8.+Rome+Today

Transportation
Rome now has two airports named Fiumicino and Ciampino. Fiumincino is the main one and Ciampino is usually used for charter flights and budget airlines. There is many ways to get around Rome these days like using public transportation as the metro, buses, trains, night buses, taxis, and even rentable bikes and scooters. The historic center in Rome is fairly close together so you can go on foot. All the monuments are in the same area. The metro is simple and great for visitors. The tickets need to be bought prior to your ride. They can be bought at newsstands, bars, and vending machines which is quite convenient. It is called Metropolitana by the people who live there. They run ever 7-10 minutes from 5:30AM-11:30PM, so its easy to catch one.

There are electric buses for less polution in the historic spot and can fit through the small alley ways that hardly a Vespa can fit through. You could also rent a bike or scooter, since the sights are in walking distance the bike will give you more time to go from place to place. If you really wanted to be "like the Romans" you would take a Vespa, which are very easy to find around the city.

Fashion
The ancient Roman clothing has made its way back to today. There are many things you see now that people wear that resemble the older age. Around 2008, the Gladiator sandals were very popular and still are today. The sandals went from pretty flats to platform chunky gladiators.

In ancient Rome they wore toga's. They are robes that wrap around their bodies that usually have a one shoulder strap. In the runway, there are some toga's now they look a bit more modern but still use the same effect. They are probably shorter and a little less fabric and don't really wrap around. It will look more like a dress and all one thing not one sheet just wrapped around. People say they complement any figure.

At first, people may think that Roman robes are the same thing as Greece but they aren't. Greek men wore two pieces and Romans only wore one. Roman men only wore one ring and kept it very simple. Greeks have their togas sewn not pinned and are close together.

Sports
In recent years Rome has hosted the 1960 summer Olympics and is now a candidate to host the 2020 summer Olympics. Football or soccer is the most popular sport in Rome today. Rome has hosted the final games in 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Around the 2000 BC there was a game called harpastum, which mean “the small ball game.” This game was played with a smaller and harder ball. It was played with 5-12 people and played on a rectangular field marked by boundary line and split by a centerline. Each team had to keep the ball on there half as long as they can, while the other team would try to take it away. The Romans took Harpastum to maintain physical fitness to soldiers and to keep the battle ready. In the records of Harpastum the match played between the Romans and the British. The conquerors won, and Harpastum faded and maybe impacted the later development of football.

Football or soccer is Italy’s most watched sport today. The most popular and skilled players are national heroes, and on Sundays the stadiums are packed full with football fans. Football in Rome has an influence on the city. All of the matches are played a the Olympic Stadium in Rome

Religion
In the early stages of roman religion was a simple animism. Which means beliefs was centered on spirits that were not personified. As Rome grew the beliefs of those who conquered were slowly integrated into roman religion. Greek gods and rituals became a part of roman religion. Many Greek gods came to be identified with Roman Gods. In the early times of Rome, Rome had no religious temples to honor the God’s. The first temple of Gods were built by Ethian kings

Rome saw their religion as a contract between man and the Gods, because of this reason; ceremonies were performed with great attention to detail. If any mistakes happened it was believed that gods would no longer be able to uphold their end of the contract. With the idea of the contract with the Gods came the practice of the votum. The voltum was a vow to the Gods. If someone wanted a specific favor, he/she would have to promise to complete certain sacrifices if their prayers were answered. Rome today is mainly Roman Catholic, and the city has been an important centre of religion for centuries. There are around 900 churches in Rome today. In recent years, there has been a huge growth in Roman Muslim community; it is due to the immigration from North African and Middle Eastern countries into the city of Rome. Rome is also the centre of a Jewish community. The Greats is a major synagogue in Rome.

Opera House
Opera is a big part of an Italian’s life. For centuries people in Rome have been going to the opera to watch musicians, opera, ballet, orchestral music. The three main opera houses in Rome have been there for centuries. Hundreds of plays throughout the years have been performed on each and every stage. The three main opera houses in Rome are La Scala, Teatro Carlo Felice, and Arena de Verona.

Opera house La Scala is the “queen of opera houses and the center of the opera universe” according to Barbara Rogers who wrote an article on Italy’s Best Opera Experiences. The opera house was built in 1778 and has recently been remodeled. Some of the best musicians like Giuseppe Verdi and Vincenzo Lavigna both were musicians for a while at La Scala.

Teatro Carlo Felice is Genoa’s main opera house. Tearto Carlo Felice was named after Duke Carlo Felice. The opera house was built in 1824. The opera was made mostly in tack until 1944 when an air raid destroyed the front, which ended up leaving only the outside walls left standing. Over the years Teatro Carlo Felice has become a sleek and modern opera house. The acoustic sounds have become nearly perfect. It is almost so perfect that from every seat in the opera house you can hear everything on stage perfectly.

Summer Olympics 1960
In 1960 Rome hosted the Summer Olympics. There were 5,348 athletes from 83 countries. The events took place during August 25th through September 11th. Giovanni Grouchi opened the Seventeenth Summer Olympic Games and Giancarlo Peris lit the Olympic Flame. There were 159 events in 17 sports. Some of the sports were basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, etc. During the 1960’s summer Olympics is when the world got introduced to Louisville boxer Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Ali held the world heavyweight title three times. At the Olympics Ali won gold for the light-heavyweight crown. Ali was so proud of his accomplishment that he didn’t take off his medal for two days. The 1960’s Summer Olympics had a many highlights. One was when Danish cyclist Knut Jensen collapsed during his race from amphetamines, which he later died in the hospital. Japanese men gymnastics team started its fifth consecutive win from 1960 to 1976. The 1960’s was South Africa’s last time appearing at the Olympics under apartheid regime, they were not allowed to return until 1992 after transitioning to a black-majority government. At the end of the Olympic games U.S.S.R. was the winner with 103 medals, U.S. came in second with 71 medals and Italy came in third with a total of 36 medals