Writing Assignment 1 - Space and Place in the Roman Forum

I don't feel enclosed when walking through the Roman Forum. If anything, I feel like it's much more open, especially in comparisons to many of the other ruins we can only view. When we were at the Imperial Forum, we could only look down and few what is left from a far distance at pretty much an aerial view. We weren't in any enclosure; we were on the outside, looking in.

Rather, it's much more open and personal. We are free to walk around, switch roads, and get decently close to many of the ruins. The Forum itself is fenced in, but we're inside with all the history, walking the same pathways that have been around for two thousand years. We are walking on the same roads that Julius Caesar once strolled himself. We ambled around the gardens that the Vestal Virgins once tended to. How is this possibly enclosed?

The roads themselves are now mostly blocked off. There is only one entrance to get into the entire Forum (there are multiple exits scattered around). If you tried to follow the Sacra Via out of the Forum, you would walk into a wall or a gate. In that case, yes, this is enclosed. But to me, it's like comparing a normal zoo to a petting zoo: you can only view what's inside the cages in a zoo, but in a petting zoo, you can experience what's inside.

I felt very much like a tourist inside. I wonder how many people inside the Forum were actually citizens of Rome? I don't think there were that many. We certainly were not the only tour group inside. There was a large group of small (and very loud) children running about, and I'm pretty sure I heard a tour guide speak to a smaller group of older adults in what I think was German.

Again with the comparisons: if you go into the Met or MoMa down in Manhattan, how many of those visitors actually live in the city? Probably not many. To them, it's just another part of their city. It's always there and it always will be. I think that's how citizens of Rome feel, no? I'm sure they've already learned all of their history and know exactly what it is, and to them, it's just there. Something huge that's a part of their city. They'd certainly miss it if it was gone, but they don't necessarily take advantage of it because it's something familiar.

Which, of course, means that if there aren't any Romans inside the Forum, we must all be foreigners. And it's true! Everyone we ran into had a camera with them, taking pictures of all the ruins, because it's not familiar to them. It's not something that they've had in their backyard and can go see at any time. This is quite an experience for a tourist!