Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Part 2)
I toured the Colosseum just 18 months ago with my Dad and Chris, but I remain in awe of this massive structure. And I enjoyed my visit just as
much this time around.
Dad decided not to accompany us inside the Colosseum, opting instead to watch the Marathon. Katherine and I proceeded inside and immediately faced a brief detour at the ticket office. You might have thought that those in charge would have gotten their ticketing system
down pat, but no. There was considerable confusion among the ticket sellers. Maybe they had a bunch of new recruits at the windows today. We waited in line a long time to buy tickets
and audio guides, and we were misdirected a couple of times and became very frustrated. Then, when we were finally in possession of both tickets and audio guides, we ran into problems with the audio guides. Mine worked for about 3 minutes and then "died." Katherine's guide lasted for about 10 minutes and then hers also stopped worked. Thank goodness we had our guidebooks. The Rick Steves' book, in particular, had a complete walking tour of the Colosseum and we took turns reading from it.
Today was a perfectly beautiful day. The sun was fully out and the air temperature was between 55 and 60 degrees all day. We were very comfortable and enjoyed walking through the Colosseum. We started at the top most level and walked the circumference where the lower classes and slaves would have sat. Although the Colosseum is in ruins, enough of the structure remains that it is quite easy to visualize how the arena worked and where different
classes of people sat. There are also sections that have been
partially reconstructed specifically to give a better sense of what it used to look like 2000 years ago. One quarter of the main floor of the arena has been reconstructed as has the dais where the emperor's throne sat as well as a portion of the marble seating area where the vestal virgins sat.
As amazing as the Colosseum is, it is even more amazing to consider what took place there and how important the games there were to Roman life. Games took place here regularly -- more than 200 days of the year. And about 50,000 people packed the Colosseum to watch them. The games were privately funded spectacles and were intended to showcase the sponsor's wealth and position in Roman society. Animals of all sorts were featured -- the more exotic the better. Executions of criminals and duels between gladiators were standard fare. There were lavish costumes and sets. And there were concealed trap doors from which the competitors and the scenery appeared and then disappeared. In its day, these were the greatest shows on earth.
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