Pyramids and Confederates?

Hey everyone. This morning I've seen several really cool things, and Blogger loves me today, so you get to see it all. :)

I have a guidebook that exhaustively lists every attraction in the city, even kind of obscure ones. Today I was on the obscure path, and it was pretty cool. I had to take the metro to a stop that was pretty far out, off my tourist map, but I found my way. The stop is called Piramide after the large pyramid that's just outside, next to the Porta Ostiense, shown here:
I had to google that one, since for some reason I forgot to take a pic myself. The Porta Ostiense is one of the few remaining gates from the Aurelian wall, the city defense wall that the emperor Aurelian built during the 3rd century AD. You can go inside the gate to wander the ramparts and see a little museum (not too impressive, but hey, it's free). Apparently someone lives directly above the entrance gate:

Haha I wonder how much their rent is. That would be pretty cool right?
"What's your address?"
"The Aurelian Wall, number 12."
I would totally live there. Anyway, I also took this picture of the pyramid from up there:

The pyramid was built by a 1st century BC Roman magistrate named Gaius Cestius, who was fascinated by all things Egyptian (it was very much in vogue, since the whole Mark Antony-Cleopatra scandal was going on at that time). He decided that he wanted to be buried in a pyramid lke the pharaohs...and although this isn't exactly as great as the ones at Giza, I figure it's the closest I'm ever going to get!

Directly behind the pyramid is a great little place called the Protestant Cemetery. As the name implies, it's the place where non-Catholics who died in Rome (mostly foreigners, of course) were buried. It had to be outside the city wall, and initially the grave stones were not allowed to make any mention of heaven (since apparently Protestants don't make it there). At some point that changed, but I don't know when. I don't actually know if people are still being buried there today, although I saw some gravestones with dates as recent as the 1970s. It's a very well kept, lovely place:


And it has the graves of some famous people. I was thrilled to find the grave of English poet John Keats:

For some reason he didn't want his name on the tombstone. The full inscription reads:

This Grave
contains all that was Mortal,
of a
YOUNG ENGLISH POET,
Who,
on his Death Bed,
in the Bitterness of his Heart,
at the Malicious Power of his Enemies,
Desired
these Words to be engraven on his Tomb Stone
Here lies One
Whose Name was writ in Water.
Feb. 24th, 1821

So, ahem, needless to say I thought it was supercool! I love Keats' poetry. And it's like him to be theatrical like that...a drama queen to the end. Those poets are always nutty. And here's his Romantic era colleague, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who wrote that he was "captivated by the fatal charms of Rome" and found his end here:

Lord Byron actually lived here in Rome for a while as well, in Piazza di Spagna, before he died fighting in some Turkish war or something. He was crazy, too, of course. There's a little museum next to the Spanish Steps commemorating the three poets, I just haven't gotten around to seeing it yet.

So anyway, seeing the graves of those poets was really a thrill. But I also spent a lot of time wandering around and reading the stones of various other not-so-famous people. (They're mostly English and American, so the markers are for the most part written in English, although I saw a few German, Russian, and Norwegian markers as well.) It was really interesting. Every stone in that graveyard represents a human, and every human has a story. For instance, I was particularly moved by a marker for Ruth McEvers, who was from New York and came to Rome for the sake of her health in 1803, but died here within a few months. She was eighteen years old, "the delight of a fond mother and family and of an adoring husband." And here's one I found particularly fascinating:

"H. Jefferson Page, Jr., Major of Artillery in the Confederate States Army." He's buried here along with his sister. I am very curious as to why he was in Rome, especially since in 1864 the Civil War was still going on...unless they moved his body later? The marker doesn't offer any explanation. Who knows?

So anyway, I'm still finding all kinds of fascinating things here in the city. I sometimes regret that I can't afford to go travelling every weekend like most of the other students do, but then when I get to see cool stuff like this, off the beaten path in Rome, I realize that I'm really not missing out. I'm just getting to know Rome a little better than everyone else. There are several other things that I haven't explored yet, so I'll have plenty to see in the next couple of weeks.

Yeah, the next couple of weeks...I'm already depressed about the fact that this trip is quickly approaching its end. No! I don't wanna go back! Haha I really do miss home, but I love it here so much. I'll just be desolate without Rome...