The city of Rome is filled with old
and historic churches. It holds within it a church to St. Cecelia, a church to
St. Paul, a church to St. Stefano, and multiple churches to St. Lorenzo, and
St. Maria. Today, while I, and the shell to my canoli (and those other people I
attend college with), did visit one of the churches of St. Maria, I also
visited a church of another kind –a church of capitalism (and an ancient one at
that). In the morning I visited the Imperial Forum and spend a large amount of
time in the Markets of Trajan located in the forum of Trajan. It was not until I
visited the Santa Maria in Aracoeli that I made a (possibly non-existent) connection.
In ancient Rome, the space would have been filled with venders and shoppers
making deals, selling and buying goods. When Rome was at its highpoint of religious
activity the church would have been filled with worshipers, the consumers,
buying faith with monetary donations, from the priests, the vendors. Structurally
the church Santa Maria in Aracoeli also resembled the Markets of Trajan. Both had
a large central room that I imagine would have been filled with people looking
to get what they needed, whether that be forgiveness from god because they had
sinned , or an apple because they were human and needed to eat food. Both had,
on the sides, little rooms, with a circular motif. The church used the apses to
hold images of saints and sanctimonious items of the catholic faith. It was
here that the consumers (whoops… I meant worshipers) bought (sorry …prayed for)
their souls or had someone else do so. The market had taberna built in where merchants
could sell their goods. In the Forum of
Trajan, in the Market of Trajan, people of Rome could buy their material goods.
They could give their offerings –coin– to the vendors. In this way I believe
the markets of the forum are similar to churches. Both have been reconstructed
multiple times to keep the places alive and in the city life, and both sell a product
in demand, one just happens to sell material goods, while the other sells salvation.
I have
ranted about how a church is a store enough. Now it is time for a tirade about
why the market is a church. Yes, a market place is for buying and selling goods,
but it is also a place of worship.” I’m just going to the market to buy some dormice
for the dinner party I’m throwing tonight, how am I worshiping, Blondie Buddy?”
You might ask. Well, you’re not just
going to the market, I would respond, you’re going to the Market of Trajan. Every time you visit the Market of Trajan you
reinforce the image of Trajan as a great emperor. As the kids would say: “Yoooooooo,
Trajan must have been a like cool dude
to build this @#$% for the people of Rome so they would have a designated area
to shop for things”. And by thinking like this people begin to worship Trajan (and
still do because the kids are still saying that). Funny how we have places to
worship all powerful figures that are not churches.
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