Hello everyone! I’m Nathan Fischer and I am a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Materials from Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Day 10 was split between class, a tour, museums, and enjoying our last day in Rome.

 

We off started the day with class. We covered arch, cable, and dome forces then finished it off with another set of student presentations. Afterwords we walked down the street to tour a nearby high school. Four students led us through as they explained the history of the school and some notable things it has. In the hallway encased in glass they had all sorts of old lab equipment that was handmade by students and is approaching a century old. Then inside of the teachers’ lounge there was a wall of various taxidermized creatures and shelves with jars of different specimens. Then we left and took the metro to the National Roman Museum.  

First, we saw the statue of the boxer and then split into smaller groups as we went floor to floor.

The first floor was filled with carvings, mainly different statues and sarcophagi. As you wandered this floor you could see the immense detail put into the statues like each individual lock of hair or a vein on a flexing muscle. Most pieces had broken and were missing arms, heads, toes and there was even a room of just heads.

The second floor was filled with mosaics and frescos. The mosaics used an obscene amount of different colored and shaped tiles in order to create surprisingly detailed images. The frescos are like murals made from watercolor on plaster. Although many were faded from old age there was a room where a well-preserved fresco covered all four walls creating a peaceful gardenlike image.

The final floor was the basement and behind thick vault doors was a coin collection spanning from the beginning of the roman empire to the modern euro. It was interesting to see coins change as Rome grew the coins got and fell. As Rome grew the coins were made out of more prized metals like gold and silver instead of bronze and the sizes varied greatly from something as big as a hockey puck to coins smaller than a quarter inch in diameter. Also, it was fun watching the quality of the coins increase every time the exhibit showed when a new coinage technique was discovered.

Our next destination was the Diocletian baths. It had a nice outdoor courtyard with greenery which was refreshing to walk around because of its contrast to the busy streets of Rome.  

Inside there was another museum portion that had more Roman artifacts and on the other side of the building were the ruins of the original baths. Then we had the rest of the day to make the most of our last day in Rome.