The Forum

No plan for today ... just started walking in the direction of the Colosseum (need find the best route as I'm touring it tomorrow).
Only took 15 minutes so that's good.
Started following a crowd as I thought they must be going somewhere good.  They were !
Found myself outside the Roman Forum   Fantastic, I wanted to go there so this was the perfect opportunity.
You could by tickets with combinations that included the Colosseum which I didn't want as I was doing that tomorrow.  I opted for a 'super sites' ticket which looked as though it got you into special exhibits.
The Forum is AMAZING !  Way more interesting and far bigger than expected.  The Forum contains the Temple of the Vestle Virgins, Temple of Jupiter, Temple of Caesar, Temple of Romulus to name a few.  Unbelievable feat of engineering ... it defies time as much of it is still in great shape.  A lot of the Forum (as with many other Roman buildings of the time) were partially destroyed by fire and the limestone underlay melts at high heat.  Most of the marble has been stolen and repurposed over the milleniums and the remaining buildings were buried on purposed by later Roman Emperor's trying to wipe out remnants of previous rulers.
The Palatine hill (up on the hill, overlooking the Forum) was the site of the Palaces of Augustus, Nero and Vespasian amongst others.  This is were my 'super sites' pass came in handy.  I was able to get a tour of Nero's palace that was buried some 8 feet below the ground.  It was a neat experience as they sat you down for part of it, in a damp dark cave, and placed virtual googles on you.  You were then walked through the Palace as it would have been in Nero's time ... fantastic experience!
After the virtual tour you were then taken on a real tour where you can still see the frescos on the walls, tiled marble floors and mosiacs.
An amazing 7 hour day of walking around The Forum, The Palatine Hill and Circus Maximus.
On the way back, I passed by Capitol Hill which is build on the remains of a Medieval Government building which was built on top of a Roman Senate Building ... like Lasagna !  From the back of the building it is still possible to distinguish the layers.  Next to Capitol Hill is the new Government building, the ''Vittori Emanuele II Monument".  This is an impressive building with beautiful bronze and marble statues. 
Across from the 'Monument' is another ancient Roman excavation site called Trajan's Forum.  This Forum was the banking sector for ancient Rome and contains Trajan's Column which was built in 102AD as a victory momument to Emperor Trajan.  The column is carved in a circular spiral depicting the victory of Trajan in the Dacian Wars.  It reall is incredible.
Well, that's enough for one day.
Tomorrow ... Gladiators !!