Plug these words or phrases into a Translation App, and you can hear a true Italian annunciate them romantically and molto rapido!

Now, let’s get back to learning about the Eternal City!  To better understand the big picture of Rome, we added a Monograms Travel tour to explore beyond its city walls.  The ancient city was built on and between the famous “Seven Hills of Rome.”  All the seven hills are not “hilly.”  We passed by the ruins of the ancient Appian Way (called the Via Appia Antica in Rome) and got the opportunity to walk a bit of it.  

For both military and trade purposes, one of the most important roadways built by the Romans was the Appian Way.  Designed and constructed in 312 BC by Appius Claudius Caecus, this straight as an arrow Roman road connected to Capua (near Naples) and eventually extended almost 400 miles south to the seaport of Brindisi. 

Today, portions of the Appian Way are a preserved nature park for pedestrians.  You can now walk the same footpath as Emperors (like Julius Caesar), the Apostle Peter (fleeing Rome when he encountered the risen Jesus), the Apostle Paul (as he exited a ship at the seaport and walked toward Rome as a prisoner), and the ex-gladiator, Spartacus.

In 73 BC, Spartacus led a two-year slave revolt against the Romans with an army of 60,000+, and he died in one of those battles.  In 71 BC, over 6,000 captured slaves were crucified on crosses, roughly every 50 feet, from Rome to Capua on the Appian Way.  The Romans left them hanging there for months to remind everyone passing by of what “not to do!”  

Located near the Appian Way are the Catacombs of Domitilla.

Catacomb cemeteries are excavated underground burial sites located outside the city limits.  Early-Christians, Jews and pagans were buried in more than 40 locations from the 1st to the 5th centuries–until the persecution of Christians ceased with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.  These catacombs were named after the Domitilla family who originally commissioned them to be dug on their family land.

In a below-ground labyrinth spanning some 11 miles and four levels, the Domitilla catacomb passageways contain over 26,000 tombs.  (Photos were not allowed, and our guided tour covered a mere 5% of the enormous catacomb network).  Through narrow and dark tunnels, multiple layers of niches carved into the cave walls can be seen where human remains were, and still are, buried. 

At the time, a majority of people could not read, so instead of names or dates being engraved, mementos or Christian symbols were left or carved into the limestone–not only to remember them, but to mark where they were buried.  Since 2017, restorations to remove layers of algae and build-up deposits have uncovered colorful frescoes.

Tip:  If you’re claustrophobic or you get spooked by cemeteries, visiting the catacombs may not be your cup of tea.  We agreed it was incredibly interesting, and our teenager thought it was pretty cool!

Back on the bus, we viewed the ancient Aurelian walls built around Rome for protection, the Baths of Caracalla, and the Circus Maximus.  We also saw the Palazzo Margherita, where the Italian Queen Margherita once lived.  Today, it is the American Embassy.

Last, we visited the impressive Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

The Apostle Paul was martyred (beheaded) in Rome.  According to tradition, Paul’s body was buried along the Ostiense Way, two miles away from the location of his martyrdom in a tomb owned by a Christian woman.  Although Paul was a Roman citizen (unlike the Apostle Peter), he was not allowed to be buried inside the city walls because he was a Christian.  This explains why the basilica name includes “Outside the Walls” of Rome.

Thankfully, Paul’s companions built a shrine over his grave to mark it.  In the 2nd century, Emperor Constantine built the first church over Paul’s grave.  Because of wars, earthquakes and fires, the basilica has been rebuilt many times and this one reopened in 1840.  It’s a National Monument and one of the four Major Basilicas designated by the Pope.  Inside the basilica is the sacred tomb of St. Paul.  Encased above his tomb are the chains used to join Paul to the Roman soldier who guarded him.