Word: romanizing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
ROME, Italy—Last weekend, I went to the Roman forum with a friend who had just arrived from Paris. It was hot and he was disgruntled. Nothing was labeled in a helpful manner (a few bronze plaques here and there, some in Latin) and it was difficult to distinguish between the various structures. I stood in the sun and read to him from a guidebook, pleading with him to use his imagination...
...appreciate when they visit a place. Tourists often want to know what they are seeing and why it is important in one minute or less—as if to say, “Good, now we’ve done this. Next.” The way the Roman forum is set up does not allow for that. One has to sit or stand, staring and discerning, guidebook in hand, perhaps even imagining things long past. There’s no handholding here...
...there is a deeper reason for the disquiet tourists might feel looking at ancient Roman ruins, in particular the Roman forum: melancholy. It is beautiful and yet sad. The ruins are majesty fallen; they are things gone and not memorialized, but rather left to simply be. “And look,” one has to think, “present-day Italians, once Romans, once the most powerful people in the world, can’t even get it together to label the rubble...
...that the choice not to make the forum completely user friendly might not actually be a choice per se. Perhaps Italians don’t know how to handle their ancient treasures in a tourist-pleasing manner. In this sense, my friend might be right, but visitors must take Roman ruins on their own terms. The bitter-sweet taste might not induce comfort, but it does make you think...
...Italy does not need to look for its glory days in its fascist past. It does not even need to look longingly at the Renaissance and the Roman Empire (though, unlike the fascist period, it would do well to take these moments as inspiration). Italy has always been a country marked by the enormous creativity of its citizens. I truly hope young Italians will embrace this aspect of their history and make it central to the nation’s future...