"Not that I loved Caesar less, but . . .

that I loved Rome more."

Origin of this phrase . . .

from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (Act III, Scene II) by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi. It is one of several Roman plays that Shakespeare wrote, based on true events from Roman history.

The phrase is spoken by the character Marcus Brutus, a close friend of Caesar and a praetor, a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men who servedin twocapacities: commander of an army and as a magistrate. Brutus allows himself to be cajoled into joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion that Caesar intends to turn Rome into a monarchy under his own rule.

The senators assassinate Caesar by stabbing. The last is Brutus and Caesar utters the famous line "Et tu Brute'?"

BRUTUS

Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers!

Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear.

Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine

honor that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom,

and awake your senses that you may the better judge.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s,

to him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his.

If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar,

this is my answer:

not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.

Rome is certainly a place to love. Even the most mundane things are sometimes interesting.

Here's where Ross and I spent about an hour one morning. You may remember that Ross had been backpacking for a couple of weeks before we joined him in Italy so he was running low on clean laundry. We hand-washed his essentials at the hotel, but realized quickly they were never going to air dry.

So we went in search of a laudromat (lavanderia) to dry them. Fortunately we were directed to this one as we would never have found it on our own.

The lady was really nice and even gave us an Italian newspaper to pass the time. It was clear she had all the essentials for a busy day of doing laundry. Just watching her busy herself was worth the trip. It was an hour we won't soon forget.

The Piazza Navona

You can see from the map it runs beside the Tiber River.

Central to the piazza is this huge Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumior) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini . The whole area is surrounded by restaurants. The square is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian. Built in the 1st century AD,the ancient Romans came here to watch the "games".

In the background you can see the Baroque church Sant'Agnese in Agone. No photos are allowed and it was dark at that time so we heeded the rule.

The guy in the far right gives you an idea of the size of this fountain.

Documenting we were actually there :)

At one end of the square is this Fountain of Neptune. At the other end is the Fontana del Moro, which unfortunately we did not see.

As we walked back toward the hotel we passed another little church, stepped inside and took this photo. Another beautiful place not even on the map. I don't even know the name of this church.

One afternoon we went out for a walk with no particular destination in mind and came upon this nice fountain which also serves as a roundabout. We have a lot of roundabouts in Belgium, but none quite this elaborate.

It's actually the Fountain of the Naiads (Fontana Delle Najadi). In Greek mythology, naiads were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, and streams.

At this same juncture was this church. It doesn't look like much on the outside, but we decided to peak inside just to see what might be there.

Naturally, it was another beautiful church with a famous architect - Michelangelo. It is the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (Basilica of Saint Mary and the Martyrs).

This is a sundial by astronomer and mathemetician, Francesco Bianchini. There is a small hole in the wall that casts a light on it. It was used 1) for the Pope to check the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar, 2) to accurately predict Easter, and 3) to give Rome a meridian line.

The Piazza Colonna is another of the many squares in Rome.

Earlier in the day we'd walked by here and I snapped this photo. I didn't do a very good job of capturing the bronze statue of St. Paul on top.

The square is named for this massive Column of Marcus Aurelius which has stood here since 193 CE (Common Era - traditionally identified with AD).

The intricate spiral picture tells the story of the Danubian and Marcomannic wars waged by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius from 166 until his death in 180.