Roming around

+ Recently, Americans have had a problem with their politicians being economical with the truth, particularly regarding their closeness to Russians. Since ancient times the problem was solved here with the aid of this statue, known as "La Bocca della Verita". Dating back to around the 1st century CE, the original purpose of the Mouth of Truth is unknown: it may have been a ceremonial well cover, fountain decoration or even a manhole cover. The face itself has been said to represent your favorite pagan whichever it is. What has been known since medieval times is that if you stick your hand in its mouth and tell a fib, it will be bitten off.
+ Another politician who liked the sound of his own voice was Benito Mussolini. He enjoyed yelling at the crowd from this balcony above the Piazza Venezia, delivering some of his famous speeches including the declaration of the Italian Empire in 1936, and a declaration of war on France and Britain in 1940. The Piazza is named for the ornate palace, Palazzo Venezia, that dominates one side of the square. Mussolini’s office was located in the Sala del Mappamondo in the palace throughout the 1930s, and the balcony off the room overlooked the square just below.
+ This segues effortlessly to the Cloaca Maxima, one of the oldest relics in Rome, now used as a campsite for the homeless. Constructed during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus (6 BCE,) to empty the marshlands and carry stormwater from the central Forum section of the city, this is the point where it drains into the river Tiber. 300 years later the open drain was covered and waste from latrines and public baths were directed through the system. Apparently Agrippa later cleaned them out and enlarged them to take the flow from 11 aqueducts.
“Sometimes water from the Tiber flows backwards and makes its way up the sewers. Then the powerful flood-waters clash head-on in the confined space, but the unyielding structure holds firm.” [Pliny the Elder]
+ Lifting our focus now, this Art Nouveau courtyard was built in the late 19th century for the influential Sciarra family. It was meant to be a shopping mall, which, had it come to fruition, would perhaps be one of the most beautiful shopping centers in Rome. You can find it, though most tourists dont, just round the corner from the Trevi Fountain and the Via del Corso. Each of the central facades is covered by colourful frescoes of women and men surrounded by elegant, curling floral designs. The women are the main focus, as the artwork, which was painted by Giuseppe Cellini, is intended to celebrate women in the various phases of life.
Eat your heart out Frank Lowy (Westfields).
+ I've no idea whose triumphant arch, not 200m from the Bocca on the via Velabro,this is. But now it belongs to the rhino.
+ And similarly this elephant transfixed by an obelisk must have meant something to someone.Leia mais