Another grand view of the 2,000 year old Colosseum, built in 80 A.D. at the peak of the Roman Empire. This was originally called the Flavian Ampitheater. This was where two free standing amphitheaters were stuck together to build a stadium for gladiator battles as a spectator sport.

This is the Arch of Constantine - this marks one of the great turning points in history, the military coup that made Christianity mainstream. In A.D. 312, Emperor Constantine defeated his rival Maxentius in the crucial Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The night before he had seen a vision of a cross in the sky, Constantine - whose mother and sister were Christians - became sole emperor and legalized Christianty. With this one battle, a once-obscure Jewish sect with a handful of followers was now the state religion of the entire Western world. In A.D. 300, you could be killed for being Christian; a century later, you could be killed for not being one. Another note, Marco said that eight large pieces were commissioned to remember this event. In typical Italian style, only two were done by the time Constantine came to celebrate. Typical Italians started just piecing stuff together so the boars are from Romania, the statues on the pedestal are from somewhere else. They just told Constantine they were all Italian. That is so Italian Todd says. 

A higher view of the underside of The Colosseum.

La familia perfecto!

From The Colosseum balconies overlooking The Arch of Constantine.

The kids being kids coming away from The Forum. Gotta love those four kids. This trip is a treasure of a lifetime.

The old and the new cobblestone roads merge.

The original aqua duct system of Ancient Rome. These were highly developed and very intricate. All of Rome was powered by downhill water. The Nasonis are still powered by these aqua ducts.

This is funny. Marco said that tourist have made this famous because of some movie saying that this is the ancient muse that is The Mouth of Truth when it actually is just a manhole cover for the Ancient Rome sewer system. People stand in line for hours to get their picture taken with their hand in there and they are just putting their hand through a poop hole cover. Hollywood......

Cobblestone laid at the time of Julius Cesaer, 2,000 year old roads.

Current day cobblestone roads in Rome.