Rome’s Ageless Beauty

Exploring History, Culture, Representation and Women's Rights in the Eternal City.

Hey folks. I’m returning from two weeks in Italy and Greece with my husband and two of our kids, and frankly mourning a bit over the harsh return to summer in Texas. It gets harder and harder to manage these overbearing summers, but for now, we are here, and this post is mostly about vacation, which was lovely. As mentioned in my previous post, our destinations were Rome, Amalfi and Santorini. These three places couldn’t be more different, although relatively close in physical proximity. This post is just focused on Rome, since there’s plenty to say about it alone.

Rome is easily the most visually interesting city I’ve ever visited. Around every corner are ancient ruins. Every building is a work of art, built not decades, but centuries ago. And the city is highly walkable—if you don’t mind steps and hills. 

The Piazza di Spagna, or Spanish Steps, from the top looking down

I was a little worried about our girls because they don’t do a lot of walking at home, but they rose to the occasion for this trip, and we walked pretty much everywhere. It was fairly cool for June, at least for these Texans, so heat wasn’t much of an issue. When energy started to flag, we’d stop for gelato.

Barcaccia Fountain at the bottom of the Piazza di Spagna

We stayed at the W Rome, located on a quiet street, away from the throngs of tourists but within minutes of the Piazza di Spagna, or Spanish Steps, the Villa Borghese and the Trevi Fountain. With just a little more effort, we were able to easily walk to the Colosseum, the Forum and the nearby Monti neighborhood. 

Let the Tours Begin

We were heavy on the tours in Rome, mostly on account of my kids, who love art and history and all things creepy (so a crypt visit was necessary). Thanks to their good Catholic school education plus interest in Roman and Greek mythology, it’s easy to say they got way more out of the tours than I did, listening attentively to our guides and occasionally sharing their knowledge.

Vatican grounds

Because we arranged the tours for this trip so late, we hired private guides for most of them, so we could skip the lines and/or guarantee our entry.

While Hubs and I are mostly aligned with our travel styles, where we don’t see eye to eye is in booking things in advance. He likes maximum flexibility and not being overscheduled on vacation, which often means we’re scrambling last minute for the most in-demand attractions. With more advance planning, private guides most likely would have been unnecessary. 

Vatican hallway on the way to the Sistine Chapel

Overall we enjoyed the private tours; the Vatican was the big exception. You could probably make dozens of visits and still not see everything, but in our case, we felt rushed, and the museum was cram packed. Some six million visitors tour the Vatican daily, so it’s possible there is no perfect way to do it, but if we were to do it again, we would not have booked a private guide and instead booked tickets as late in the day as possible, so we could explore at a more leisurely pace.

Laocoön and His Sons by Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus

Once our guide discovered the kids were so into art, she steered us toward the most notable pieces in each of the rooms and halls of the Vatican museum, and she gave us all the time we wanted for the grand finale—the Sistine Chapel. 

The Vatican is, of course, a marvel, but then so is pretty much everything in Rome. Seriously, there is so much to take in. It’s almost unfathomable. 

Colosseum grounds

Our guide at the Colosseum and Forum said afternoons are the best time to book the major attractions if you want fewer people, although later in summer, you will be contending with heat. She insisted we buy water because she had already seen someone faint. It was hot but not Texas hot, so no fainting for us. And when the sun went down, it was chilly. 

Outside the Villa Borghese

We strolled the grounds of the Borghese on our first afternoon and toured the villa a few days later.

Mariano Rossi ceiling fresco in the Borghese Gallery

Its sculptures are the main attraction, and their fine details and ability to capture movement and expressions were incredible, but I was more taken with Mariano Rossi’s ceiling fresco, which was way more dazzling than the Vatican (I’m sure having the room mostly to ourselves was part of the reason). 

Hall of Mirrors inside Palazzo Doria Pamphilj

It’s hard to top the Borghese, but it was upstaged by the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, which we visited on our final day on our Hidden Rome tour. And here’s why: The Villa Borghese feels like a gallery, not a residence. The Doria Pamphilj feels like you are peeking into someone’s completely over-the-top residence (private chapel! sculptures in the garage!) and touring their ridiculously extensive art collection. The floor above the gallery is still used as a private residence, so it’s sort of true.

The Hidden Rome tour also included stops at the Church of Santo Stefano Rotondo, Rome’s oldest circular church, the Capuchin Crypt and the basilica of San Clemente. My 20-year-old, a bone collector in her own right, was enthralled by the many altars said to be made out of 3,700 bodies, all thought to be friars, and meant to serve as a poignant reminder of the transience of life. 

Basilica of San Clemente

But the basilica of San Clemente was by far the coolest of the three. Not far from the Colosseum and Gladiator school, a modest exterior hides a dazzling basilica with a ceiling made of wood and gold and walls adorned with shimmering mosaics. But still, the real treat is underground. Steps lead you down a level to the site of an archaeological excavation that uncovered another well-preserved basilica from the 4th century AD. Descending one more level takes you to the remains of a temple complex, alleyways and residences from the 1st century AD. There were no photos allowed down there, so I highly recommend you see it in person.

Cultural and Culinary Experiences

I know I spoke of my excitement about eating while we were on this trip, but food was not much of our focus in Rome—doing and seeing was. By the time we got to dinner, it was a necessity versus a destination. Hence it was good, but not the marvel I was hoping for (we’d get that later in the trip). The exception (for me at least): The pizza from Seu Pizza con Vista, the rooftop dining spot the W. I had the most light and delicate crust, topped with mozzarella, baked ham, zucchini flowers and burrata. Hubs liked the more traditional pizza at the very touristy spot we hit catty corner from the Trevi Fountain. 

Food aside, the scene and vibe in Rome was way more hip and cooler than I expected. The Italians love their ink, and I spent our many walks admiring the arm tattoos, buttoned up Italian businessmen in their matching blue suits and chic women wearing sweaters over their shoulders in June. I played a game spotting tourists. There didn’t seem to be as many Americans as I thought there would be.

Women’s Rights and Representation

But as I toured the city, it was women who were on my mind. One of the things that really hit home for me in Rome is how new a concept women’s rights are.

I know this. You know this.

But I think most of the time, those of us who grew up in the era of second-wave feminism in the U.S. take our rights for granted. We act as if we’ve been equals our entire existence, when in reality, women’s rights are a recent phenomenon (and frankly more and more endangered here in the U.S. every day). I know it’s odd to go to Rome and think of women’s rights at home, but I did.

Vatican garden

The first hint of this started while reading up on the dress code for the Vatican, which forbids bare sleeves on women and requires knees to be covered for both sexes. For weeks before we left, the running topic between the girls was what to wear on the trip, including the perfect Vatican outfit so they’d stay cool and within the code. It didn’t seem like an extreme example of sexism since both men and women have rules to follow. 

I noticed while we were touring the Vatican a few people seemed to be in violation of it. But were they really? When our guide met us at our hotel on our last day for our church visits, she asked that my daughter bring something to cover her shoulders (which she already had) and that I not wear shorts. When I asked about my husband, also in shorts, she told me he was fine. As I went back up to our room and changed into a dress, I wondered, is it only women who need to follow the rules?

Entering the Colosseum Arena

I wasn’t thinking about women’s rights until the Colosseum, where our guide explained this marvel of engineering that could hold as many as 60,000 was a means of uniting the masses after the fall of Nero. Women had limited power in ancient Rome, could not vote and were essentially the property of their fathers or husbands. Unless they were one of the Vestal Virgins, women who attended the Colosseum could have done so only from the highest tier—the nosebleeds—along with slaves. 

The Roman Forum and House of the Vestal Virgins

The only women with official power were the six Vestal Virgins, who were responsible for keeping alight the city’s sacred flame. These women served terms of 30 years—the first 10 as apprentices, the next 10 guarding the flames, and the last 10 instructing the new apprentices. They had the power to own property in their own right, to pardon condemned prisoners, and to give testimony, but they also lived under extreme conditions in their quest to keep the flame alight. Should it go out, they were buried alive. 

Where Are All the Ancient Women?

As someone who writes often about body size and standards of beauty, I wanted to see the ancient Roman and Renaissance women and how they were depicted. But where were they? Throughout our tours, I was struck by how much of the art depicted men and boys. There might be one woman—often a goddess—for every 15 men on display, a staggering display of underrepresentation. 

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica

But maybe there was originally more art representing women. Maybe they were destroyed. Maybe the artists simply lacked access to more female models. Maybe the artists only wanted to show men.

If there was and is less art representing women, does it matter?

In our modern day we view these works as art, but in ancient times, the frescoes and paintings and sculptures played a more important role in storytelling, sharing vital information and setting standards for a population that was estimated to be 85-95 percent illiterate. So, yes, I do think it matters. 

Truth Unveiled by Time by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The gods and men were sinewy figures with powerful legs and arms, often displayed in movement to show off the striations. The female statues were often goddesses with hardy bodies—thick, powerful thighs and arms, defined waists, small breasts and round stomachs—not frail or delicate. 

I know we must consider the artist’s bias in evaluating the representation, but we have some glimpse into the past through what is left here in the present. As I studied the female sculptures, they seemed rather … average by today’s standard of beauty. Neither fat nor thin. Somehow more muscular but still more fleshly than the modern ideal. In many ways, more like my body. And I took comfort in that.

So … Onward

Remains of Rome’s Forum

What I took away from the visit to Rome is that ... ideals change. Whether it's rulers or religion or art or beauty or basic rights, what we consider absolute really isn't. The stunning remains of the Roman Empire is an impressive reminder that nothing is forever.

Rome was even better than I expected, and I was a little sad to leave, but we had Amalfi and Santorini to look forward to. I’d love to visit the city again, ideally in a different season, with a slower pace, but it was the perfect start to an incredible vacation.  

Have you visited Rome? What would you do differently if you could do it again? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.