We started our introduction to Rome outside of the hotel, in the region of the city known as the field of Mars. We then walked through the city to the Piazza Venezia, which is dominated by the huge monument to the first king of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. From the top of the monument we could see panoramic views of the city including the Colosseum, the forum, and the Capitoline Hill. It was a great way to orient ourselves and to allow us to see the hill and valley that Rome was established on. We then headed over to that very hill, the Capitoline, to see where the temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus once was. Now, the hill is home to the Capitoline museum, and the Piazza del Campidoglio (designed by Michelangelo and will be discussed more under day 7). From there, we walked down the hill to the Theater of Marcellus which was the second theater built in Rome (after the Theater of Pompey) and was modeled after the Theater of Pompey. If you look at the upper level, you can see that it was converted to a fortress in the middle ages.