How do you spell Colosseum?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Rome, Italy

I shouldn't have to tell you what this is.

Well today I hit a couple more places I have always wanted to visit due to the their connection to the ancient world. My first stop….Rome’s finest….the Colosseum. I had caught a glimpse in the dark the night I arrived here…and was in awe, but standing next to is was twice as awe inspiring. On my way in I ran into a nice couple from Canada. They (as others have been) were shocked that I am taking this trip by myself. It is weird because I don’t see it was that big of a deal that I am on my own. To me it is just a bigger deal that I actually made a decision and did it. Maybe it is a big deal.

Me with the site that needs no introduction.

Anyway, back to The Colosseum. Of course it was the site of the Gladiator Games. These games would often be Gladiator versus Gladiator or Gladiator versus big Game (excavations have found bones from animals including lions, panthers, hippopotamuses and lots more). The life of a Gladiator was often not different than that of a soldier. They were recruited when they were 17 or 18 and would live and train to take part in these great games Their lifespan was about 30 years (which wasn’t much less than other Romans at the time but they often met with a very violent end). The goal of Gladiator versus Gladiator matches was not always the death of one Gladiator as this was a great expense to the Emperor. But yes, many a gladiator fell during these great battles. To confirm they were dead, gladiators would be touched with a hot iron (this would discourage faking it....yes I laughed as I wrote that). Gladiators would normally fight about twice a year. The rest of the time I think they spent training, but not sure.

Gladiators of course could also be slaves or prisoners who were sentenced to death. You could tell the rank of a gladiator by their weapon. Prisoners were often sent into the Colosseum unarmed. A slave could win their freedom by winning their match. A winning Gladiator would be adorned with a crown of palm as well as money or precious items.

The stage has be reproduced but all the tunnels below are original. The entire thing would have originally been covered and there were systems that would have raised and lowered people, animals and other things. Below you would have also found areas where animals and people were caged.

Anyway, looking around the Colosseum you do have to use your imagination. Like many other ancient buildings it has felt the effects of progression. Many materials were removed from the Colosseum to be used in the construction of other buildings around Rome, including St. Peter’s Basilica. The seating in the Colesseum (as you would suspect) was strictly separated by social standing. The farther away from the stage, the lower your social standing. There is not much left of the upper level seating or even the stairways…...the lower levels are rebuilt representations of what existed but the large scale of the building is still felt. It is thought that The Colosseum held 40,000 to 50,000 people, although that cannot be confirmed.

A closer look at some of those tunnels.

Of course all this info came from another audio tour that did not help negotiate me around the place (at least it is a giant oval so you cannot get lost…even I couldn’t get lost). They find it really easy to attach guard rails and emergency exit signs and stuff like that throughout…but they cannot post any type of information sign…because it is a archaeological monument. It’s a scam I now but hey, what are you going to do.

The Arch of Constantine which is right outside the Colosseum.

My ticket to the Colosseum also gave me entrance to another great site right next door. This is of course the Roman Forum and the Palatino. The Forum is a shadow of its ancient self but amazing none the less. Of course the Roman Forum was the centre of western civilization for a long time (some people would argue that it still is…..of course they aren’t from New York.). I joined a free tour of the Forum part way through (they give free tours at the forum….and then sell tours to other parts of the city). Of course much interesting information is obtained when listening in on a tour. Like I learned how cheap ancient Romans were. They loved appearing like they were completely awesome but liked to take short cuts. Like when building their temples and buildings and stuff like that they would use marble down low where people could see….but would use stucco painted to look like marble higher up where people could not inspect so closely. Here are a few pictures from the area. So neat to see but it is really too bad there is so little left.

There are a few archways remaining in the Forum but in fact there use to be many more. Arches were built to celebrate victories by emperors or other important people. There use to be dozens of archways, but most have since been destroyed.

One of the remaining archways.

The Palatino was an ancient Posh neighbourhood in Rome. Most of the ruins that you see actually are not from the original Palatino, but from neighbourhoods that existed afterwards. The old city had new churches and houses built over them. There still were some remaining signs though of the original area including the Stadio which was probably used by the elite to host private games and such.

Some of the ruins. Sorry I cannot remember what these were but they could be a church or a house or a market or anything else. I just think they look neat.

This is the stadium. This area was probably used by the wealthy to stage private games and that kind of thing. Not everyone would have had access to it though.

I could throw out a bunch of names and dates (that may or may not be correct) but like Egyptian history and every thing else there is too much to write and tell. The Casa di Augusto was really interesting though. They are in the process of restoring and escavating it. It is believed to be the private home of Augustus (who is someone important I am sure because everyone is someone important and although someone had told me I seriously cannot remember). There were rooms that they would only let five people in at a time due to safetly issues (they are still securing the area).

Some of the very well preserved walls of Casa di Augusto. Very neat. Very nice.

In fact there was a lot of excavating going on throughout the Palatino and Forum. I am sure they are always finding new things and expanding their knowledge of everything.

Yeah this guy totally was for real. It was warm that day, so he walked around the Roman Forum in this.

From there I made one more stop. This was at the Termi di Caracalla. These are actually some of the coolest ruins I have seen in the city. Basically this is an ancient leisure centre. They had hot rooms (caldaria) luke warm pools (trepidation), swimming pools, libraries, gardens and shops. It is thought that 6000 - 8000 people used this centre every day. The area also contained about 9.5 kilometres of underground tunnels where slaves tirelessly kept the plumping system of the centre running. It was truly and amazing sight to see. The vast size of it blew me away. Here are a few shots of different areas of the site. It really was huge.

Well, I think we all have to admitt that I saw a lot today. Some pizza and gelotto on the way home was pretty much all I needed before a good nights’ sleep. There is so much to see in this city and I know I will only reach the tip of the ice berg, but it will have to be enough as I can only stay in the city so long.

Julie