L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano J u s t l i k e u s , o u r a n c e s t o r s , t h e A n c i e n t Romans, liked to f o l l o w t r e n d s . After the conquest of Egypt, in 31 BC, it became popular - at least among the wealthy - to get buried … in pyramids. We know that, at some stage, there were at least 13 pyra- midal tombs in the Eternal City. Are you familiar with the t w i n c h u r c h e s o f S a n t a Maria dei Miracoli and Santa M a r i a i n M o n t e S a n t o o n Piazza del Popolo, just at t h e e n t r a n c e o f V i a d e l Corso? Well, in the first cen- tury BC, two twin pyramids w e r e e r e c t e d i n t h e s a m e spot, and in 1657, their bases were built on to construct t h e c h u r c h e s . R e c e n t restoration works carried out on both edifices confirmed t h e i r e x i s t e n c e . T h e t w o tombs marked the entrance of the Campus Martius area of the city, just like the two churches mark that of Via del Corso today. Another pyramid, known a s t h e M e t a R o m u l i , t h e tomb of Romulus founder of R o m e , w a s l o c a t e d a l o n g t o d a y ' s V i a d e l l a C o n c i l i - a z i o n e . I n 1 4 9 9 , w h i l e preparing the city for the Jubilee, Pope Alexander VI Borgia had it demolished. Not many know, however, that we still have one stand- ing pyramid tomb in Rome, the one built for Caius Ces- tius, a plebeian tribune, and m e m b e r o f t h e C o l l e g e o f Epulones, a group of magis- trates in charge of organiz- ing banquets and feasts to honor the gods. The pyra- mid was built along the Via Ostiense, which was outside the city walls between the years 18 and 12 BC. In the third century, the pyramid was incorporated within the Aurelian Walls of the city, becoming part of them. Thanks to the inscription on its façade, we know that works should not have taken longer than 330 days, lest C e s t i u s ' f a m i l y l o s t t h e i r inheritance: well, he knew c e r t a i n l y h o w t o e n s u r e things were done quickly and efficiently! The same i n s c r i p t i o n , w h i c h m e n - tioned Cestius as its owner, s e r v e d t o d i s p e l d o u b t s about its origin and nature: many, in fact, believed it was the Meta Remi, or tomb of R e m u s , R o m u l u s ' t w i n brother. While it is much smaller than its cousins in Giza, Ces- tius' pyramid remains quite impressive: it's 36.40 meters h i g h ( 1 1 9 . 4 0 f t ) , w i t h a square base of 90 square meters (295 square ft), and it is fully covered in Carrara marble, which the Romans c a l l e d " l u n a " m a r b l e . Because it was part of the Aurelian Walls, and unlike many other ancient land- marks in the city, the pyra- mid's marble wasn't used to b u i l d n e w m o n u m e n t s i n later centuries. T h e b u r i a l c h a m b e r i s painted white and decorated w i t h b e a u t i f u l f r e s c o e s depicting mythological char- acters. Columns marked the f o u r c o r n e r s o f t h e p y r a - mid's base. During the Mid- dle Ages, grave diggers got inside it through a tunnel, and stole the cinerary urn and part of the decorations. Because of its shape, Ces- t i u s ' p y r a m i d h a s a l w a y s been popular: in the 17th century, visitors to the capi- tal never missed it and the pontifical administration, a w a r e i t a t t r a c t e d m u c h attention, ensured it was adequately restored when necessary. Archaeological excavations carried out in 1663 under Pope Alexander VII unearthed the pedestals of two statues of Cestius, a n d t h e e n t r a n c e t o t h e pyramid, which gave access to the burial chamber for the first time in centuries: how- ever, as we mentioned, grave diggers had already entered it in the Middle Ages, so it was found empty. W e a l s o k n o w t h a t , a t s o m e s t a g e , B o r r o m i n i planned to transform it into a c h u r c h , b u t h i s p r o j e c t wasn't carried out. Starting in the 18th century, all for- e i g n e r s o f C a t h o l i c f a i t h were buried at the pyramid's feet, just outside the Aure- lian Walls, in a site officially n a m e d , i n 1 8 2 1 , t h e Cimitero degli Inglesi. The last significant restoration of the structure was carried out in 2015, with funds offered by Japanese businessman Yuzo Yagi. T r o p p o ( t r o h p - p o h ) i s a v e r y common Italian word that we can t r a n s l a t e i n t o English as "too much," or simply as "too." W e u s e i t t o i n d i c a t e something excessive, to the point of becoming negative, just like in the sentence se m e t t i t r o p p o s a l e n e l l a m i n e s t r a , d i v e n t e r à immangiabile! ("If you put too much salt in that soup, it'll be disgusting!"). The word comes from the Latin tropus, which in turn c o m e s f r o m t h e A n c i e n t Greek tropos, a style or fig- ure of speech. Indeed, we still have vestiges of such m e a n i n g i n t h e E n g l i s h word "trope," which is either a r e c u r r i n g t h e m e , a m e t a p h o r , o r f i g u r e o f speech. You find the same word in Italian, tropo, with t h e s a m e m e a n i n g , b u t you'd be hardly pushed to m e e t a n y o n e w h o h a s n ' t majored in Literature who knows it! In Medieval Latin, tro- pus became a synonym of " e x c e s s i v e " a n d i t i s w i t h this meaning we still find it i n r o m a n c e l a n g u a g e s , including Italian (troppo) and French (trop). Troppo is very common in Italian. For instance, in w i n t e r y o u ' l l h e a r p e o p l e often say fa troppo freddo per uscire la sera! ("It's too cold to go out at night!"), but also non posso fare troppo tardi, domani mattina pren- do il treno presto ("I can't be too late tonight, I must catch an early train in the morn- ing"). Troppo is also used to reinforce the meaning of an adjective, but only in famil- iar language. For instance, we say something is troppo bello (literally, "too beauti- ful") when it really struck us or we really enjoyed it, as in Quel film è troppo bello, lo devi vedere ("that movie is amazing, you have to watch i t " ) . O r t h a t s o m e t h i n g i s troppo buono (literally, "too good") when it tastes deli- cious: la torta al cioccolato di Maria è troppo buona! (Maria's chocolate cake is so incredibly good!"). N o n f a c c i a m o t r o p p o rumore, i bambini stanno dormendo Let's not be too noisy, the kids are asleep Il troppo stroppia " T o o m u c h " i s n e v e r a good thing Non darmi troppa pasta, non ho molta fame Don't give me too much pasta, I'm not that hungry LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: troppo – because "too much" can be a bad thing! Italian curiosities: why is there a pyramid in Rome? C e s t i u s ' p y r a m i d w a s b u i l t b e c a u s e o f t h e R o m a n s ' f a s c i n a t i o n f o r a n c i e n t E g y p t ( P h o t o : K o b a Samurkasov/Dreamstime) (Photo: Wavebreakmedia Ltd./Dreamstime)

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