The Day We Went to the Colosseum

 

The day we went to the Colosseum was a fairly standard low 80's high humidity day, except we had to be at the Colosseum at the time we normally were eating breakfast.

Now on day three of being in Rome, we were feeling almost like old pros on the Metro system. You are, for instance, not allowed to take photos or videos in the subway system. 

We had not encountered tourist scammers yet. As we made our way to the meeting place, one guy stopped us by complimenting us on our tans and said he could tell we had good hearts. 

I know. 

We stopped, eager to hear more about how he could tell by sight how wonderful we were, and he popped a bracelet on each of our wrists. Then more conversation, and he learned there were more children back at home, and he heaped more jewelry on us. 

Then as we started to walk away, he said, "I have a new baby in my home country, can you give me something?" 

Of course, I said, "No" and handed him back everything he had piled on us.

Well, that's not exactly true. I gave him 1.5 euros and handed him back three things. 

But it's what I'm going to do next time.

Now back to the Colosseum.

The Arena Floor

I've been to the Colosseum before without a tour. It was like window shopping. I saw everything and got nothing.

So this time, we got a Gladiator's Gate Colosseum Walking Tour which included the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.

This time I got something.

Our tour guide, Andrea, was great. He was incredibly knowledgeable and answered all of my many questions.

The Colosseum was built from 72 AD to 80 AD over what used to be the opulent palace of Nero, the 5th Emperor of Rome, in 72 AD and completed in 80 AD. Nero committed suicide in 68 AD because he was very unpopular with Romans and ultimately thought death by suicide was better than what they had in nmind for him.

Ancient Romans suspected Nero had something to do with a fire in 64 AD which destroyed a lot of buildings in Rome. The fire cleared more than 200 acres in the city center which Nero then appropriated and built his own Golden Palace. 

After Nero's death, his palatial home, Domus Aurea, was torn down. Some sites have been excavated. We did not visit, but I understand you can. Andrea told us that Nero was famed to have a room that turned on a great column using hydraulic power and that archaeologists recently located the column. 

So while Nero's mansion was built for the pleasure of the elite, the colosseum built in its place was for the pleasure of the public.  

Shows didn't run every day, but when they did, they followed a rough schedule of fights between animals in the morning, executions in the afternoon, and fights between gladiators in the evening. Sometimes executions were scheduled as death by animals or death by gladiator.

What's What in the Arena

We learned gladiators did not always fight to the death as portrayed in the movies. Betting on gladiator fights was a profitable business, and as such, it was more profitable to keep gladiators alive. 

However, enough people died in the arena that one gateway was labeled Porta Libitinaria or the Gateway of Death. The morgue was on the other side.

Animals and gladiators were held in a series of enclosures under the arena floor. You can see them below. The archway on the other side of the arena floor is the door through which the victor processed.

When it was time for their fight, each would be raised by slaves using pulleys to raise a segment of flooring and lower a ramp.

The emperor would sit in the section with the stripes and the senators would sit in a section such as this one that has been rebuilt.

The entire stadium which held up to 70,000 people could be covered as depicted in the diagram below.

From the colosseum, you can see the school where enslaved people were trained to be gladiators. Behind the tree in the center, you can see ruins of the excavated site.

From the Colosseum, one can see Circo Massimo in the distance. This is where ancient Roman chariot racing took place. While we were there it was used for horse racing with hurdles, but it is used for concerts as well. The Rolling Stones played there for a 50th-anniversary tour in 2014.

The Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, and Arch of Constantine are visible as well.

3 Little Life Lessons 

• When there is a disconnect between your inside and your outside or your intuition and your automatic reaction, follow your intuition.
• When it's hot and the dress guidelines say 'no shoulders or knees showing,' wear a long skirt or dress.
• The colosseum schedule of events has threads of similarity to our schedule of entertainment and daily news, two thousand years later.