Day 3 dawned bright and cheery for our intrepid travelers. After sending Mr. Spearman off on his way, the group boarded the bus and headed for Cumae. Today's pictures are courtesy of Adrian Wowk, who did an excellent and artistic job as the official "FTB" (for the blog) photographer.
Cumae was the home of the second most famous oracle of ancient tradition: the Sibyl. The Sibyl was so famous that Michelangelo included her in the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. According to Vergil, the Sibyl guided Aeneas on his visit to the underworld. Later she offered nine books of prophecies to Roman king Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the smug). Tarquin thought her price too high, so refused. She returned the next day and informed him that she had burned three of the books and offered the remaining six at the price for the original nine. Tarquin the smug replied that he thought it was too much for nine, so it was definitely too much for six. She returned the next day and told him she had burned three more books and offered the remaining three at the original price. Tarquin the smug realized he'd made bad choices and that she would likely burn the remaining books if he didn't act fast. He bought the three books for the original price for nine and established a group of priests who were to be the keepers and interpreters of the books. In times of crisis for hundreds of years afterwards, the Romans consulted the Sibylline Books to help determine their best strategy.
Sadly, the cave where the Sibyl was stationed is closed due to a landslide that occurred just after last year's trip, so the boys weren't able to see where she sat and issued her prophecies. They were able to climb the hill above her cave and view the remains of a temple to Apollo (god of prophecy) built by the original Greek settlers of the area.
The view from the hill atop the Sibyl's cave is beautiful.
Here the boys follow our guide Richard up the hill to the temple.
An inscription from Vergil's Aeneid where he described the Temple to Apollo as being built by Daedalus, the inventor of the Labyrinth. According to Vergil, Daedalus carved pictures of his greatest accomplishments on the doors of the temple, but left one panel empty. He tried to carve a picture of he and his son Icarus escaping on the wings he'd made, but could not finish due to his grief over Icarus' death.
Ms. Thorner checking out some ruins.
After Cumae, the group hopped on the bus and drove down to Pozzuoli. There they investigated the 3rd largest Roman amphitheater yet excavated. Amphi means double, so an amphitheater is a double theater, so a complete circle (or oval) instead of a semicircle.
Underneath the floor of the arena. This is an important reason to visit Pozzuoli, so one can see how large the underneath area was. The Romans used ramps and elevators to make gladiator entrances more showy, and also to reveal hidden threats.
By the way the word "arena" comes from "harena" the Latin word for sand. The Romans sprinkled sand on the floor to provide better traction for the gladiators and to soak up any blood.
A photo of most of our merry band.
Here is a crowded italian street. This is by no means the most narrow street we encountered on the trip, but we wanted to include it to give you an idea of how skilled Mariano our bus driver was. He negotiated these narrow crowded streets in a big coach bus with skill and aplomb.
The group then drove to Tivoli, home of Hadrian's Villa (with a stop for lunch). Hadrian's Villa is a misnomer: it is an enormous palace complex built by the emperor Hadrian during his reign (117 AD - 138 AD). Hadrian traveled extensively throughout the empire, and considered himself a gifted architect. He tried to incorporate the different architectural features he saw into the construction of this complex. There were over 30 buildings in the complex, and much of it is still not excavated.
The reflecting pool just inside the entrance. Notice the flowers are blooming here in Italy.
This area of the complex is called the Canopus. Hadrian designed this to mimic the Canopus in Egypt: a canal linking Alexandria to the sea.
Note the umbrella pines. They look like something from a Dr. Seuss drawing.
At the far end of the Canopus was an outdoor dining area, covered by a concrete dome. Half of the dome has fallen, but enough remains to give the visitor an idea of its magnificence.
A view of the Canopus from above.
A great shot of the group!
A fragment of flooring. Some of the marble in these chips was imported from as far away as modern Turkey. You can tell Hadrian spared no expense in making things look nice.
One last group photo and the boys hopped on the bus for Rome.
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