One last Birthday of Rome post from the eCool Compound!
Some readers have been asking how we know the foundation date of Rome – a good question! Rome’s birthday was given to us by the first-century BC historian Marcus Terentius Varro who wrote that it was on 21 April 753 BC when Romulus founded the city. Thus, as of today, the Eternal City is 2761 years + 2 days old.
This year, celebration of Rome’s birthday began on Saturday 19 April with the re-enactment of an ancient ritual. On Sunday 20 April, (almost) all of Rome turned out to celebrate the big day on Via dei Fori Imperiali, where a paradea full of gladiators, centurions, and senators marched from the Circus Maximus to the Colosseum and along the Via dei Fori Imperiali (click here and here).
But that wasn’t all that was going on! The street was lined with stalls touting the wholesome goodness of Italy’s most traditional foods, while a range of sporting demonstrations wowed the crowds – we at the eCool Compound were blown away by the Ruzzolone, a traditional cheese-rolling contest held in an Umbrian hill town.
There were street performers galore, including clowns, fire-eaters, roaming musicians, acrobats, and puppet shows. Two groups in particular caught our eye. We couldn’t help giggling at the Romulus & the She-Wolf hand puppet troupe that’s seen in the photo above. And these stilt walkers clad in 18th-century costumes left us wondering just how tall the Colosseum really is.
