Andante Travels

Introduction

“All roads lead to Rome”: between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD Rome was the largest and most powerful city in the Mediterranean, She sent out soldiers, administrators and traders to order the affairs of provinces as far apart as Britain and Mesopotomia.

In return she received revenue, which she used to turn herself into a major architectural and cultural centre. No fewer than 400 temples were interspersed with fora and basilicas, palatial houses, apartment blocks, theatres and shopping malls within a circle of defensive walls, beyond which lay the burial grounds of rich and poor. Many can be visited today, and Rome’s museums house some of the finest collections of Italian archaeology.

There are two major sites outside the city which are vital to gaining an understanding of how the Empire worked. The Emperor Hadrian, Graecophile, traveller and scholar, constructed a huge palace at Tivoli, into which went the works of art and the ideas he had accumulated as he toured his Empire. The substantial ruins survive to give us a personal view of what the concept of the known world meant to one man.

Ostia, the harbour city at the mouth of the Tiber, was the route by which goods came from every corner of the Mediterranean and beyond, to feed the population of the city physically and  culturally. The quiet of this site, deserted because of silting from the river, contrasts with the bustle of the city.

Unusually for a state capital, Rome is still small enough for its main areas to be visible on foot. Your Specialist Guide will show you the most important of Rome’s central monuments at a comfortable pace, explaining the significance of each building, pointing out the key features of the architecture and of the setting in which it was located. He will also provide suggestions for what you might see in your free time, either walking or using local transport.

Itinerary

day one
Group flights London to Rome (Fiumicino, arriving mid afternoon) OR meet at hotel in Rome. 

day two     
Morning walk through the Field of Mars, originally an open area lying just outside Rome’s earliest defence - the Servian Wall. It was used first as a military training area and for meetings of public assemblies, then gradually monumentalised to provide a new zone of civic buildings to serve Rome’s growing population. The modern street system is still largely that of the Roman and later periods. We shall visit the newly re-opened Ara Pacis, monument to the achievements of Augustus, and his mausoleum nearby; the Pantheon whose domed span was the largest in the world for almost 2000 years, and now contains the tomb of Raphael; the column of Marcus Aurelius with its reliefs of the emperor’s victories over the Germans and Sarmations; and the Stadium of Domitian, now better known as the Piazza Navona. Our walk will end at the Trevi Fountain.

The afternoon will be left free for private exploration. This might be the time to explore along the bank of the Tiber, to see the temples in the Forum Boarium (the meat market); to walk the length of the Circus Maximus; and climb the hill of the Campidoglio to look over the forum and visit the Campidoglio Museum.

day three
To Tivoli, and Hadrian’s remarkable villa, actually a vast estate of temples, statues, architectural designs and landscaped gardens inspired by his travels. Afternoon free time to explore the Villa d’Este, the remarkable gardens of which were created in the 16th century for the wealthy patron of the arts, Cardinal Ippolito d’Este.

day four
During the morning we shall walk through the ancient centre of Rome to  the Forum Romanum and Senate House, the political heart of the capital; the Imperial palaces; the later Fora, built by Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian and Trajan, the last including the 40 metre high Column of Trajan, built to commemorate his wars in Dacia; the Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum, the largest amphitheatre in Italy; and the splendidly sculpted triumphal Arch of Constantine.
In the afternoon, we shall visit, if possible, Nero’s Golden House (recently closed for restoration, but at the time of writing some limited access is possible - this will be confirmed nearer the time. Alternative visits will be arranged if this is inaccessible).

day five
Free day in Rome. There is much to choose from! Those interested may see some of the finds from ancient Rome in the National Roman Museum, located in the former Baths of Diocletian - or St Peter’s Basilica and Vatican Museums (open only during the mornings) - Hadrian’s mausoleum, now renamed the Castel S. Angelo, or catch a local bus to visit the Christian catacombs along the Appian Way.

day six
During the morning we shall leave Rome by coach to travel to Ostia Antica, the ancient harbour city of Rome close to the mouth of the Tiber. Originally Rome’s first colony, it became a thriving port, handling the transshipment of goods and foodstuffs from sea-going vessels to river barges in new harbours provided by Claudius and Trajan. Ostia still has the atmosphere of a seaport, with its docks, warehouses, apartment blocks, theatre and temples to a range of foreign and Roman deities. It is well-preserved, thanks to rising water levels in the late Roman period and lack of subsequent building, and it has been extensively excavated.

From Ostia Antica we continue to the nearby Leonardo da Vinci airport at Fiumicino for a late afternoon flight home.

Included

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Flights scheduled flights London/Rome (Fiumicino)
• Transfers private coach provided to coincide with group flights - join this or make your own way between airport and hotel
• Local Travel to all sites in programme will be on foot, or public transport, or by private a/c coach to Tivoli and Ostia (en route to airport)
• Guide Lecturer (also local guides where these are compulsory) Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"!  The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards.  There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that.  They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you.  After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them.  If you would like to know more about Oliver Gilkes , please click his name.
• Blue Guide Rome
• Entry to all sites in programme
• We tip the driver, and if there is one, the local guide, on your behalf

You Arrange

• Flights if you prefer.  It may suit you better, and you may get a good deal, on flights from your local airport - see above for price without flights

• Meals (except breakfasts) - lots of choice in Rome! You can have a delicious pizza from a street stand or the most fabulous Italian meal, and all things inbetween

Flights & Visa

Airline: BA or Alitalia
Flight details to be confirmed

Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)*

Note: Passport must be valid for the duration of your stay.

Hotels

5 nights B&B in a hotel in central Rome, within walking distance of the major sites. Rooms small but cosy

Map

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Comments

What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?

The abundance of ancient sites in Rome and Oliver's enormous knowledge and his clear delivery.

Seeing the real thing (however broken down) close up, with expert interpretation, as in all Andante holidays.

The interweaving of guided and self-guided components worked well in this case.

Oliver Gilkes was an excellent guide and contributed particularly to personal enjoyment of the tour. I enjoyed the balance of the tour and free time to explore. The accommodation also contributed to the enjoyment of the tour.

I particularly enjoyed Oliver's talks at the sites. They were informative, easily understood and entertaining. The anecdotes of life in classical Rome were much appreciated. He looked after us very well...Very approachable.

Reading List

This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed. In many cases, we expect that you will find some of these books even more interesting and useful to read once the tour is over.

General

Perowne, S (1971) Rome: From its foundations to the present provides a systematic account of the city's development in the well-illustrated Elek series.  It can usefully be supplemented by

Hibbert, C (1985) Rome, the Biography of a city (Viking)

Masson, G (1980) The Companion Guide to Rome 6ed. In the Collins series is still one of the best tourist guides, along with the more modern Blue Guide.

History and Archaeology

Rome: classical  surveys

Two very accessible introductions:

Connolly, Peter and Dodge, Hazel (1998) The Ancient City, Life in Classical Athens and Rome (OUP). Excellent clear but scholarly reconstructions - an introduction to life in the ancient city of Rome.

Claridge, A (1998)  Oxford Archaeological Guide: Rome (OUP) is an authoritative account of the major monuments from a former deputy director of the British School.

More detailed accounts:

Lanciani, R   The Destruction of Ancient Rome (1901) and Ruins and Excavation of Ancient Rome (1900), both reprinted by Elibron Classics ( www.elibron.com) are worth seeking out, despite their age.  They are two of the finest books ever penned about the city and its monuments, by the leading Italian archaeologist of his day.

Coulston, J & Lodge, H  (eds ) (2000) Ancient Rome: The Archaeology of the Eternal City  (Oxford Univ. School of Archaeology)  discusses a whole series of issues about the Roman city.

Nash, E (1981) A Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Hacker Art) offers familiarity with most of the visible sites via an impressive series of black and white photographs, and may be compared with the more recent

Richardson, R (1992) A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (John Hopkins UP). Both Nash and Richardson are really for pre-visit familiarization and post-visit revision, rather than cover-to-cover reading

Moatti, C (1993) The Search for Ancient Rome (Thames & Hudson ) is a readable account of  how the Roman city was unearthed.

Rome: individual areas

( a ) The Central areas

Grant, M (1970) The Roman Forum (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)  gives a careful account of the meaning, monuments and subsequent history of the heart of the Roman world.

Favro, D (1996)   The Urban Image of Augustan Rome (CUP)  surveys the creation of Rome's new image by the founder of the empire. It may be compared with

Boatwright, M (1987) Hadrian and the City of Rome (Princeton U P)  which looks at the city's modifications by Rome's  second greatest builder.

Macdonald . W L (revised 1982) The Architecture of the Roman Empire: an Introductory Study (Yale UP) is a must for its insightful studies of  Nero's and Domitian's palaces, Trajan's Market and the Pantheon.

( b ) The Catacombs

Webb, M (2001) The churches and catacombs of early Christian Rome (Sussex Academic Press) and

Fiocchi Nicolai, V (1999) The Christian catacombs of Rome (Schnell & Steiner) are both thorough and well-illustrated

( c ) The Walls

Todd, M   (1978) The Walls of Rome (Elek) is a brief but sound study.

( d ) Ostia

Meiggs, R  (2ed  1973)  Roman Ostia (Clarendon Pr.) is the standard work of reference.

Hermansen, G (1982) Ostia: aspects of city life (Univ. Alberta Pr.)  provides some more intimate glances at Ostia's apartments, guilds and taverns .

Rome: the later periods

Krautheimer, R (1980) Rome, Profile of a City  312 - 1308 ( Princeton UP ) is an authoritative and interesting survey of the city's physical development in the early mediaeval period.

Curran, J R (2000) Pagan City and Christian Capital: Rome in the 4th century AD (OUP) looks at the role of the church in the transformation from paganism

Morton, H V (1970) The Fountains of Rome (Joseph)  provides an artist's and traveller's view of  one of Rome's most striking features

Portoghesi . P  (1972) trans by P. Sanders  Rome of the Renaissance (Phaidon )  is a well-illustrated study of the later city, and may be followed by

Lees- Milne , J (1959)   Baroque in Italy ( Batsford ); and

Painter, W B (2005)  Mussolini's Rome : the fascist transformation of the Eternal City (Palgrave MacMillan).  Almost the last word, except for

Wyke, M (1997) Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History (Routledge) Rome as Hollywood would have us believe it!

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