DAY 174 - THE ROMAN SENATE

13 October, 2011

1737 miles/ 3,775, 601 steps

As if the St Peter’s hadn’t impressed me enough, I was invited to the Roman (Italian) Senate (pictured with Lynne McGregeor of the British Embassy). There has been a Senate in Rome comprised of the ‘wisest and most respected elders of the City’ since 753BC, which makes our own twelfth century AD institution, which we affectionately call the ‘Mother of Parliaments’, sound a tad pretentious in these parts. The Roman Senators had responsibility for administering public finances, but in doing so, were bound by a strict ethical code which meant that although they were unpaid, they couldn’t engage in banking, bid for any public contracts or own a ship for the purposes of engaging in foreign trade. The ethical code had a few loop holes, as it obviously did not preclude them from bumping off Julius Caesar in 46 BC.

I had the particular honour of being received at the Senate by the Deputy Secretary General, Prof Fabio Garella, who was extremely well versed in international affairs. It was a day of high drama as Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was facing a confidence vote that day and the atmosphere in the chamber, and even the Senate, was highly charged. Senator Garella was keenly interested in the Olympic truce and its possibilities, although there was much else for two politicians to discuss about the domestic agenda and the prospects for the euro etc on which we found ourselves on the same side of opinion. The result of the meeting was that Senator Garella agreed to pick up the idea of having an affirmative debate on the Olympic truce UN resolution in the Senate and to raising the prospect of making a strong commitment to the Olympic truce in the Rome 2020 bid document and plans. It was the second concrete commitment in Rome; the previous one having come the night before at a meeting at the Vatican with officials who were extremely supportive of the truce and saw immediately its possibilities. Neither of these meetings would have been possible without the assiduous work of British diplomats to Rome and the Holy See, who not only secured the meetings, but made sure that they were with the officials or politicians who could actually deliver on any pledges made.

In the afternoon there was a treat lined up: a walk around the ancient walls of Rome, which were largely intact. The complete circuit was about 25km and we did around half of it as we spent too much time listening to the detailed and insightful history from Cally Barnes of the British Embassy—the other hardy souls to undertake the walk were: Lynne McGregor and Florence Crovato who had done such an outstanding job of organising my visit. We started from the Pyramid of Cestius and walked round the walls as far as the British Embassy. The starting point of the Pyramid was significant because it symbolised the fact that Rome saw itself as the heirs of the great Egyptian civilisation and the pyramids and obelisks were a reminder of this. The walls are remarkably intact and made of very thin bricks that were the maximum thickness of clay which could be baked under the sun. Later when they started to use kilns, they still kept to the same thickness of brick for aesthetic reasons. One of the most memorable sights was the gate Porta San Sebastiano, which straddled the Appian Way which was begun in 312 BC and is famous for two reasons—first as the road along which Spartacus and 6000 of his fellow slave were crucified following their revolt against the emperor, and secondly as the road along which St Peter, fleeing the persecution of Rome, is said to have encountered Jesus. He asked Jesus “Quo Vadis?” (where are you going?) and he responded “I am going to Rome to be crucified for a second time.” With this response Peter was convicted to turn around and head back into the city where he was crucified. I felt like all along the walk I was connecting pieces of a jigsaw which began to take shape and form a picture of our own modern day history and culture.