"Pagan Holiday Shows Ancient European Tourism"
 
As a history buff, I was aware that people in the Middle Ages traveled on pilgrimages to holy sites and that in the mid-to-late 1800’s wealthy people traveled between major European cities and fashionable young men went on “Grand Tours” through the generosity of their parents. It had never occurred to me, however, that the Romans, back in the first century, would have had the desire and knowledge to have gone on their versions of “Grand Tours”.

In his book entitled “Pagan Holiday, on the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists”, the author, Tony Perrottet, describes how the wealthy Romans traveled and what they saw the Mediterranean—the known world at the time. From 30 B.C. to A.D. 200, the Romans and all of the countries under Roman rule were enjoying Pax Romana—the longest unbroken period of peace Europe has every experienced. The seas were safe from pirates and the savages in the forests were beaten back and submissive.

Marcus Agrippa, a Roman war hero, had dispatched land surveyors to plot every surface of the Empire and sea captains to chart the Mediterranean coastlines. The Empire’s highway system—Rome’s pride and joy—measured in the thousands of miles. A sixty-foot long by thirty-feet high map of the “world” had been installed in an arcade near Rome’s forum. This map, with its interlocking pattern of polished stone carved in topographical relief cried out to the wanderlust. Tourism has begun!

And what did the Romans want to see? Being steeped in Greek mythology, their first destination was Athens by way of Naples. Prior to catching a ship from this seaport, most Roman tourists would digress on their path to Greece to take a boat to Capri for some R&R to include an orgy or two. While in Athens, the Acropolis with the gold and ivory goddess Athena gracing the Parthenon was the first stop. Delphi and Olympus were also tourist destinations. Under Roman rule, the Games reached new heights of popularity. At no other time were so many people traveling in the Mediterranean than every four years when the Games were held.

Following in the footsteps and the sea swells of the ancient travelers, the author takes the arm-chair reader on to Asia-Minor (Turkey) where the Romans would have traveled to see the site of Troy. In the first century A.D., the ruins of this city—so dear to the Roman’s mythology—was no more that a waste of rubble with goats jumping from rock to rock. From here the traveler would ponder the rise and fall of civilizations and wonder if great Rome would meet the same fate.

From Troy, the traveler would hire a ship or catch a giant grain freighter to Egypt. Already thousands of years old, the pyramids and the Sphinx were the first mandatory sights to see. The graffiti inscribed on these and other Egyptian monuments record the amazement of these early tourists. From Luxor, the wayfarer would again catch a ship to Alexandria, already an old and glorious city founded in 331 B.C. by Alexander the Great. The huge lighthouse—one of the seven wonders of the world—was yet standing. The sight of this marvel of human engineering would be the last sight that the traveler would see as his ship set sail north and west to Rome, the traveler’s home and the center of his world.

Recent donations to the Columbus Library Foundation include those in memory of Susan Thorburg, sister to Sally Hansen. Donors include Mr. and Mrs. Prent Roth, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Preusser, and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Fremarek. A memorial was received from Alice Moss in honor of Norman J. Hahn. Family members presented a donation in memory of Tim Steinkruger. Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Grassmeyer gave a memorial in honor of Maxine Peppler and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Fallick of Lincoln presented a donation in memory of Madeline Kappenman.