This time, I brought my camera. However, it died about three quarters of the way through the visit. Definitely better than not having it at all.
This time, we went to Itálica, a small "town" about 20 minutes north (I think) of Sevilla. And by "town," I mean a Roman town, or at least what's left of it. The part of Itálica that still remains consists of tons of remarkable ruins from Roman times, possibly the most notable of which is the humongous amphitheater where gladiators fought lions and each other. Of course, I don't have any pictures of this amphitheater because we saw it last, so my camera was dead. I do, however, have pictures of other ruins.
Itálica sits on a hill overlooking what is now several more modernized "satellite towns" of Sevilla (I put that in quotes because I don't know if they are actually associated with Sevilla at all). So the view immediately below can actually be seen while standing next to this statue (picture also below) of the emperor Trajan (or Trajano, en español) built as a monument to him by his son, the following emperor Hadrian (or Hadriano):
Pretty remarkable, no? This statue is actually a copy. The real one has been put in a museum for preservation purposes, which to me, is actually kind of sad. I feel like something that exists in one place within the natural course of events should be allowed to keep existing within the natural course of events. Yes, the statue would've continued to wither away, but what if that was okay? Put the copy in the museum and then tell people that the real one is still in Itálica. It's sad in the same way that the neighboring village of Santiponce exists at all, nothing against those that live there. Santiponce was built over top of a sizable portion of Itálica; our instructor Carmen mentioned that if they ever want to do renovations or any construction work in Santiponce, they often encounter relics from ancient times and keep them or donate them. Which is cool, but what would've happened if we had kept Itálica completely preserved within its environment?
It just got me thinking.
Other wonderful things about Itálica included the mosaics where the entrance ways to all of the houses would be (the Romans used to call their houses by the image of their main mosaic -- see below: the mosaic of The House of Neptune), the other copied statue of Venus near the entrance to the town, and of course, the amphitheater. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the latter. But needless to say, it was unforgettable. I have never been more astounded at a piece of architecture before, solely because while there I tried imagining that amphitheater full of people watching a spectacle that nobody in this day and age has ever seen.
Some day I'd like to go back, just to walk around it some more. And to stand in that amphitheater. Don't know if that'll happen, but I suppose it's not unthinkable.
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