Eight Days in Rome, Day 4

[Author’s Note: This post is the fourth of eight on this site that will recount a visit of Eight Days in Rome that transpired in September 2025. On that trip, my wife Carol, an art historian (PhD, Yale), contributed insights on art and other matters. Our son Matt, a prize-winning videographer contributed photos and insights. The overall narrative and construction are mine.] ​

​I’ve now run out of corresponding Italian menu categories (primo, secondo, etc) for my post headings and neither contorni nor dolci seems to fit the bill, so numerical “days” will have to suffice from now on.

Basilica San Clemente

In Carmel, CA where we live, many houses are “knockdowns” that are acquired for their precious seaside location and/or view and immediately demolished and replaced with a new structure. Back in Roman days, church fathers found it simpler and more economical to build on top of existing structures and they often re-used stones from earlier buildings. Basilica San Clemente, located near the Colosseum, is a salient example of these time-capsules with successive edifices built over one another.

San Clemente Layers

​It released our inner explorers to descend through layers of time and history and explore the well-maintained excavations. Our trip led through centuries of Roman history down slippery staircases, threading past re-used stones, vaulted brick tunnels to a dark and humid level where a rushing stream gushed through crevices in the rock and nourished vivid green moss that serves as a modern-day wishing well.

At the bottom are remnants of a Roman house used as a Mithraic 2nd century temple and school compound. Mithraism was a secretive Romanized Persian cult that thrived during the first several centuries A.D. and it competed in many ways with Christianity until it was banned in the 4th century. A male-only cult, it was particularly popular with Roman soldiers.
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The god Mithras was born from a rock, slayed a sacred bull/boar shedding blood that led to salvation, shared a feast with the god Sol (sun) and ascended to heaven. Followers met in dark, underground temples where they shared communal feasts and structured initiation rituals that re-enacted the narrative. The Mithraic compound at San Clemente includes an altar depicting the bull-slaying episode (tauroctony), and rooms with stone benches for the communal ritual meal. Hundreds of Mithraic remains have been uncovered in Europe.

Above the Roman house/Mithraic compound are remains of a 4th century church (the “lower church”) that was mostly destroyed by Norman invaders in 1084. Some frescoes remain intelligible, however, and they are nicely reproduced and explicated online.

On the left (below), the 11th century Miracle of the Sea of Azov, commissioned by the Rapiza family, depicts a miracle attributed to Saint Clemente who was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the Sea of Azov between Ukraine and Russia. On the right, a 9th century fresco depicts Jesus’ descent into Limbo (the “anastasis”) following his death to liberate just souls who had the misfortune to die before his work of Redemption. In the fresco, Jesus grips Adam’s wrist while the devil grabs his ankle but Jesus carries the day by stepping on the devil.

​Additional 11th century frescoes from the nave of the lower church include The Mass of Saint Clement and the Saint Alexis Story.

​Atop the 4th century church, the visible street-level basilica dates from the 12th century and returned us to fresh air and blue skies.

Capitoline Museums

​The Capitoline Museums occupy an envious spot on the Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill), one of Rome’s 7 hills adjacent to the Roman Forum. Michaelangelo designed the piazza in 1538 which includes a sloping entrance staircase (a Cordonata) with elongated low steps. This design accommodated the transit of horses and donkeys, much less seen today than in 1538, but it encourages contemporary people to pause catching their breath before proceeding to the museums’ two facing buildings. As seen in this overhead bird’s-eye photo, it’s an impressive ensemble.

We found the signage and navigation of the buildings in the museums to be strenuously confusing and many collections were disappointing. We did particularly enjoy the following few pieces.

​The bronze Lupa Capitolina (Capitoline Wolf) is a she-wolf that stands suckling the mythical twin brothers Romulus and Remus, whose tumultuous history in Roman mythology led to the founding of Rome in 753 BC. The legend dates back to ancient times. The Wolf’s attribution has historically been Etruscan but remains debated, and the two boys were added by Antonio del Pollaiuolo in the 15th century.

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​The Spinario (thorn-picker) is a popular favorite and much-copied 1st century BC (Hellenistic or late-Greek) bronze sculpture of a young boy extracting a thorn from his foot. The sculpture presents a simple, everyday experience with which many viewers can relate. It transmits thoughts of innocence, accidental injury, and concentration. Unlike art works that seek to portray abstract and eternal concepts, it captures a transitory moment in time with widespread resonance.

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​The equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (c 170 AD) is a larger-than-life original of the copy that stands in the piazza outside, between the Capitoline Museums. As with most Roman portraits, it is dated mainly by the hairstyle and facial physiognomy of the subject. The emperor is in civilian garb and projects his right arm with palm facing down in a peaceful gesture.

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The Dying Gaul shows a mortally wounded Celtic soldier on the precipice of death with no hope of salvation but desperately hanging on. It is a marble Roman copy (c 230-220 BC) of a lost bronze Greek sculpture (c 330 BC) attributed to Epigonus. The figure’s “Celtic” attribution comes from his neck “torc,” hairstyle, mustache and possessions.

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Kehinde Wiley

​Reactions to the “Dying Gaul” reflect the attitudes of the viewer. To many, it elicits empathy or sympathy, while to some it may confirm satisfaction with a job well done. Over the centuries, the pose became a potent “type” or “meme” with varied interpretations like this contemporary one  by Kehinde Wiley in 2022.

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The Capitoline Venus is a Roman marble statue that portrays Venus (Aphrodite) caught unawares in a bathing situation. It is one of 50 known copies of a late Hellenistic sculpture that itself was a copy of a 4th century BC Greek sculpture by Praxiteles called the Aphrodite of Knidos that was destroyed in AD 475 by fire in Constantinople. That was the first known sculpture of a full-size, fully-nude woman. Most of Greek art of the time was about male nudes.
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The Capitoline Venus, dated 193 A.D., is one of several known as “modest” Venus (“Venus pudica”) because she also covers her breasts with her right hand rather than only her genitals with her left hand as Praxiteles had done. Hers is a fool’s errand, however, since she is displayed to be seen “in the round” and her efforts at concealment seem at best half-hearted. Viewers are likely to feel like “voyeurs” who have unexpectedly hit paydirt.

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Gelateria Giolitti, Via degli Uffici del Vicario

Gelateria Giolitti

Our Italian friends invited us to join them for an afternoon pre-prandial gelato at the nearby Giolitti gelateria. This was located just down the street from the Parliamentary Chamber of Deputies on Piazza del Montecitorio and not far from the Pantheon. Little did we know that it is a late-afternoon gathering place for tutta Roma. It is a true emporium of gelato and dolci founded in 1890 that was packed to the rafters with a long line and a crowd of gelato-licking customers in the street out front. With our friends’ deft maneuvering of their familiarity with the "buy your ticket first and then choose your flavor" protocol of the gelateria world, and their relationships with the service staff, we managed to have crema/chocolato cones in our hands in short order. This  allowed us to re-connect in person for the first time in several years.

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Bistrot Collegio, Piazza Capranica, 99

This evening, we accepted our Italian friends' invitation for a celebratory reunion at the Bistrot Collegio on the Piazza Capranica just north of the Pantheon. This establishment is situated in a former “wine and olive” store that was resurrected by members of the original Santarelli family from the town of Amatrice (as in Amatriciana). It is the only dining establishment on the piazza and is totally unassuming on the outside. Despite its proximity to the Pantheon, it is a peaceful world apart from the crowds that throng permanently in the latter location.
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We had a rollicking time from 8 pm to 11 pm and the dinner confirmed observations about Italian meals made elsewhere on this blog. The classic Italian menu consists of antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni, and dolci. Our meal, on the other hand, transpired as basically a one-course meal, with exception of an early round of focaccia. Subsequently, the 3 Italians and 1 American chose only a secondo selection of a meat and potato combination, while 2 Americans selected only a primo of mezze maniche alla carbonara (we were there for the pasta!). All Americans drank wine while the Italians stuck with water. The wine was Rosso San Giovenale, a blend from the surrounding Lazio region interestingly composed mostly of French Rhone Valley grape varieties like Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan. All Americans took a tiramisu for a dessert dolci, while all Italians abstained. Our Italian friends must have had their main meal earlier in the day. Somehow, we managed to stretch this gathering over 3 convivial hours.

As one of the carbonara consumers, I can attest it was a bravura performance by the kitchen. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, the quanciale was crispy, and the sauce was silken and in perfect proportion with the pasta. The one American who selected a secondo appreciated the saltimbocca alla romana. So, despite the elaborate formal structure of Italian menu offerings, the Italians were consistently minimalist in their evening repast. It was great to catch up with our old friends in their home environment.