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Passageways of Rome

By Tineke Ziemer

September 11^th, 2014

As a lover of history and a teller of stories, I have become fascinated with passageways. For me, they represent not only the passage of space, but the passage of time. Who has walked through these walls before me? What secrets could these walls tell? Have they seen the deceit of emperor’s deeds? Have they seen the romance of lovers meeting in secret? Have they seen children scampering about in play? Over the centuries, they have witnessed the changing of rulers, of religions, of languages. Without doubt, there were times of merriment, of laughter echoing down the corridors as young maidens returned from lavish banquets; And there were times of despair, when the only sound was quick footsteps and panicked whispers as those persecuted escaped into the dark of the night.

I feel literal pain at not knowing. The stories beg me to tell them, to write them into being. And yet I cannot —they remain as frozen in time as the stone enclosures that line the ancient corridors. I can do nothing but feel their torment and dream of their untold mysteries.

On one such occasion, I stood in the Neronian Cryptoporticus, a 130 meter underground corridor that dates back to the first century AD. It was used to connect different parts of the Emperial Palace of Tiberius. I stood in that corridor for at least half an hour, while people streamed by me. Did the emperors of old ever imagine that one day this passage would be filled with hundreds of tourists a day in the year 2014, taking videos and pictures with their cel phones? As for me, well—I was transported back to an era 2000 years ago and I felt the passage of time so keenly that I was inspired to create images that portrayed the illusion of being transported back in time.

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My heart has been captivated by many passageways while in Rome - from ancient stone walls, concealed behind verdant vines, to lavish halls illuminated by the echoes of swaying robes.

From ancient spiral stairways, now kept under lock and key, to underground arched tunnels that require stooping low to pass through… the mysteries of these places cry out to be discovered.

While some passageways remain rarely seen, others, like this ornate architectural masterpiece in St. Peter’s Basilica, are seen by thousands of visitors every day. The height and grandeur of this place cannot be comprehended without standing below it in person. Just below the bottom of the frame is a sea of people whose size is greatly diminished by the massive height of the ceiling, over 10 stories tall. The main dome is 452 feet at its highest point (not pictured here.)

Of all the passageways I have discovered and of the many I have yet to explore, none haunts me as much as the hypogeum of the Roman Colosseum. This two-level underground network of tunnels and cages was used to transport animals and gladiators to the stadium, where they would be lifted to the arena floor via a complex system of elevators and pulleys. Looking at this maze of horror, I can audibly hear the roar of the crowd and feel the sickness in the pit of my stomach as I imagine myself being rushed through narrow halls, ever closer to impending death — whether my own or my opponent’s waits to be seen. In present day, this monument holds no beauty for me, but only the ancient cries of thousands of lives lost and the blood-soaked stains of a society who found death to be the highest form of entertainment.