The Diaspora of Jews to Rome from the 1st century has left a mixed legacy for tourists to think about when they visit Italy. There are many examples of discreet Jewish evidence on Roman ruins and neighbourhoods that show both respect and intolerance. For instance, Rome can exhibit:
- the oldest synagogue in Europe, dating from the 1st century B.C.E., in Ostia Antica near Rome's airport
- the Arch of Titus, erected in the Forum in 70 C.E., and showing Jews as conquered people with their menorah in procession
- the Jewish Ghetto itself, established in 1555 by Pope Paul IV
- a square in the Ghetto, Largo October 16, 1943, which commemorates where Nazis collected thousands of Rome's 13,000 Jews
Although a visitor may be fascinated while touring this bit of Roman history near the Jewish Ghetto, one is also challenged by policies of intolerance over the years.
Rome's Jewish Ghetto, the Obvious
The Jewish Ghetto is four square blocks of winding streets. It is bound on four sides by:
- the monolithic synagogue, built in 1904;
- the magnificent ruins of the Teatro di Marcello dating from 23 B.C.E;
- the Turtle Fountain by Bernini from the mid-1600s;
- the Isolo Tiberina and Trastevere across the river.
The small area is vibrant still. There are fragrant bakeries, kosher restaurants, and an elementary school with childish squeals interspersed with café discussions. Pope John Paul II visited the synagogue in 1986 to promote reconciliation. The remarkable ruins of the teatro is a connection to the Forum, a ten-minute walk away, where Titus’s Arch shows Jews being dragged to Rome in a triumphal march, their menorah visible on the underside. Bernini, whose Baroque sculpture adorns much of Rome, decorated the Turtle Fountain as a complimentary symbol to Jewish resilience. The Ponte Fabrico over Isola Tiberina is Rome’s oldest surviving bridge and connects the Ghetto to Trastevere from which the Jews were moved in 1555.
Rome's Jewish Ghetto, The Ponderables
The Ghetto has another interesting but sobering side, for there are remnants of anti-semitism. Hemming the area are eight churches and a convent, all to emphasize the Christian majority surrounding them. According to Rick Steves in Rome 2008, Catholics forced Jews to listen to sermons, to wear yellow hats, and to march along nearby Via del Corso during Mardi Gras. Several of the streets on the edge of the ghetto are barricaded with turnstiles and the synagogue is guarded by concrete planter boxes acting as anti-car bomb barriers to foil terrorism such as a 1982 attack which killed one and injured thirty-six. Opposite the synagogue there is a plaque and small square commemorating Oct. 16, 1943 where Nazi trucks parked to take ransom gold and then later the Jews themselves.
Rome’s Jewish Ghetto is a rich experience. Ancient Roman ruins and art representing the past are integrated into the present vital street life. And leaving by the 2000 year-old Fabrico Bridge with its Janus heads, the tourist can ponder both the past and the future of Jewish treatment.
