ARROW - 26. Chapter 26

After breakfast, we left the hotel, heading toward the Gothic Quarter. It was a nice walk.

Entering the Quarter was like going back to when the Roman army occupied this area. “This was the beginning of what today is called Barcelona. The Roman name of this area was Barcino which was shortened from the full name in Latin, Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. The Romans occupied this area when Augustus was emperor.”

As I said that to Colin, we came face to face with one of the remnants of a Roman fort. I don’t think Colin’s smile could be more prominent. He may not be a lover of paintings, but structures and sculptures did attract his attention.

As we walked, we came to the street of Sant Domenec del Call. “This street is the center of the Jewish Quarter.”

Continuing to walk through the Quarter, we found several public squares. One of these public squares was a 14th-century medieval square. Colin was interested in the architecture surrounding these squares, and I think what impressed him the most was the ancient architecture that the Romans left behind. I thought, wait until we go to Rome.

Walking toward the square Sant Jaume, we could see these massive pillars. “Armand, what are those?”

“They look like the pillars of the Temple of Augustus. Let’s take a closer look.”

It took us a while to get there, Colin saw a tapa restaurant, and he was hungry. Sitting at the bar, our waiter placed a piece of paper in front of us. He would pass with a plate, and if we wanted some, we would nod, and he put a potion on our plate and made a mark on the paper in front of us. When we had enough, he took the paper and bought back a bill. The smile on Collin’s face told me we would have something like this at the Club.

Approaching the columns, there was a plaque at the bottom. Colin went to read the plaque. “Armand, how big is 9 m in feet.”

“A rule of thumb 1 m equals 3 feet. So 9 m would be about 27-29 feet. You need to make the conversion for an exact height.”

“The plaque said that there were four pillars in the front and a platform about a third of the way up the column. In the center of the platform was a statue of Augustus. The temple was huge and could be seen from any point in the city. Could you paint the pillars on that wall at the club?”

So far, I have the Eiffel Tower and these pillars. I wonder what he will see in Rome that he will want to be painted on that wall.

“Was he worshipped like a god?”

“I think many of the Roman emperors had a god fixation.”

“It’s hard to imagine this building was constructed before Christ. I wonder how they were able to place these in position. How did they do this, what mechanism did they use to raise these pillars.”

“Maybe we will find out more about these Romans when we visit Rome.”

I knew Colin would be more interested in buildings, sculptures, and artifacts from early history. We will definitely visit Greece and Egypt in the future.

After viewing the Temple of Augustus, I decided we should see some other famous structures. Walking down the slight hill from the temple. I saw Barcelona’s History Museum, and I knew Colin would enjoy this. I let Colin lead the way, and I followed behind, knowing that he would enjoy this historic building.

“Armand, look the brochure says in the basement we can see the old streets which are under the surface of Barcelona.”

“Let’s go.”

Entering the museum, Colin was all smiles. As he walked to the various displays, he would stop, read the card, take a photo, then move on. Eventually, we did make it to the basement. I watched as Colin walked the short distance on the road. There was a card on the wall stating this road was constructed to bring stone for the Temple of Augustus. As I translated the card for Colin, his smile was payment enough.

Leaving the museum, our next stop was the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. I explained that the name was changed by adding the name of Saint Eulalia in 877. As we approached the church, Colin saw a flock of geese who started toward us, making a loud noise.

“Geese?”

“Yes, they make great watchdogs. They are here for one of two reasons. Some believe they were used as watchdogs during the church’s construction, and others believe they are here to remind people of the martyrdom of Saint Eulalia. She was thirteen when she was killed in the year 303 at the age of 13, ergo, 13 geese.”

“13 years old! What could she have done to be killed at that age?”

"There was a period when a group referred to as Diocletian persecuted her for her beliefs. She wouldn’t recant her beliefs, and they tortured her to death. Diocletian was a Roman emperor who issued a proclamation that people had to sacrifice to the Roman gods. It was anti-Christian, and she was Christian who would not worship the Roman gods.”

We entered the church, Colin put his camera away. Silently and reverently, we toured the church. Leaving the church, I could see Colin was deep in thought.

We were walking back to our hotel, “Armand, I can’t get over the fact that a 13-year-old girl was put to death for her convictions. Thirteen years old, how cruel those Romans were.”

I squeezed his hand, “Many civilizations have a cruel past. Look at how we treated the enslaved people in the south in our own country.”

Colin looked at me, “You’re right. I wonder how history will record us. Maybe we will be considered barbaric as well.”

“There’s a restaurant. Let’s have dinner.”