Joseph Shieh

Frances McCue
Honors 345A: Pilgrimages and Idle Travels: A Memoir and Travel Writing Studio
February 6, 2017
Through Rome with the Romans
I was home for the long-anticipated Christmas break. It was late at night. Everyone else
was asleep. The time read 2:00 A.M. I was still awake. I was reading SPQR: A History of
Ancient Rome to learn more the ancient civilization, being inspired to do so after studying
abroad in Rome under UW’s Honors in Rome half a year earlier. While I was reading, I could
imagine myself walking through the ruins of the Forum Romanum, the Roman Forum, where the
senators of ancient Rome used to congregate for their politics.
**********
I know I’m dreaming. I am physically in Yakima, Washington. Yet, my mind, my dream
self, is in Rome, Italy. It’s a summer’s afternoon. I wander among the ancient ruins of the
Forum Romanum, a few hundred meters north of the Palatine Hill and Circus Maximus, a few
hundred meters northwest of the Coliseum. Everywhere as far as the eye can see, ancient ruins
cover the landscape from the houses of the living, the houses of ancient Rome’s social elite, to
the house of the dead, the tomb of Julius Caesar. The ruins were left to weather through the days,
weeks, months, years, centuries, millennia, giving the appearance like half-built or half-torn
down buildings that were half-painted or half-bleached. These ruins, tall and proud, are a
testament to the might and glory of ancient Rome. Those who use their imagination can see that
the Forum Romanum was once a vibrant community. Two hundred meters away, a series of white
columns reaches towards the sky; these columns were once part of the majestic Iovis Optimi
Maximi Capitolini (literally Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the Capitoline), the Temple
of Jupiter Maximus. Jupiter is one of the most powerful gods of the ancient Roman pantheon and
one of many adopted from the Greek pantheon. In fact, Jupiter is another name for the Greek god
Zeus, the god of the skies, lightning, and thunder. As I continue to wander from one ruin to
another, I couldn’t help but marvel at the history of ancient Rome. Within five hundred years
since its legendary beginnings on April 21, 753 B.C., ancient Rome became the superpower of
the Mediterranean and one of most powerful superpowers of the ancient world, surpassing all
previous empires in human history. Only after more than one thousand years later did the British
colonial empire finally surpass that of ancient Rome. And to this day, the social and political
institutions that Western socialization holds can be attributed to the ancient Roman civilization,
from the linguistic origins of English in Latin through French to the origins of the senate.
Silence fills the air. However, that is broken by the passionate arguing of three odd figures
nearby. The first is an elderly man, probably in his late-sixties, dressed in shepherd’s clothes. The
second is a middle-aged man, maybe his mid-forties, who has the bearing of a high-ranking
military figure; he is dressed in a Roman legionnaire outfit with a scabbard for his gladius
hanging from his waist. The third is a young man, probably in his early-twenties; he is dressed in
ornate robes, like those of Catholic priests.
“The best way to rule Rome is through kings!” the elderly man states.
“That’s tyrannical and violates libertas ! The best way to rule Rome is through shared
power, a republic, one with a senate, praetors, and consuls!” the middle-aged man argues.
“Rome should be ruled through emperors.” the young man adds.
I stare at them, and they notice my staring. While usually wary of strangers especially
ones as odd as them, I allow my curiosity to get the better of me, and I ask them who they are.
The elder man introduces himself as Romulus, the founder of Rome. The middle-aged man
introduces himself as Julius Caesar, the great conquerer who added Gaul and Briton to the
Roman Republic. The young man introduces himself as Constantine, the founder and first
emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Romulus was from the 700 B.C. - 500 B.C timeline in which
the early kings of Rome ruled the land before the Roman Republic was formed. Julius Caesar
was from the 500 B.C. to 0 A.D. timeline in which the Roman Republic was ending, giving rise
to the Roman Empire. And Constantine was from the 300 A.D. - 1400 A.D. timeline in which the
Byzantine Empire was the successor to the Roman Empire. Three historical Roman figures from
three different eras of Rome with three different Roman cultures. Apparently, all three walked
through doorways and ended up in the Forum Romanum.
…Famous ancient long-dead Roman figures? They can’t be here. It’s more than two
thousand years in the future. Oh, wait, I’m dreaming. Anything’s possible. Also, they walked
through Narnia-style doorways? How did those portals form? Who formed them? Never mind
those questions for now. What am I supposed to tell them…? Especially when all of them have a
propensity for violence…?…
…I tell them that they are a few thousand years into the future and that many things have
changed since their time. And no, I don’t know how to get them back home. And no, threatening
to kill me wouldn’t do them any good.
______________________________________________________________________________
As we walk through the ancient ruins, Romulus keeps on commenting that the ruins look
so modern. Back in the day, they only had villages consisted of simple earth and straw huts on
the hills of Rome. Back in the day, when he was building the city of Rome, he had to kill his
brother Remus for violating the sacred walls of Rome; furthermore, he had to deal with the
Etruscans in the north, and the Latins and Sapines in the south. Back in the day, everything was
harder. Caesar looked askance at Romulus. Fratricide was considered one of the worst crimes in
Roman Republic society. Caesar said they had to deal with crazy Carthaginians from northern
Africa in the Punic Wars. Also, he, the mighty Julius Caesar, had subjugated the Gauls.
Furthermore, he had crossed the Great Sea and conquered the Britons. Constantine added that he
had to rebuild Rome into the Byzantine Empire after the Visigoths had completely sacked Rome.
I suppress any signs of amusement. It’s not everyday that one gets to hear famous ancient Roman
figures brag just how much virtus they have, just how manly they are. I silently scoffed. Some
things never change…
______________________________________________________________________________
We walk by an ancient tomb. It is not particular impressive in appearance, a small,
discolored stone wall; rather, what’s actually impressive is that the tomb lasted for more than two
thousand years. Caesar asks me who is buried within the tomb.
“You, Caesar, are buried within this tomb.”
Caesar looks rather disconcerted about his own mortality and asks me about the circumstances of
his death.…
 …Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Daggers. Blood. “Et tu, Brute?” Ancient Roman history.
The eventual formation of the Roman Empire by the adopted son of Caesar, Augustus Octavius. A
dilemma. If I tell Caesar about his future demise, I could end up altering the timeline, not to
mention this information would end up upsetting Caesar. What should I say…?……“
I don’t know. How am I supposed to know? You do realize that you’re about two
thousand years in the future, right? However, I wouldn’t worry. In a sense, you’re immortal. Your
legacy continues to exist thousands of years later to this day.”
Thankfully, Caesar seems rather pleased with this answer. However, Romulus and
Constantine begin asking me about their legacies.
I tell them what they want to hear.
They seem satisfied with my answers, not questioning the veracity of my answers. The
four of us continued walking in silence through the Forum Romanum.
______________________________________________________________________________
We walked by Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini, the Temple of Jupiter Maximus I had
visited earlier this afternoon. That’s when the passionate arguments among the Romulus, Caesar,
and Constantine resumes.
Romulus and Caesar insist that the Greek gods along with other gods from other cultures
exist. There was no proof that the gods didn’t exist.
…Well technically, the burden of proof lies on the followers. They’re supposed to prove
the existence of these gods, not have the skeptics prove that their gods don’t exist…
Constantine is shocked by Romulus’s and Caesar’s words, then reacts in an outraged
manner. He states that first of all, only the Christians’ god exists; no other gods exist. Romulus
and Caesar are pagans. So on and so forth. Not exactly surprising as Constantine was the first
Roman emperor to tolerate Christianity. A successor of Constantine, Theodosius I, not only
declared Christianity to be the Byzantium’s state religion but also forced everyone in the
Byzantium to profess Christianity. It’s Romulus’s and Caesar’s turn to be scandalized by
Constantine’s argument. They heatedly reply that not only is Constantine destroying Rome’s
traditions, but he is also bringing the wrath of the gods upon the Romans. Faulty
ad hominem arguments were made. After several minutes of this heated exchange, they look to
me, the question implicit. I’m an agnostic. I simply shrugged my shoulders and said,
“Hey, don’t ask me. I don’t want to be pulled into arguments that can’t be resolved.”
Most thankfully, we implicitly decide not to broach upon this particular subject
furthermore and walked on in silence.
______________________________________________________________________________
We walked northwards, reaching the famous (or infamous depending on who you ask)
Colosseum. I remember the first time I visited this famous landmark. When I first visited the
Colosseum, I was somewhat disappointed. It wasn’t as grand as imagination would have it. The
Colosseum was not as tall as I thought. The interior was so worn down that the stands and arena
floor were gone. Though according to one of my professors in my study abroad, the Colosseum
was much grander, much larger and surrounded with statues of the gods and emperors, before
people from the Middle Ages began using it as a mine for building materials, which is why one
can sometimes see bits of ancient statues of building, called spoilia, in Medieval buildings. It is
so close to the Forum Romanum that I wondered if emperors ever used the Colosseum to
conveniently eliminate their political enemies; it was only a short distance away from the
governmental buildings in the Forum Romanum. While I was uncomfortable with the
Colosseum’s purpose, another professor reminded me that the Colosseum was a morally
acceptable form of entertainment during its time. My discomfort was just a reflection of
changing morality in society.
I explained the Colosseum’s history to the others, including how followers of a religious
sect called Christianity used to be occasionally thrown into the arena.
“We should have one of those. It would make the Etruscans, Latins, and Sabines think
twice about trying to oppose Rome,” Romulus said approvingly.
Caesar’s response, on the other hand, was less than enthusiastic. “The Colosseum is
example of declining Roman morality. Hedonism will lead to the fall of the Roman Republic.”
Constantine looks rather upset and mutters, “This persecution of Christians is inhumane.”
“Not to worry! A few centuries after the Colosseum was built, Christians began hunting
down pagans and burning them alive or drowning them,” I answered perhaps too facetiously.
 Romulus and Caesar smirk. Constantine tries to give a justification, but he seems uneasy.
I drop the subject. We walk on in silence.
______________________________________________________________________________
As we walk through the streets of Rome, Italian permeates the air. It is beautifully
melodic like classical music and flowing like the Tiber, gliding into our ears. It closely resembles
the Spanish that I took in high school several years ago. However, my Spanish was not exactly
exemplary, so I couldn’t even understand the word roots and cognates that Italian and Spanish
share. Romulus barely understands it as he speaks the oldest known form of Latin, Old Latin.
Caesar can understand Italian a little better as he speaks Classical Latin, the form of Latin spoken
by the upper classes in the Roman Republic and taught by Latin classes today. Constantine can
understand Italian the most as he speaks Vulgar Latin, the form of Latin that most closely
resembles modern Italian. Vulgar Latin and Italian share approximately ninety percent of their
vocabularies. However, all three of them complain that modern Romans don’t speak proper
Latin. Suddenly, someone tells me, “Please wake up, sir”?
**********
It’s J.A.R.V.I.S., a Siri-like assistant on my phone. I barely open my eyes, trying to figure
how many hours of sleep I had left. 8:00 A.M. Zero hours of sleep left. Awesome. I rub the sleep
from my eyes, somewhat rueful that I never had the opportunity to introduce Romulus, Caesar,
and Constantine to the wonders of the creamy softness of gelato. I also wondered if I had been
watching too much Night at the Museum lately. Eh, whatever. One can never have too much
history. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds our civilization together.