Rome Journal: Caged Beast

caged ruins, Piazza Argentina (FLevy)

The ruins of Rome are caged animals. You look at them from afar protected by fences and gates. In the Central Park Zoo the animals are caged to protect the visitors. In the case of Roman ruins, this decontextualizing of the past creates more than one degree of separation. Traveling through Rome it’s often difficult to absorb the corralled images one's seeing. There are exceptions. For instance, the Pantheon is right in your face, as it would have been to anyone approaching it from a side street in the ancient world. Tourists walk freely in an out to view the Oculus. The site, in comparison to some other historic Roman venues, is a living monument to the past. Rome is a time warp, a portal into the ancient world. The challenge lies in letting go of the tethers that chain both the mind and the beast.

read "Rome Journal: The Fall of Rome" by Francis Levy, HuffPost

and listen to "Take a Little Piece of My Heart" by Erma Franklin