lines. The Sabine women begged their Roman husbands and Sabine fahters and brothers to accept one another and live as one. With sorrow on both sides of the battle, they made a truce and the leaders held a conference. It was decided that Romulus and Tatius would rule as joint kings of the Romans, which now included the newly added Sabines.

Rome doubled in size. The Sabines inhabited Quirinal Hill and the Romans inhabited Palatine Hill. The two nations chose a third hill to serve as the center of government and administration for the city of Rome--the Capitoline Hill. From the Sabines 100 new noblemen were selected to become Patricians and joined the ranks of the Senate. The legions were doubled in size, from 3,000 infantry and 300 calvary to 6,000 infantry and 600 calvary. The cultures of the Romans and the Sabines also combined, and the Sabines adopted the Roman calendar, and the Romans adopted the armor and obling shield of the Sabines.

After five years of joint rule Tatius was assassinated by foreign ambassadors and Romulus became the sole king of the Romans. He introduced legislations that prevented adultry and murder. As king of Rome he was not only commander-in-chief of the army, abut also the city's chief judicial authority. His judgement of many crimes were held in place for over six hundred years without a single case being reported in Rome of his judgements being questioned.

Under Romulus' administration, the people of Rome were divided into three tribes: one for Latins (Ramnes), a second for Sabines (Titites), and a third for Etruscans (Luceres). These three tribes became the Romans. Each tribe had a tribune who represented their respective tribes in all civil, religious and military affairs. When in the city they were the magistrates of their tribes and performed sacrifices on their behalf. In times of war they were Rome's military commanders. The Ramnes derived their name from Romulus, the Tities from Titus Tatius, and the Luceres from an Etruscan title of honor.

After the creation of the three tribes, the Comitia Curiata were instituted. To form the basis of this, Romulus divided each of the tribes into ten curiae, with thirty curiae deriving their names from thirty Sabine women whom Romulus and his men had kidnapped. Each of the individual curiae were subdivided into ten gentes, which formed the basis for the nomen in the Roman naming convention. When Romulus would convene the Comitia Curiate and lay proposals from either him or the senate before the Curiate for ratification, the ten gentes within each curia would cast a vote, with the collective vote of the curia going to the majority of the gentes. This formed the basis for the modern Electorial College.

Romulus, being a military man, formed his own personal guard, the Celeres. The consisted of Rome's three hundred finest horsemen who were under the command of the Celerum Tribune, who was also the Tribune for the Ramnes tribe. The Celeres derived their name from their leader, a close friend of Romulus named Celers, who helped Romulus slay Remus and found the city of Rome. This military unit functioned much like the Praetorian Guard of Augustus as it was responsible for Romulus' personal safety and the security of Rome while the legions were on her borders. The relationship between Romulus and his Tribune is similar to the relationship between the Roman Dictator and his Magister Equitum. Celer, as the Celerum Tribune, occupied the second place in the state, and in the absence of Romulus he had the rights of convoking the Conitia and commanding the armies.

From the founding of Rome until he died, Romulus waged wars and expanded his territory. He conquered many neighboring cities, and gained unequaled control over the area of Latium, Tuscany, Umbria, and Abruzzo. In what would become the traditional Roman style of warfare, although Romulus lost battles, he never lost a single war in which he fought.

After his final wars against the Etruscans, Numitor, the king of Alba Longa, and Rolumus' biological grandfather, died. The people of Alba Longa offered the crown to Romulus, believing he was the one rightful ruler of the city as the blood heir to Numitor. Romulus accepted dominion over the city, but gained much favor with the city's people by placing the government in the hands of the people of the city. Once a year, Romulus appointed a governor over the city, a man who was selected by the people of Alba Longa.

During later years Romulus grew to rely less and less on the Senate. Though this was legal it went against tradition. The Senate essentially lost its influence, holding no say in the administration of the city. The Senate could only be convened when Romulus called for it and once assembled mostly sat in silence and listened to his edicts. The Senators soon found their only advantage over the commoners was that they learned what Romulus decreed before the commoners did. On his own authority, he divided the territory acquired in war among his soldiers without the wish or consent of the Patricians. The Patricians thought he was insulting their Senate outright, and they grew to hate him, but feared him too much to defy him and show him their displeasure.

Romulus' life ended in the thirty eighth year of his reign with a supernatural disappearance, if he was not slain by the Senate. One day when he and all the people had gone to the Campus Martius, a sudden storm arose. It became so dark people fled in terror. When the storm was over, the Romans returned, but to their surprise Romulus had disappeared. The people sent for him, but no one could find him. The people were amazed and all were talking about this sudden disappearance, wondering what could have happened to their king. One of the Senators stood and called for silence. After he calmed the people he told them he had seen Romulus carried up into the heavens. He said Romulus had called out that he was going to live with the dieties, and wished his peole to worship him as the god Quirinus. In response the Romans built a temple on the hill where the Senator said Romulus had risen to heaven. The hill was called Quirinal Hill in Romulus' honor and for many years the Romans worshiped Romulus from that very spot. As the god Quirinus, Romulus joined Jupitor and Mars in the Archiac Triad. Quirinus was depicted as a bearded warrior in both religious and battle clothing wielding a spear, so he is viewed as a god of war and as the strength of the Roman people, but more importantly, as the diefied likeness of the city of Rome itself. Quirinus recieved a Flamen Maior called the Flamen Quirinalis, who oversaw his worship and rituals. The Romans even called themselves Quirites in his honor. After Romulus' death, he was succeeded by Numa Pompilius as the second King of Rome.

After a victorious World War II, Italian fascism rose to power, guided by Benito Mussolini, who marched on the city in 1922. Eventually he declared a new empire and allied Italy with Germany. There was a period of rapid population growth until World War II, during which Rome was damaged by both allied bombing and Nazi occupation. After Mussolini was executed and the war ended, a referendum in 1946 abolished monarchy in favor of the Italian Republic. There was tremendous growth in Rome after World War II, and it became a very fashionable city in the 1950's and 1960's--the years of "la dolce vita" (The Sweet Life).

Vatican City

Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world. It occupies an area or 44 hectares, or a little less than 109 acres. The borders of Vatican City are represented by its walls and travertine pavement curve that joins the wings of the two colonnades in St. Peter's Square. The population of Vatican City is about 820, only 450 of which have Vatican City citizenship. The rest of the population have permission to live in Vatican City, either permanently ot temporarily, without benefit of citizenship. About half of Vatican City's citizenship do not live in the city as they are diplomats and live in various other countries. Conferral or loss of citizenship is governed by special regulations issued according to the Latern Treaty, a pact between the Holy See and Italy, signed on February 11, 1929. Vatican City has it own flag and anthem, mints its own coins and issues its own stamps. The monetery unit of Vatican City is now the Euro, and is considered legal tender throughout Italy and Europe. Vatican City is governed by an absolute monarchy with the Pope being the Head of State. During the time between the death of one Pope and the election of a new one (sede vacante) the governmental powers rare exersized by the College of Cardinals. The new Pope is elected by the cardinals under the age of 80 years. The new Pope becomes the sovereign of Vatican City State the moment he is elected and accepts the position as Pope.

Rome, St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican Museums and The Vatican Gardens

I started a posting on Rome and the Vatican several days ago but did not post it until today. Since I started it earlier, it was posted in my blog for the day on which I started it, not today when I posted it. If you scroll down you will find that posting. The next several posts will be additions to that original post. There will not be many pictures, if any, in these postings, but just a lot of observations, opinions and explanations. I hope you enjoy the information included in these posts.

Via della Conciliazione

Via della Conciliazione, or Road of the Conciliation, is a street in Rome that connects St. Peter's Square to Castel Sant' Angelo, originally built about 130 A.D. as Hadrian's mausoleum, to the western bank of the Tiber River. Walls were built from the Vatican fields--reportedly the site of the burning and crucification of St. Peter--to the mausoleum, and it was the area bounded by these walls that became known as the Borgo. Via della Conciliazione was built between 1936 and 1950. It is the main access to St. Peter's Square. It has many shops and residences on it, as well as many religious buildings. These include Palazzo Tolonia, the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri, the Palazzo dei Convertendi, the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina and the Church of Santo Spirito. Even though this is one of the few major streets in Rome that can handle large volumes of traffic, it is also the subject of much controversy in the Roman community and among historical scholars due to the circumstances under which it was built.

Throughout history, the Basilica of St. Peter was rebuilt many times after various sackings of Rome. It was also allowed to deteriorate when the Papacy was relocated to Avignon, France during the 14th Century. Through all these reconstructions, the area in front of the courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica remained a maze of densly-packed structures overhanging the narrow side streets and alleyways.

There were several plans to construct a major link between Vatican City and the center of Rome, with an increase in submissions with the start of the Italian Renaissance. The first design was submitted by Leone Battista Alberti during the reign of Pope Nicholas V, and formed one of the two perennial designs proposed for the area. Alberti envisioned an open plan, consisting of a single huge V-shaped boulevard with the widest area at the Basilica itself and tapering as it approached the river. The other type of designs, submitted by other architects was a closed plan that consisted of two roads arching outwards in an ellipse, with the Tiber River and the Square at opposite ends. Those who recommended the closed plan would usually suggest that the space between the causeways be separated by a colonnade, or by a row of inhabited structures whose designs would be scrutinized and approved by architects employed by the Holy See. Those who recommended the open plan included such architects as Giovanni Battista Nolli and Cosimo Morelli. Architects such as Carlo Fontana and at least one Pope, Sixtus V, favored a closed design with a number of streets radiating from the central square, maintaining the "spina" (spine) of the structures of Borgo directly between the Square and the Tiber. Neither of the plans moved past the sketches and blueprints. Both open and closed designs were considered by the Vatican, but were finally discarded due to being too expensive. A thorough study of the costs of building a thoroughfare was made by the Vatican-approved St. Peter's Building Commission in 1651, and the conclusion was "the cardinals' proposal to demolish all the buildings between the Borgo Nuovo and the Borgo Vecchio for a greater and longer vista to the church" would not be feasible because of extremely high expropriation costs and vested property interests.

Even more interest was lost when Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned to redesign the terrace on the front of St. Peter's Basilica in 1656. After looking at and rejecting several sketches, Bernini decised on a colossal open space in the shape of an ellipse. The potential expense of clearing Borgo caused Bernini to make use of the poorly-maintained medieval buildings to hide any view of the Vatican structures from any significant distance. Because of this, pilgrams emerged from the relative darkness of the city into the vast open space and grandeur of St. Peter's Square and its surrounding buildings. This was a sight calculated to inspire awe in first-time visitors to the Holy See's seat of power.Originally Bernini had planned to demolish a square to the side directly in front of the square and fill the space with a third colonnade ("terzo braccio") to match the two colonnades that are still standing today. This would have produced a longer vantage point to allow visitors a better viewing angle of the Basilica, but the death of Bernini's patron, Pope Alexander VII, put a halt ot Bernini's work and the third set of colomns was abandanoned and the piazza remained open ended and incomplete.

From teh final major reconstruction of Borgo in the 15th Century, the site which the Via della Conciliazione now covers remained occupied by residential, religious and historical building for about 500 years. The final impetus behind the road's construction was primarily political. Borgo, along with the rest of the Papal States outside the Vatican itself, was taken by the Kindom of Italy during the Italian unification in teh 19th Century, leading to Pope Pius IX's declaration that he had become a prisoner in the Vatcan and the formation of the Roman Question. For the next 59 years the Popes refused to leave the Vatican in order to avoid any appearance of accepting the aithority wielded by the Italian government over Rome as a whole. Originally some of the Italian government welcomed this, expecting the influence of the Papscy to fade to the point that enough political support could be gained to abolish it altogether. This failed to materialize and eventually a compromise that was acceptable to both sides was reached in the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed the Lateran Treay on behalf of the King, and he resurrected the idea of a grand thorouhgfare symbolically connecting the Vatican to the middle of the Italian capital. Mussolini turned to the Fascist architects Marcello Piacentini and Attilion Spaccarelli. Taking inspiration from a number of drawings submitted by Carlo Fontana, Piacentini produced a plan that would preserve the best aspects of bioth the open and closed designs. He devised a grand boulevard that would still obscure the majority of the Vatican's buildings just as Bernini had intended. The hige colonnaded street would require the entire "spina" to be cleared between the Basilica and the Castle. Since the fronts of the buildings linig this area were not perfectly aligned, to create the illusion of a perfectly straight street the traffic islands would be built along both sides, with rows of oblisks leading toward the Square and these would also double as lamp posts. They were also intended to reduce the effect that the funnel shaped design would have on perspective when facing the Basilica. The wings of the buildings closest to the square would be preserved to form a propylaea (gateway) which would block the greater portion of Vatican City from approaching visitors and framing the Square and Basilica at the head of the grand open space that wold allow for easy vehicular access.

The demolition of the spina of Borgo began with Musolini's symbolic strike of the first building with a pickaxe on October 29, 1936 and continued for one year. Even then the demolition was controversial with many of the Borga residnets displaced en masse to settlements ("borgate") outside the city. Among the buildings dismantled completely or partially and rebuilt in another place were the Palazzo dei Convertendi, the house of Giacomo and Bartolomeo da Brescia, the Church of the Nunziatina, the palaces Rusticucci-Accoramboni, CEsi and degli ALiconi. Other buildings, including the palace of the Governatore del Borgo and the Church of S. Giacomo a Scossacavalli were totally destroyed. Five other building faced into the cleared area--the Palazzo Giraud-Torlonia, the Church of Santa MAria in Traspontina, teh Palazzo dei Pentitenzieri, Palazzo Serristori and Palazzo Cesi. The construction of this road was only a small part in the reconstruction of Rome that had been ordered by Mussolini. His orders included the restoration of the Castel Sant' Angelo and the clearance of the Mausoleum of Augustus to the much more complicated site of teh Via dell'Impero through Rome's amcient imperial remains. His plan was to transform Rome into a monument to Italian fascism as is indicated by the following quote:

"In five years, Rome must appear marvellous to all the peoples of the world; vast, orderly, powerful, as it was in the time of the first empire of Augustus."--Benito Mussolini

Construction of the road continued long after Mussolini's death and the abolition of Italian Fascism. The last oblisk was installed in tome for the Jubilee of 1950. Since its completion the road has acted as the primary access point to St. Peter's Square, and by extension to the Vatican City itself. At times, such as during the funeral of Pope John PAul II, it has acted as an extension to the square itself, allowing a greater number of visitors to attend functions there.

What is dying?

What is dying?
A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon, and someone says, "she is gone".
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all; she is just as large as when I saw her...
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when someone says "she is gone", there are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout, "there she comes!"...
and that is dying.
Bishop Brent

"Friendship is what binds the world together in peace. May we all become friends"

Happy Birthday Michael

Monday September 8th is Michael's 60th birthday. While everyone may tease him the day will come when we will all be 60. By today's standards it is actually very young, and quite honestly Michael can work rings around many people much younger than he is. When you think in terms of I have lived with him for more than half his life it doesn't seem old at all. Sometimes I don't think I can remember not living with him. He is one of the few people who has known me for so long and who has known me at my best and my worst, yet still accepts me as I am. He will do anything for me and asks for very little in return. He is honest and a hard worker, and goes out of his way to make people happy. When I can think of a hundred reasons why something is going to fail he can tell me why I'm wrong. While I look at the glass half empty he looks at it more than half full. When Michael and I were dating my mother was so impressed with him--he held the door for me and assisted me into the car. He was polite no matter what--and my dad was not always the kindest to him. After all, I was my dad's little girl, and I was marrying a SAILOR--OH MY GOD!!!!! My mother said Mike treated me like I was made of glass and would break if he was not careful. He has been a great husband and father, his family being the most important thing in his life. After spending thirty years in the Navy and earning a good retirement that still has not been enough, and he continues to work. He is a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather and much more. Laugh as much as you want, and call him old as much as you want, but you should all have someone in your life like Mike. All of you should be so lucky. Happy birthday Michael, and may you have many, many more. Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.

I don't have many pictures of Michael when he was little. This was taken in his
mother's house, obviously at Christmas. One day I will have to get his mother to let me get copies of whatever pictures she has of him.

This was early in his Naval career. Don't you think he had to have lied about his age? He looks all of 15!

I don't know what they were looking at, but this is a picture of Michael when he was on the USS Tattnall. Mike was a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy, and an Independent Duty Corpsman. He was the senior medical personnel on the ship, with one other junior corpsman. The man on his left is Captain Tobin, the CO of the Tattnall.

This is a picture taken in sick bay on the Tattnall. Mike retired from the Navy as a Master Chief. He went to Tattnall as the junior chief, and made senior chief while aboard. He was the only one of the chiefs who made senior chief that year.

Now, this is a picture taken toward the end of his career. He was stationed with the Marines in Okinawa. Look at all that gold on his arm! You needed sunglasses to look at him.

This was a very important time for Michael. The birth of his first grandchild, Clara Elizabeth Stein. Clara was born early and had to stay in the hospital for several weeks. We went a time or two to feed her while she was there to give our daughter and son-in-law a little break.

And this is Mike, Clara and Victoria. Victoria is probably going to have a fit--I don't know why she has her eyes closed, but this was taken the day after Clara's birth, and Victoria was not at her best yet.

Victoria's husband is Christopher, and he also is in the Navy. I actually stole this picture off Victoria's Blog.

We have a son, also named Christopher. This is Chris and his wife, Nikki. She is in the Air Force.

And last, but not least, this is Michael and our grandson, Jonathan Michael Stein. Jonathan is named after both his grandfathers, and I know Mike was extremely touched by this.

The Vatican

In visiting the Vatican there is so much to see that one visit is not enough. Not only is there the Basilica of St. Peter, but there are museums and gardens also. The museums have more art and history than one can even begin to remember. Since I've started this blog so often I have wished I realized then how lucky I was, and actually understood what an opportunity I had. So often now when I look at some of my pictures I wonder what the history behind it was, or why this was so important. I also find it amazing that when I see pictures of the Vatican or the museums I can say, "I've been there. I saw that." We visited Rome twice while we were in Sicily, and the second time was no less awesome than the first. One of the visits we made we went into St. Peter's in the evening. There was a ceremony or devotion of some sort being held, and a group of, I assume, cardinals were there. They were singing, and it was so awe inspiring. While I am not an overly religious person, in St. Peter's you feel really close to God. Below are some of our pictures, and under each I will give a short description. I am going to write more in another posting because this would be such a long posting with everything I have to say. I hope you will enjoy all the information I post.

This is one of the many tombs under the Vatican. There are many former popes buried here, and in some cases rather than a marble tomb suc as this one you actually see the body of the person enclosed in a glass sided coffin. Some of the people buried here are saints.

This is one of the Swiss Guards. The Swiss Guards are the official guards of the Pope.

This is the tomb of St. Peter. Again, it is amazing to see the artifacts and relics in the Vatican. I could write for weeks and post pictures for months and I could never show all that is in the Vatican.

Another of the Swiss Guards. The guards do not speak to people and do not react to anything you do. They are there to guard.

This is a picture of the dome of St. Peter's from the Vatican Gardens.

And another picture of the Dome of St. Peter's from the Vatican Gardens.

This os one of the windows of the Pope's quarters in the Vatican.

Another picture of the Vatican Gardens. I dod not even begin to show the beauty of these gardens.

Another view of the window's of the Pope's quarters in St. Peter's.

A very bad picture of Michelangelo's Pieta. On May 21, 1972 Laszlo Toth damaged the Pieta with a hammer. He was never charged witha criminal offense, but on January 29, 1973 a Rome court declared him socially dangerous and he was ordered confined to a mental hospital for at least two years. Toth was a Hungarian-born Austrailian geologist, and on February 9, 1975 he was released from the hospital and deported from Italy as an undesirable alien. He was sent back to Australia, where he was not detained by the authorities. As he attacked the Pieta with a hammer, he yelled, "I am Jesus Christ--risen from the dead!" as he broke one of the arms off the Pieta.. The statue was able to be reapired and you can't tell at this point that it was ever damaged. The statue now sits behind a bullet proof plate of glass.

This is the entrance to the Vatican Museums. The entrance is very plain and unassuming, but what you find inside is totally amazing.

This is one of the many, many statues in the Vatican Museums. The artwork and relics in the museums are overwhelming.

Another picture of the Dome of St. Peter's from another area of the Vatican Gardens.

One of the many statues of the grand lions in the Vatican. Some of the grottoes of the popes have these lions guarding them.

This is a picture of the dome from another angle showing some of the detail of the building.

More of the detail of the Dome of St. Peter's. The entire building is unbelievable.

This is a pictue of St. Peter's Square and the Oblisk taken from the top of St. Peter's Basilica.

This is a picture of the bronze sitting statue of St. Peter. Over the many centuries this statue has existed, pilgrams to Rome and the Vatican have touched and kissed the right foot of the statue. In fact, so many people have touched the foot that it is worn completely smooth. Can you imagine how many people have touched it, and who these people may have been? It is totally mond boggling to me to think of it.

The entrance to the Vatican Museums. Again, what you see in these museums is more than you can imagain seeing in any other museum in the world.

This is the front of St. Peter's Basilica, and that is Mike's mothe, Phyllis Noel, standing there. This picture sort of gives you some idea of the size of the Vatican.

Yet another picture of the Dome of St. Peter's.

A Picture of the Oblisk looking from Via della Conciliazione towards St. Peter's.

These are the Holy Doors at one of the entrances to St. Peter's. Theses doors are only opened during Holy Years, or the year of Jubilee. We were lucky enough to be in Rome once when the doors were closed and once when they were opened, and actually were able to walk through them.

Another picture of St. Peter's square from the top of the Vatican.

A picture of the front of St. Peter's Basilica as you walk down Via della Conciliazone.

The statues on the top of St. Peter's Basilica. You can get to the roof of the Vatican where these statues are. They are enormous.

Another picture showing the front of St. Peter's and the statues, which are actually about midway up the building.

Another view of the Holy Doors. As you walk up to the Vatican you go through these "gates" to the portico, then through the doors into the Vatican.

This picture was one Mike took several years before we were married when he had gone to Rome. It shows one of the "wings" on the front of the Vatican. At the time Mike took this picture, as you can see, cars were allowed in St. Peter's Square. This is no longer true--cars are not allowed in St. Peter's Square.