ROME TRIP

By Philip Gardiner
I recently shot off to Rome on a research trip for a new book (The Ark and The Shroud), which will be probably released in 2008 (yes we do have to work that far in advance).
Spending four packed days rushing around this wonderful city was a real eye opener. I expected history; I expected Roman remains, but I never expected so much of it in one place.
I had particularly gone on the trail of the Ark, looking for clues and to see the famous triumphal arch, which depicted the treasure of the so-called second temple of Jerusalem being brought back to Rome. It is claimed that the Ark is not depicted on this arch by scholars – although some claim that the square object being carried on the right could indeed be a depiction of the arch. I’ll leave it up to the reader to figure that out! I did find what I was looking for whilst I was there, but can’t say at the moment exactly what it was – suffice to say, the Ark is not in Ethiopia.
One thing you do notice whilst in Rome is the serpent. Of course, my senses heightened to the image of the serpent for obvious reasons, I therefore spot them everywhere. I was not expecting to find them at the very top of every single column in St Peter’s in the Vatican however. Below is a photograph I took of this same serpent in a bowl but this time seen at the Pantheon in Rome.

It was of course interesting as I had evidence that the so-called Temple of Solomon may have also had serpent columns. More on this in Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon’s Temple Revealed and in the future Ark book.
It seemed that, though no matter where I went the serpent was held high in reverence and not as the awful satanic serpent so reviled by the Christian Church.
Rome is an amazing place, full of thousands of years of history and I would fully recommend it to everybody. One thing however struck me. The greatness of Rome is ancient. The wonderful buildings and the best areas of the city are old. As you fly into this incredible place you spot modern Italy and its square towers and apartment blocks. The modern architecture, like the greatness of the civilization, seems to be completely lacking – almost as if the pride and power has disappeared.
I always seem to come back to this same question, in a like mindedness with Prince Charles – why can’t we build wonderful, ornate and aesthetically beautiful buildings anymore? I know there will be people jumping up and down saying but what about this building or that – but the fact remains, good modern buildings are the exception not the rule.
We ought to challenge ourselves – are we better or worse than the ancient Romans or Greeks? We still know how to kill each other and make a spectacle of killing animals like bulls or foxes. So why have we lost the sacred geometrical knowledge of architecture we once had?
Take a look at these shots I took of some wonderful buildings from the heart of the Catholic world and see if you can find anything like them in a “new city”.