Happy 2776th Birthday, Rome!
This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to visit the Natale di Roma or the Birth of Rome Festival. According to legend, Rome was founded on the 21st of April in 753 BC by the two twins Romulus and Remus, making this year’s celebration the 2776th anniversary of the city. The festival itself, which runs from the 20th to the 23rd of April, was held in the Circus Maximus, a large park that many centuries ago was used for chariot racing. A group of friends and I arrived at around 10:30, just in time to catch the corteo storico, or historical procession. A diverse cast of characters was marching in the procession, ranging from legionnaires in full armor (see picture below), colorful dancers, Coptic priests, gallivanting gladiators, and even a group of eccentric soldiers.
After the parade, my friends and I decided to explore the city while we waited for the next event to start. Our quest for lunch eventually led us to a funnily-named sandwich shop called Meh! where the sandwiches were anything but. One panino (and lots of walking) later, we found ourselves in one of Rome’s best shopping districts, Campo de Fiori. Lots of free samples and haggling over the price of sunglasses (20 euros is ridiculous, no?) followed. We returned by bus just in time for the next performance to begin, and what a sight to behold it was! The dancers from earlier returned to dazzle the crowd, as did the gladiators, who ditched their parading ways for some good old-fashioned gladiator-on-gladiator action! I had a great time at the festival, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in traveling to Rome. What better time to visit a city than on its birthday?