| The Romans are alive and well… sipping espressos | | | | dome of the Roman Pantheon was built using light |
| and nibbling pastries in the piazzas. | | | | weight stones! |
| Roman daily life? | | | | So it becomes abundantly clear that the gap of 2000 |
| It’s quite funny if you do an English search for | | | | years between ancient Roman life and moldern daily |
| “Roman daily life” on your favourite search | | | | life is not that much of a stretch.. |
| engine you will get results for: Roman chariot races, | | | | And sometimes I wonder what the ancient Romans |
| circus maximus, gladiators and the ancient Roman | | | | would think about the new Rome and |
| Colosseum. Now do the same search in Italian and you | | | | “improvements” of the 21st century. Would they |
| will have results like shopping for handbags or how to | | | | marvel at the warmth and convenience of our new |
| use the Metro or other public transport in Rome! | | | | homes, considering that they already had plumbing, |
| The point is that to the Italians "Romans" are the | | | | underfloor heating, and examples of double glazing |
| people living in Rome Italy right now! They are alive | | | | have been found in Ostia Antica. Would they be |
| and well and if you ask an Italian what WAS Roman | | | | impressed with our new sports and stadias that seat |
| daily life like they will raise an eyebrow and ask you | | | | thousands of fans, when the ancient Roman |
| “What do you mean WAS?”, most likely their | | | | Colosseum could seat up to 70 000 fans and they |
| eyes will light up and they will exclaim “Aahh, gli | | | | could also fill it with water and stage mock sea battles. |
| Antichi Romani” – aahhh, you mean the Ancient | | | | They would have to be impressed with our new |
| Romans! | | | | “chariot races” where speedy thoroughbred |
| In fact not much has changed in the last two thousand | | | | race horses dazzle the masses of well dresses |
| years. There are still Roman chariot races (albeit | | | | spectators?! But then again the Circus Maximus did |
| informal) through the streets of Rome Italy, but the | | | | hold 380 000 fans and entrance was free! |
| vehicles are more expensive, heavier and perhaps | | | | Hmmm, after the ancient Romans sniffed the air and |
| less reliable. There are roads and bridges but none last | | | | heard the noise pollution of modern cities, and felt the |
| as long as they used to, even the masses of tourists | | | | hustle and bustle of life in modern Rome (and |
| is nothing new, tourists have been traveling long | | | | continued corruption in politics) and compared it to |
| distances to get to Rome for thousands of years. We | | | | ancient Roman daily life with its average 100 festive |
| even thought we invented light weight concrete, but | | | | days a year, I have an idea which version they |
| we only re-invented it when we discovered that the | | | | preferred. |