We started the morning the same way as the day before, taking the same metro route back to the Colosseum. This time we entered the Roman Forum and used the Rick Steves audio guide.

Hugo outside the Colosseum before entering the Roman Forum

It was a much better experience than the official Colosseum guide. The storytelling was better. Instead of just looking at disconnected arches, columns and piles of stone, we could start imagining what happened there.

The route began at the Arch of Titus, built after the Roman victory in Jerusalem. One of the carvings inside shows Roman soldiers carrying away a menorah and other treasures from the temple.

The Arch of Titus at the start of the Roman Forum route
The carved marble interior of the Arch of Titus

We continued along the Via Sacra to the Basilica of Maxentius. A Roman basilica was a public hall rather than a church, and what remains is only part of the original building. The surviving vaults are already enormous. It is crazy to imagine the complete hall standing there.

Hugo beneath the enormous surviving vaults of the Basilica of Maxentius

The guide took us past the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestals.

The tall columns of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
A statue in the House of the Vestals

The Vestals were selected as young girls and committed to 30 years of service tending Rome’s sacred flame. They had privileges that most Roman women could not dream of, but they were also forced to remain virgins. Breaking that vow could mean being buried alive. Ancient sources describe the punishment, although it does not appear to have happened often.

Like so many Roman stories, it manages to be impressive and grotesque at the same time.

The Roman Forum stretching towards the Capitoline Hill

Hugo and Caro in the Roman Forum

We continued through the main square, past the Temple of Julius Caesar, the Senate House, the rostra, the Arch of Septimius Severus and the Temple of Saturn.

The surviving columns of the Temple of Saturn

Carved reliefs on the Arch of Septimius Severus

The crowds were much more manageable than at the Colosseum. The Forum is such a large area that we could stand alone, listen and take our time.

We also went inside Santa Maria Antiqua. The church was abandoned after an earthquake in AD 847 and only rediscovered in 1900. Being buried for so long helped preserve layers of frescoes painted between the sixth and ninth centuries.

Hugo standing in a tall brick passage in the Forum complex
The towering brick passage of the Ramp of Domitian to Palatine Hill

Layers of early medieval frescoes in Santa Maria Antiqua

The patterned stone and mosaic floor inside Santa Maria Antiqua

After all the Forum stops, we climbed towards Palatine Hill through the massive vaulted passage known as the Ramp of Domitian. We had not known much about the Palatine beforehand, so it was interesting to see the palace rooms, artefacts and the views from the top over the Forum and towards the Colosseum.

Hugo examining artefacts displayed on the route to Palatine Hill

A view of the Forum framed by an ancient arched opening
Ancient vaulted rooms on Palatine Hill

The palace ruins spread across Palatine Hill

The long sunken Stadium of Domitian on Palatine Hill

The Colosseum seen from the ruins on Palatine Hill

By then it was already well past lunchtime and we were getting hungry and tired. We took the metro back to our stop, went into the mall and had a sneaky McDonald’s: cheeseburgers and fries, our go-to guilty pleasure.

We returned to the room, where Hugo did some work.

For dinner we used the contents of the bag Caro had brought back from the mall the previous day: prosciutto, salami and cheese, eaten on bruschettas we had bought at the mall.

And that was it.