On the Way to the Forum

Rome - A gigantic living museum!

Love the ruins and buildings in Rome!!! Rome is just like a gigantic living museum.!

Coming from North America, we marvel at the numerous spectacular buildings that took years, sometimes decades to build.

We are surprised that developers have not gotten their hands in Rome as there are not a lot of modern buildings.

Ruins and historic buildings everywhere we turned

There are still so many ancient ruins in the area.  Imagine the difference if Rome had allowed a 70 story skyscraper to have been erected next to the Colosseum!










Even though the temperature in the shade reached the high 30 degree centigrade, the lineup to see the Colosseum was very long.   When the going got tough, the tough got going.

As people in the long lineup were wilting under the  relentless hot sun, hustlers waving high priced 'skip-the-line' tickets began to pester the people waiting in line.

 " The Aristocrats skip the lines. Only the phbiens line up." One guide said to his group tour audiences. Another guide shouted, " For only 15 more Euros, you will avoid the lineup and get the benefit of a guide."

 We ignored the touts and persisted.  Finally, after about 20 minutes, we were inside the gate.  Once inside the gate, a second offer came: " An official guided and skip-the-line tour for only 5 more Euros."  I guess our patience paid off and we took the offer. ( It would cost 5.30 Euro to rent the audio guide. So we got a better deal with the 5 Euro offer.)

Our guide told us a few interesting facts about the Colosseum:

1. The stadium is larger than a lot of modern stadiums.  It can comfortably seats 75,000 spectators, which was the number of attendees in some gladiatorial events.

2.  The Colosseum has 80 entrances and the people of Rome of all classes, including women and slaves, could attend the events for free.



 Because of the popularity of these brutal events, the Government issued tickets for entering the Colosseum.


The tickets had three numbers.:
A. The first number showed the gate which the ticket holder could enter.
B. The second number was the level.
C. The third number was the seat number.  These ticket were free!

  They served to boost support for the Emperor from the often restless populace.

The renovated part of the corridors inside the Colosseum

The corridors inside the gates are very modern looking.

 In fact, I would not be surprised  if the Colosseum is allowed to be totally renovated; it could hold a modern sports event.

Inside the Colosseum, Rome, Italy

3. There were two pathways for the gladiators, the entrance and the exit (for transporting the dead gladiators).  The Guide also told us that in order for the games to function in ancient time, a time when machinery did not exist.  Hundreds of slaves were dong the work of electricity in modern times.

Part of the Platform & the Passages Below Where the Slaves Worked During the Games

 These poor souls were toiling in extreme heat and restricted spaces in below ground human powered 'machine rooms'.  They were turning giant turntables of ropes and long wooden spokes to raise wild animals such as lions and rhinos to the surface level platform to face the helpless gladiators.  According to the guide, professionally trained gladiators didn't die.

They were spared because they were simply too expensive to be constantly replaced (killed).  The regular gladiators were untrained and they were from the dispensable slave class, criminals or prisoners of wars.  

4. Is the 'thumb-up thumb-down' gesture from the Emperor true?  The answer is a big NO.  The Guide said the thumb is about the size of your nose.  If no one can see a nose clearly from 200 feet away, then no one would see the Emperor's thumb.  In fact, the Emperor yelled out a specific word to spare the life or kill the defeated gladiator  in a clear, short Latin command.  The scale of the violence and bloodshed could not be imagined by modern men.  Vespasian, of the Flavian family, who built the Colosseum or the Flavian amphi-theatre, had thousands of gladiators and animals killed during the first three months of its inauguration. 

Colosseum at night

When we were inside the Colosseum, we had this overwhelming feeling of its past rushing at us.

 As we were standing at the ground level looking across the Roman Emperor's seat where a Christian cross now stands and annual Good Friday Mass is celebrated, we can almost hear the screams and cries of the dying, the roaring of lions and the howling of wolves.....

The Colosseum is definitely worth a visit. The sheer size and the engineering marvel is something to behold. With an knowledge guide, we have learned so much about ancient Rome.  Boy, are we ever glad that we live in the modern time!

S. & R.T.

Rome, Aug.15, 2012