My Very Own World

Love in fading times -

Castle Sant' Angelo, Rome, Italy.

南歐晚春氣溫除早晚稍冷外，大致還是溫和舒適，只是太陽微笑依舊，曬得我額頭冒汗，皮膚日黑，從約旦沙漠來，老早就放棄防曬了，擦再多也防不了，老外從一開始猜我是東北亞人(先猜我是日本人)，一路猜到我是菲律賓人、馬來西亞人，就知道我被曬黑到一個不行，美白是很重要的，俗話說"一白遮三醜"，就知道我們是很注重膚色的民族，顏色一對，心情就會好很多，相對於城市風貌，我的態度也是一樣，義大利羅馬的古蹟形塑城市色調，黃土偏紅的大地色系，街樹枯黃亂生，綠葉這時節還未長齊呢，這時節的羅馬讓我的心情就像風中枯黃樹枝，加上日曬，整個煩躁到一個不行，沒辦法羅馬古蹟太多，古蹟顏色都是這樣，還是多走走心情就會變好。

At the time of the late Spring in Southern Europe, it was still a bit cold in the moring and at night,but the rest time of the day was still warm and cozy.
It's just sun shined as usually bright,and I'd got sun tanned deeper day by day,ever since I came from the desert in Jordan.

I even could tell the changes of my skin complexion from people's speculations about where I came from.
People guessed me coming from Japan first, then as time went on, they started mentioning Philippines or Malaysia.
Then ,I knew I was so dark for having been exposed myself too much in sun these days.I didn't think sunblock cream would help at all.

So,I'd better give up the thoughts of using more any sun prevention lotion.

You see,whitening is very important to my people. We even have a say about being skin "white" makes you look prettier.
Here,don't get me wrong. I am not saying "racism" stuff. Eastern Asians think that being skin white means you are from wealthy family and don't need to work in sun.

And because our genetic face structure,we think Asian people are prettier with lighter skin complexion.
It's just a paranoid notion anyway. But the skin color preference affacts my people's aesthetics. Thus, I think "color" is also very important to a city, as it is to Men.

Rome has too many ancient ruins left, plus, dry ,withered branches of street trees at this time of year,that makes Rome fit to the "earthy" colors.
Today, walking in the atmosphere of dry,sultry weather made me irritated to some extent. But I'd felt better after spending more time walking outside .

走著走著就來到行程中的聖天使堡，羅馬博物館千百家，慎選參觀目標對金錢比較有保障，總不能每家都去吧?門票全加起來也不是便宜，每家少說也要個3、5百塊台幣呢，錢省起來可以拿到酒吧喝掉說~哈哈哈。

可以從梵諦岡聖彼得廣場過來，或像我是經過最高法院(正義宮)，再沿著台伯河散步過來，台伯河岸這時樹枝蕭蕭疏疏，非常有文藝氣息，義大利人只要加個外套整個人就會很有型，隨便再加個圍巾，或將領子立起來，就很好看，街頭商店或小販賣的圍巾很便宜，約台幣150-200元左右就有一條了，有點出乎我的意料之外，大概是因為台灣天氣熱，很少有機會用到圍巾吧。

會經過最高法院是因為前一條街的街角有一家Bialetti，是知名義式廚具店，剛好在大打折，就買了2個咖啡壺，台灣這個品牌的2人份咖啡壺要賣3,600元，我在這裡用1,200元就買到了。

說到shopping就會沒完沒了(趕快回來，哈哈)，快到了才發現手機快沒電了，沒得拍照，不過也沒關係啦，因為世界的著名地標，早被大家都給拍爛了，看看別人拍的也不錯，如果下次有來再拍就好，太有名氣的景點就是有這點好處，太多人來，太多人都拍過了，你拍的跟別人拍的長得都一樣，沒有怎樣，不用大驚小怪。

因為是市區重要景點，所以有街頭藝人在這表演，買票進去後真是覺得是一間軍事堡壘，防衛意圖的色彩很重，當然，裡面也是有古時監獄設施，但是怎麼是圓形滴??!!，那你就知道內部會有環形通道了。

Walking on, and soon I reached Castle Sant'Angelo that was on my today's schedule.
Things are like this.
There were hundreds of museums in Rome ,and there's no way that I could go to visit each one of them. So, I needed to select wisely, and the fee of admission didn't come cheap in the end.
It's about averagely NT$300-500 per ticket.
Well, I'd rather spend money on beer later at bars or clubs, haha, just a thought.

Either could you come from Saint Peter's Square, or like me, passed from the other end, by Supreme Court of Cassation, then went on, along River Tiber to reach Castle.
At this time of year, while walking down the banks of River Tiber, withered tree branches on both banks of the river made up some literatural atmosphere.
Nice promenades they were.

General Italians could be posh poshy by simply putting on a long coat. They like the collar to stand up ,and then add a scarf, which makes them look stylish and good-looking.
An easy way to make over promptly.
To my surprised, those scarves were not expensive.
They were about NT$150-200 a piece. Taiwan's temperature is usually high, which might be the reason that I have no idea on scarves.
But you can get them anywhere here from street vendors or shops around.

The main reason that I walked by Supreme Court of Cassation was because there was a Bialetti store on the corner of the previous street. It was holding a discount campaign for its goods.
Bialetti is a famous brandname kitchenware in Italy. I bought 2 coffee pots from it. For 2 cups pots, it sells NT$3,600 each in Taiwan's department stores,
but I got it here by NT$1,200 only.

Let me get back to my old track, or I'll soon get lost in the irrelevant shopping topic. 

I'd found my mobile's battery was dying soon, before reaching to the gate of the fortification(Sant'Angelo).The power couldn't last long.
However, I was not worrying too much. Because famous landmarks in the world are usually taken pictures by innumerable tourists already.
I can always see others' photos as a compensation,or make up the lost in my next visit.
The landmarks in your photos are the same as other people's, so to speak.
It's not a big deal,no need to make a fuzz.

Since it is the famous landmark in city,there's no surprise to see street artisits performing here too.
I felt Castle Sant'Angelo indeed a fortress, built for serving the military purpose of defense. It had also served as a prison for political dissidents in the 10th century. It was a cylinder shape, which plainly for me to know there must be a spiral walkway inside the building.

約西元6世紀時，當時正流行瘟疫，很多人死掉，有天羅馬教皇額我略一世經過時，說有看到大天使米迦勒現身在堡上，諭示著瘟疫將要過去，所以後來這裡就命名為聖天使堡，供奉的正是大天使米迦勒。

誰是米迦勒?他是統領所有天使大軍的天使長，常常輔佐另一大天使加百列處理棘手的事務。天使的概念在西方其實出現的比我想的還要早很多，我以前也不知道，我還以為是古時候的人太過浪漫，捏造一堆沒穿衣服的小屁屁到處亂晃，最近才發現西元前十幾世紀就出現了，從亞伯拉罕教派引申出來的。

歲月流轉，後來因為政治環境變遷，聖天使堡也轉而成為軍事用途，就近保護教皇所在的梵諦岡，今日已經沒那個用途，所以成為博物館，但是，一開始聖天使堡並不是有這些有的沒的，它是羅馬帝國五賢帝之一,哈良德皇帝，他和他的家屬的陵墓(哈德良陵墓)，哈良德死後骨灰存放在這裡，經過不同年代戰亂，早不知去哪了，據說現在在梵諦岡聖彼得教堂裡。

The plague was on the loose in the 6th century, which had caused many people died.
One day, the pope(Pope Saint Gregory I the Great) went by the castle. He claimed he saw Archangel Michael on top of the castle, indicating the plague was going to end according to his own interpretation.
From that on, the castle was named as "Sant'Angelo", worshipping Archangel Michael.

Who is "Archangel Michael"?
HE is the leading captain of all angels, usually assisting archangel Gabriel tackling arduous affairs. The concept of angels appeared quite early than I had  anticipated. I didn't know beforehand, and I thought the concept came from people's melancholic romance in old times, getting a bunch of kids' naked asses frolicing about for fun. Actually, it derived from Abraham sects more than 1000 years before Christian era.

However, the roles of the castle transformed through times in terms of politics. It once served to protect Vatican. Today, its military function had long gone, and turned into a museum. But, in the very beginning, the castle was the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian and his family, one of the 5 most revered Roman emperors. His ashes were stored here at first, but it was lost after different wartime. I've heard it was stored now in Saint Peter's Basillica, Vatican.

如果你有注意，羅馬皇帝雕像中哈良德是第一個有留鬍鬚的羅馬皇帝，古時是用蠟直接將死者面容翻模，所以今天我們可以清楚看到哈良德長的怎樣，而聖天使堡是因為哈良德而生，來這邊玩，我不得不知道這位皇帝是怎麼樣的人。(雕像看起來約40多歲左右)。

他.....滿粗的，哈哈哈哈，不是雞雞，是指他不是清秀那一型，他前後的羅馬帝國有不成文規定，歷代皇帝常常選下一任為王，選中的就先收為養子培養，哈良德也是，他文武全才，歷代罕見，"圖拉真"是他前任皇帝，也是他的養父，同時阿提安是近衛軍首領，也是他的養父。有這兩位超重量級當靠山，沒見過這麼妥當的，但是他也歷經一番鬥爭才站穩皇帝的位置，不是簡單的人物，講一個故事當例子好了，圖拉真傳位給他後，他還剛要從前線(古伊朗、伊拉克)撤軍回朝，後方元老院舊勢力早就想推翻他，他委託養父阿提安處理元老院的反叛勢力和領袖，阿提安還真是老辣，下手一一剷除，綁架、暗殺等見不得人的手段全出籠，最後為了平息政治紛爭，又一人擔下所有罪名，阿提安說，「我（阿提安）的職責就是做這些事情的時候，保證你（哈德良）的手是乾淨的。」
哈良德感恩銘記，雖然被迫降罪於他，但還是搞個元老院的席次給他，讓他可以無後顧之憂地享盡繁榮富貴而終。

There are many statues in Italy. You might think those figures are from artists' imagination. No, No, Nope. If you had paid attention, you might have noticed that Emperor Hadrian is the first Roman emperor with beards.
Ancient Romans used wax as materials for the molds of duplicating people's face, which allows us to know what Hadrian really looks like today. And since Sant'Angelo was born because of Hardrian,I couldn't help but do a little bit of research about him before visiting the castle. He looks like at his 40s' from the statues.

He...looks kind of rough, hahaha, muscular and perhaps a dick. Anyway, he is not the type of a scholar. In his times, it was not weird that emperor chose his successors by being a foster parent. Hardrian was adopted by emperor Trajan too.

Hadrian had two foster fathers. One was the emperor, Trajan, the other was the leader of Roman royal army, General Atilla. He was sent to Greece for learning literature and later on sent to learn hunting and battling technics from General Atilla. He was trained to be a full telanted and promising king. The solid background from his both foster parents made sure he would be anything they wanted.
 
Even so, Hadrian still went through a struggle to make a stand for the throne, after he went back from front line(Wars in ancient Iraq and Iran).Several council leaders wanted to overthrow him. Hardrian was threatened hard. So, he asked help from his foster father, General Atilla. Atilla was a determined man. He quickly underwent a series of stigmatic means by assassinating and abducting these dissident council leaders. Soon, there was no one in council objecting Hadrian, but the political ambience became harsher. In the end, Atilla offered himself to be the blackgoat blamed for the turmoil, in order for Hadrian to regain peace and start positive relationship with council.
Here, Atilla was alone in court judged by emperor's enemies. He told Hardrian before going to the trial, "This sort of things is my duty and I will make sure your hands won't be stained with blood."

Apparently Hadrian was so moved by his foster father's love.In order to thank Atilla's sacrification,Hadrian let Atilla have a seat in council later on,and enjoy in a lavish and secured retiring life.

外在的長年征戰，和對內的政治鬥爭，沒有沉穩的個性的人是會屍骨無存的，因此有個情感的支持是很重要的，出乎我意料之外的是，哈德良有演斷背山，還吃小鮮肉安提諾烏斯，兩人差了20、21歲，後來安提諾烏斯跟著他巡視埃及時意外淹死了，我猜應該是被政敵暗殺吧，聽說哈德良聞訊還嚎啕大哭，別人勸也勸不住。

後來他在羅馬到處建紀念他的神廟，宮裡隨便一個轉角也放他的雕像，這麼哀傷啊，雖然世間所有愛戀都會消逝在歲月的流轉中，但是聖天使堡往後的日子，卻有著更加黑暗的歲月等著，所以他的愛情並沒有迴盪在聖天使堡紀念著。

哈德良皇帝的愛情在安提諾烏斯死後也就沒了，但是對哈德良這個人不用想得太過浪漫，在政治權力的鬥爭中，滿手血腥是這個職業的風險，西元１３２年，在他快要巡視到埃及時，耶路薩冷爆發猶太人起義，他轉過頭來打起戰爭，史稱第二次猶太戰爭，這一戰讓猶太人離鄉背井、流離失所近兩千年，差點滅族。
我說啊~，人喔...

Hadrian survived from long time wars and internal political fights, for men living in that kind of risky situation needed emotional backup. Hadrian was no exceptional. He had a very important love ally, Antinous.
Yes, He was homosexual and Antinous was 20 years younger than he was. On a tour to Egypt, Antinous was drown dead accidently, but I guess he must have been murdered by enemies.
Anyway, Hadrian was so sad and heart broken about the news. So he cried and cried really bad.
No matter how hard people tried to console him, and still couldn't help him stop crying.

Later on, Hadrian started to build temples to commemorate Antinous, and made statues in every corners of his palace.
So sad, he was. Though all love in earthy world will dissipate eventually in flowing time, his love didn't last long enough to reverberate in the castle, either.
There were darker days coming up for Castle Sant'Angelo after Hadrian's times.

Hadrian's love was ended right after the death of Antinous. In the process of political fighting, Hadrian proved himself was a 
tough emperor. In 132 A.D., when Hadrian was cruising near to Egypt, Jerusalem broke up a revolution against Roman empire.
Hadrian ordered to annihilate all men, all people in Jerusalem, which caused Jewish almost extinct. Then,in the coming years, almost for 2 thousand years, Jewish had been loitering everywhere but home. This is called :the 2nd Jewish War.
After all, Hadrian was a man with bloody hands. People ,ah~, people.

聖天使堡在中世紀經過幾任教宗作為軍事和監獄的使用，嚴然是 - 上帝的衛兵團，現在只是間博物館任憑世人憑弔，頂樓是觀賞都市風景的絕佳地點，米迦勒大天使手拿寶劍，俯視羅馬，有點鎮煞態勢。

我在頂樓天台上留了一會............

勁風帶來寒意，
相思遙寄風中，
風華年代數不盡，
轉眼已是夕陽紅。

Sant'Angelo was used as a jail and millitary fortress,it's the God's terrestrial guards.Now,It is a museum.Its roof top is one of the best location for overlooking Rome.The statue of archangel Michael holding a sword,overlooking us from above,which making it like a protector of Rome.

I...stayed on the roof top for a while... 

Feeling cold from rustling gusts,
Delivering my thoughts far and away through air,
Counting innumerably great tides in time ,
that come and go nonstop.
Then I turned and found....
a sinking sun in a scarlet dusky sky.

~The end,13,05,2017,Trevor Chang~