Roman Grand Tour

• The Ancient Roman Patrician Class toured Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt to view the all the famous Temples and Tombs.
• The Grand Tour was repeated in the 17th and 18th centuries by the Northern European upper classes as Neoclassicism became a popular Western cultural movement.

The Grand Tour by the Ancient Romans

• The Roman Patrician Class travelled extensively. They were fluent in Latin and Greek. Having read the Greek Classics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, and the Theogony by Hesiod, their education was not considered complete until they had visited the Sites described in these Works.
• Starting with the Parthenon and the Acropolis in Greece, then Troy in Asia Minor, the Grand Tour also included the Pyramids and Temples of Egypt. The traveller would also get to see most of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Itinerary

• The Tour started from Rome and usually lasted for 2 years, but could last for up to five years.
• In an early travel guide on Greece, Pausanius describes the Greek Cities, their Temples, Holy Places, Shrines and Tombs, Buildings, Battlefields, Statues and Works of Art.
• The Grand Tour would have included six of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:

• Italy:
  • The first visit was Naples, originally part of Magna Graecia, and the nearby Greek Temples of Paestum.
  • The sea journey from Naples or Salerno to Greece, may have included a passing visit to Sicily to visit the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse and the Greek Temples of the Valley at Agrigentum.
• Greece:
  • The traveller then sailed to Greece to see Olympia and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, then on to Athens to see the Parthenon and the Acropolis. Since he had studied Socrates and Plato, he wanted to see the locations where they had taught and debated,
  • Also, a visit to view the sunken city of Helike whose ruins were still visible from boats on the sea.
• Asia Minor:
  • Then he sailed across to Asia to see Troy, and the graves of the heroes of the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.
  • The cities of Asia Minor all had famous spas to relax in.
  • He would visit the Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Weeping Rock of Naiobe.
• Rhodes:
  • He would visit the Colossus of Rhodes, although the statue had fallen in an earthquake, its ruins remained in place for hundreds of years, and was mentioned by several ancient writers.
• Egypt:
  • He then sailed across to Egypt.
  • On first arriving in Alexandria, they went to see the Pharos of Alexandria and the Conical Tomb of Alexander the Great.
  • They would then travel to see Great Pyramid of Giza the Pyramids.
  • This was followed by a sailing cruise up the Nile to see the Ancient Tombs of the Valley of the Kings, including the Tomb of Ozymandias and the Valley of the Queens.
  • There are over 2,000 examples of Roman and Greek Graffiti in these valleys. Two of the top sites to visit were the Labyrinth at Thebes, and the Temple of Amun at Karnak.
  • One Roman left Graffiti on the wall of the Temple of Isis at Philae Island: it reads ‘I.L. Trebonius Oricula was here’.

A Roman Travel Guide

• ‘The Description of Greece’
  • This  was an Ancient Roman Guide book written in 10 Books, which was published by Pausanius around 160 CE.
  • It was a Travel Guide to Ancient Greece, one of many guidebooks used by the Roman Upper Classes on the Roman Grand Tour.
  • In it Pausanius describes the Greek Cities, their Temples, Holy Places, Shrines and Tombs, Buildings, Battlefields, Statues and Works of Art.
  • Many other Guidebooks existed, but this is the only surviving Work.
• Link to Perseus: ‘The Description of Greece’ by Pausanius 160 AD

Roman Souvenirs

• The Romans could take home souvenirs by buying oil lamps, figurines, plaques and perfume bottles which had the images of the Temples, Gods and Monuments they saw engraved upon them.

Modern Works

• ‘Pagan Holiday’ written by Tony Perrottet.