Yesterday we clambered over two thousand year old Roman ruins at Volubilis.
Unusualy for us, we hired a driver, Abdul from our Riad to drive the hundred or so kilometers, and then hired a guide at Volubilis to take us around. It is not so easy to get around independently here, drivers and guides make for a stress free day and are well worth the cost. The drive out was beautiful, rolling hills, a patchwork of browns and yellows, the harvest collected and the ground ready for another season of produce. The lack of trees was noticeable, the cedar forests gone long ago, a victim of agriculture. In their stead olive grove after olive grove.
Volubilis was a Roman outpost, a kind of retirement village for the military, housing some five thousand people. (plus 15 thousand Berber slaves living outside the walls) Rashid, our guide brought alive the history and architecture of the place. Johanna's study of Ancient Rome last year stood her in good stead, how amazing, walking, seeing and touching history. The mosaics that have survived are phenomenal, intricate work of natural stone - hence their survival some 2 thousand years later.
