Once again, I am just a regular Roman tourist. No family, or friends, or friends of friends in town to entertain or provide tours to. No weeklong sojourns are on the horizon. We are footloose and fancy free in Rome, Italy for our final four and a half weeks. Pure heaven!
Yesterday, I was lured by the website, In Rome Now, by a showing of William Klein’s photography at the Mercati di Traiana (Trajan Markets). William Klein took a lot of photos in Rome from 1956 to 1960 and was known as a self taught “photojournalist” (taking and displaying real photos of real people in real locations), before being a photojournalist was considered cool. Anyhoo, I thought this was going to be really worthwhile, so I set out for the Mercati.
Arriving, I purchased my biglietto, and the attendant told me the exhibit was on the main level and above. I wandered through the enclosed museum portion of the Mercati, which has a great hall down the middle. This would be a great place for a party! The individual rooms and floors are brick with their entrances framed in travertine, and there are plenty of skylights and windows. Most of the rooms are also linked by an archway in the back.
There were several blown up William Klein images in each room, along with the regular museum shards of marble just under 2,000 years old. However, there weren’t THAT many photographs. Oh, maybe 30. They were all black and white and yes, captured the essence of Rome during those years (it doesn’t really look all that different, in case you’re wondering.) But the bounty of William Klein’s pictures I was hoping for were missing – there wasn’t one upstairs – so I was a bit disappointed.
Thankfully, my biglietto gave me access to the entire Mercati, so I decided to suck it up and enjoy myself. It was sunny and 70. All of the tourists and school kids were across the street, so I had the run of the place. It was really quite ideal. And yes, I’m sure that’s just what the administrators of the Mercati planned. Lure one in with promises of art, but really, one ends up touring the very grand structures of the Mercati.
The Mercati aren’t as well known as their friends across the street, Foro Romano (The Forum) or Il Vittoriano (Piazza Venezia), but the Mercati used to be one of the wonders of the Classical world. One can walk on pathways inside the Foro Romano, but not within any of the structures themselves. Not so at the Mercati – one may wander on, over and above the entire site. Pretty cool!
A bit of history: built during Marco Ulpio Traiano’s reign as emperor during AD 98 – 117, the Mercati was just like a modern day shopping mall in the Centro of Rome. Olive oil, spices, wine, silk, fish, linen, fruits, flowers and vegetables were all offered for sale at the Mercati.
Traiano was considered one of the five generous Roman Emperor’s. Nerva (96 – 98 AD), adopted Traiano, who adopted Adriano (117 – 138 AD), who adopted Antonio Pio (138 – 161 AD) and who in turn adopted Marco Aurelio (161 – 180 AD). There was no familial claim to rule during these years, so these five Emperor’s felt a true sense of duty to the people and city of Rome, and acted relatively, honorably.
Traiano began the Alimenta, a governmental welfare program to help orphans and the poor. He provided corn to those in need, from the Mercati. He also allowed Christians to worship, in private. When it came to battle, he was ruthless, extending the boundaries of the Roman Empire from Britain to Syria. He died in Sicilia, on his way home from his Asian campaign.
As I wandered about, I was impressed by the soundness of the brick structure, and how much of it is intact; black and white mosaic floors still survive, the Colonna Traiana is one of the most impressive columns in all of Rome and there are grand views all around the site, from the different terraces.
All I needed was a table, chair and glass of wine on the balcony overlooking my beloved Roma. Pure heaven!
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