eternallycool.net

This week we’ve been celebrating the first birthday of the eCool blog. We’re happy to report that eCool is proving to be a big success – in each of the past few months we’ve had 60,000-80,000 hits and we take that as a sign that there’s lots of people interested in all that’s hip and happening in Rome! So Happy Birthday eCool!

But even bigger things are afoot this weekend as the Eternal City is celebrating its 2761st birthday with a host of events – from concerts to the extraordinary opening of archaeological sites to the re-enactment of ancient rituals (click to read yesterday’s post). As far as we’re concerned, however, the e-Coolest of all the events is the annual parade staged by the Gruppo Storico Romano in which thousands of historic re-enactment groups from across Europe march through Rome’s ancient city center, in celebration of the city’s long history.

We’re your eyewitness for the event, so enjoy the photos and stay tuned for more posts about this and other events in coming days.

Each year in honor of the holiday, the Gruppo Storico Romano holds a “Goddess Roma” contest in which they choose a young woman to lead the parade in the guise of the goddess Roma. She’s seen above, sporting her war helmet and holding the orb of the earth in her hand.

The goddess is escorted through the city by Romans of every variety. This year historic reenactment groups from Italy, England, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, and Croatia joined in the fun, putting on a spectacular display of ancient costumes.

Military maneuvers not seen for centuries were expertly executed on the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

Gladiators of every rank, status, age, and gender joined in the fun (see above) – often threatening the well-being of innocent spectators along the parade route – though even more ominous was the presence of the Three Fates (see below).

More photos tomorrow on Rome’s actual birthday. In the meantime, we’re busy baking a she-wolf cake!