Agrippa's Grip

Well today was a full day of class.  We studied scripture with Fr. Craig Morrison, O. Carm who teaches Aramaic at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.  Thankfully he did not try to teach us Aramaic!!  He was excellent and assisted us in seeing the scripture passages in a different way.  We also learned that the biblical theory we all had to memorize following Vatican II is no longer taught.

After the study of scripture all day I met up with Erin, Ralph and the boys for Cena at 7pm.  Today I dragged them only halfway around the city but at least to parts they haven't seen!  So having felt the tight Grip of the Emperor Agrippa they were rewarded with a delicious meal at the Piazza de Rotonda in front of the Ancient Pantheon.

The first Pantheon was a small building constructed out of wood and built by the Emperor Agrippa, it burned to the ground and his successor, the Emperor Hadrian, built the building we ate in front of this evening.  Hadrian was an amateur Architect and decided to use a new material that had just been invented by the Romans called Cement!  The entire roof and dome are made of concrete (hardened cement).  It has lasted nearly 2000 years without a single crack in the dome.  The building was once covered in marble on the outside, today it is all brick.  The marble was taken to decorate St. Peter's Basilica along with the Bronze that once covered the cement roof.  The bronze can be seen today, it is the Baldacchino over the main altar at St. Peter's.  There is only one light source in the building, an occuli or eye in the center of the dome.  It lets in not only light but rain and snow too. There are drains in the floor.  The tombs of the King Victor Emanuele and King Umberto along with Raphael can be found in the building.  Hadrian dedicated the building to the Emperor Agrippa, thus Agrippa's name on the building which confuses tourists.

The pantheon is the largest intact building from ancient Rome and only because it was turned into a
Church, St. Mary of the Martyrs.  It remains a local parish for that neighborhood.

We met up at St. Pete's.  The boys howled and wanted to know if we coordinated our outfits!  LOL.

Go Wildcats!!

The pantheon, taken from our dinner table

This is another wonder the Emperor Hadrian built, his mausoleum.  It too was once clad in gleaming white marble and had a temple and garden the on the top.  The Round part had statues all around it.  Over the entrance was a bronze statue of Hadrian as Helios the Sun God ablaze in a chariot drawn by 4 horses.  It has since been a residence and fort for the popes and today a museum.  It was renamed Castel Sant' Angelo after a vision of St. Michael on the roof.  The vision is commemorated with a Statue of St. Michael the Archangel.

Castel Sant' Angelo and Bernini's bridge of the Angels

Our last stop before parting.  St. Peter's at Night.

After Cena we hoofed it over to the Della Palma Gelateria where they have 150 flavors!  Yummy!!  The Grip of Agrippa was loosed so as to hold the gelato.  The Pax Romana (Roman Peace) was restored.