Day Three: Fountains of Rome – Day’s Theme: Water

 Today’s theme was water. Water played an important role in Ancient Rome representing health, innovation, abundance and spectacle. To get a view into Ancient Rome’s use of water we visited the Four Rivers fountain, Fontana del Moro and the Trevi fountain. These fountains not only displayed the talent of the architect who designed and built them but also the engineering required to create the aqueducts which supply the fountain’s water.

 The Trevi fountain felt like it was a monument to the power of water and depicted the story of the creation of the aqueduct by portraying its discovery of its source and its installation. Its rich symbolism represented the qualities, moods and importance of the aqueduct. Every detail of the fountain was intentional and depicted an aspect of water. The horses in front depicted the mood of the seas, with a calm horse representing the tranquility of water and an angered horse depicting water’s strength and might. The woman to the left of Oceanus represents the abundance of water and the woman to the right represents health shown with a serpent and a sword. The women depicted on top demonstrate how water gives life and bounty Rome, representing how water can create an abundance of fruit, fertility of crops, products of autumn and the beauty of flowers.

 Water was not just a necessity for survival in Rome, it was a symbol of the city’s engineering prowess, culture, and its ability to provide for its citizens. The sophisticated water infrastructure of ancient Rome was a testament to the empire’s achievements and remains a marvel of engineering to this day. Throughout the day I was able to reflect on the nature of monuments. All around Rome there are monuments dedicated to Gods or emperors, but a monument dedicated to something as organic is universally powerful and can resonate with everyone. Humanity relies on water to survive and yet often people don’t recognize its beauty and its significance in our lives.

The day started off with listening to the flow of the Four Rivers Fountain on a bench across from it while we enjoyed our breakfast from our go-to cafe, Vero. When we met at the Rome Center after our calming breakfast we began sightseeing and the day began gaining the momentum of a river. Through presentations on the Four Rivers Fountain and Bernini’s Elephant we learned that obelisks and hieroglyphs are occasionally integrated into Roman architecture. I hadn’t expected to learn so much about Roman and Egyptian relationships on this trip but it really was a core part of Roman history.

The day was flowing quite fast at this point and before I knew it we were getting Gelato and it was turning into pools of liquid dripping down our hands in just minutes after leaving the Gelateria. The Trevi Fountain was our next stop where we spent some time looking for a water fountain to rinse our gelato covered hands in and fill up our water bottles. With such a big crowd we couldn’t see a fountain so I ended up buying an overpriced water bottle that I found out I was charged even more than my peers for. The sight seeing wrapped up with the Spanish Steps and learning about how common floods there and in other areas of Rome were.

When I got back to the dorms the day’s paces had finally slowed down from the rapids. I decided to journal. Journaling on this trip has been a very therapeutic experience I decided to end my day with.