Saturday,
August 11, 2007
Colosseum
Survives 2000 Years of Vissitudes
The
ANNOTICO Report
Empires
build Monuments to reflect their Greatness. Conquerors of those Empires attempt
to destroy those Monuments to debase or even eradicate all significant signs of
the previous Regime.
Despite
the Invasions of Rome by the Visgoths, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, the Gauls,
the Celts, the Germanic Mercenaries Rebels, etc, The
Colosseum remained relatively intact, although the
Italians have dubbed the Colosseum "Swiss
cheese" because it has so many holes.
Some bricks are
missing because the builders needed them to attach their scaffolding in order
to build higher up. Some are the result of Excavation
Other gaps are the result of vandalism.
Greedy visitors
removed some bricks to get to the metal beams underneath and scavenge bits
of the material to make weapons.
Damage came from
Earthquakes in 442 AD, but the greatest damage came in the 15th and
16th centuries, when it was used as a defacto quarry by various Popes, who recycled the
travertine blocks for buildings elsewhere
THE queue outside
the Colosseum is long and winding, but with aching
feet and the July sun burning, waiting for an hour or so to get into the
ancient amphitheatre does not seem an option.
A few metres away, young Italians dressed as gladiators and Roman
legionnaires are having their picture taken by an enthusiastic tourist. Surely,
this is a sight no visitor to
As I reluctantly
join the queue, a young Englishman who has been rounding up English-speaking
tourists desperate to have a look inside the Colosseum,
saves the day and promptly hands them over to an Italian guide.
The lucky few
include a couple from Birmingham, a guy from Oregon, a few Aussies, an elderly
man with a baseball cap saying "Ireland" and a few Germans who
couldn't find a tour in their own language.
The guide
promises a 45-minute tour of the remains of the arena that once staged deadly
gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights, as the guidebook puts it.
But before anyone
has time to wonder how on earth they're going to see the whole thing in such a
short time, he is ushering the group up steep stairs and around the viewing
areas as if they were running for their lives.
Commissioned by
Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD, the Colosseum became
Admission was
free for everyone, the guide reminds his group, after charging 10 ($16) a head
for the tour. But food and drink could be bought from vendor stalls.
Those among us
with rumbling stomachs are certainly wishing those glorious food stalls were
still around in the 21st century.
In the ancient
days, male visitors were allowed to sit close to the arena to watch the deadly
games, but the women spectators had to stand and watch from the balconies at
the top of the building.
The gladiators
were usually slaves, prisoners or condemned criminals.
Very rarely were
they professional fighters.
I can almost see
Russell Crowe's character from the Ridley Scott movie, Gladiator, and can imagine the
thousands of Romans cheering.
It was the emperor
who decided whether the loser should be spared or killed by a
simple thumbs up or down.
They didn't like
cheats, so the Romans introduced referees, men in black togas and masks, who
would prod and punch the defeated gladiators to check whether they were
actually dead. If they weren't, the referees would finish them off with a
hammer.
It was just as
brutal for the animals. Elephants would fight bulls or a pair of lions might
attack each other. Children standing in alcoves around the arena often whipped
the animals, making them aggressive enough to fight.
"It was very
similar to the bullfighting today in
Excavation work
has unearthed the remains of the caverns underneath the destroyed floor of the
arena. But it's not just from there that a few bricks are missing.
The Italians have
dubbed the Colosseum "Swiss cheese" because
it has so many holes. Some of the gaps in the brown brickwork are deliberate.
The builders needed them to attach their scaffolding in order to build higher
up. Other gaps are the result of vandalism.
Greedy visitors
removed the bricks to get to the metal beams underneath and scavenge bits of
the material to make weapons.
"You can
feel the hole inside the brickwork, where the metal has been taken out,"
the guide says, asking some of the group to come forward to put their hands
into the cavity.
The uneven shape
of the building, however, has other reasons as well, as the helpful guide
explains.
In 442 AD, the Colosseum was damaged in an earthquake and, in the 15th and
16th centuries, its ruins were used as a defacto
quarry by various Popes, who recycled the travertine blocks for buildings
elsewhere.
That gave the Colosseum its characteristic shape, now on every postcard.
But before anyone
has time to wonder whether the building is really safe to wander around, the
tour has come to an end.
And while the
group needs time to take a deep breath from the heat, the running around and
all the information, the guide is off for his next 45-minute show.
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