When one thinks of the city of Rome, there are several possible images that might flash through their mind. Perhaps the religious Christian thinks of Paul and Peter. A Roman scholar might cast their mind back to Julius Caesar and the fall of the Roman Republic, or the tourist might imagine the Colosseum in all its majesty. Whatever the case may be, when someone mentions the city of Rome, there is most certainly a preconceived perception of what the city must be like.
For me as an American student, arriving in Rome as my very first European adventure could not be more exciting, and my perception of the city was nothing like the reality of which I live today. I have studied Roman history for 10 years of my life and often gazed upon the city through my Google Maps screen, but nothing prepares you for Rome. Like learning a new skill, you often must take a leap of faith, jump feet-first into the fray, and learn as you go along.
Coming from rural Missouri, I did not at first know how to handle the hustle and bustle of city life. Even before Missouri, I lived in rural Wisconsin and so my experience with massive cites was virtually nonexistent. Nothing stopped me however from attempting to integrate myself with this city as fast as possible. I took to the streets almost immediately and I was in awe of my new surroundings. The buildings, the people, the food. All of it was so different from what I had become accustomed to in the United States.
The buildings here do not look like those back home. Back in the United States, the buildings seem to belong to the same time. They all seem contemporary to one another and are almost indistinguishable given this American identity. Here in Rome, however, buildings from across the ages survive and mingle with one another, like a museum gallery without order and context.
Buildings from the Roman Republic stand side by side with those of their medieval counterparts and they too stand by their renaissance counterparts. Basilicas, government buildings, temples and museums all mashed together to form this puzzle of civilization, spanning thousands of years into the past.
If you keep your eyes on the buildings while moving through the winding streets of Rome, you will eventually come across pizzerias, cafes, gelato shops and mom-and-pop restaurants, all lining the city streets and inviting anyone through its doors. Back in Republican Rome, the common folk lived in large three-to-five story apartment buildings called insula—literally island in Latin. These buildings would house the residents of that street in its upper floors, while the occupants used the ground floor to open their shops. Butchers, tanners, and produce would be sold within the same building they slept in, which gave a singular street its own identity in the whole of Rome.
To this day, this same cultural practice is very much alive, and people still open their stores on the ground floor of the apartments they live in. The effect is also very much the same, where streets take on a personality all their own, and that personality can change given the time of day even. In the morning, families or senior citizens can be observed relaxing at their favorite café with a coffee, while in the afternoon the children play ball in the street as the shops close for family time. In the evening, the street will be filled with Romans and tourists all dressed in their finest clothes as they take to the streets enjoying the bars and clubs that light up the night.
As I continue to become more and more accustomed to city life, the stress and worry of how I am going to navigate Rome is steadily declining, and I find myself enjoying the local customs and language. I have a desire to learn Italian and to blend in with the city so as to observe it better—not as a tourist or even a study abroad student, but as an Italian may observe their own city. Perhaps as the fantastic becomes more normal, I will see this as my city too and not just a city I have read about in a book or seen through the screen of Google Maps.
Timothy M. Skonecki
Timothy Skonecki is a student at Westminster College and an ISA Featured Blogger. He is studying with ISA in Rome, Italy.
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