Thursday, 5/5/11

Rome's Colosseum was originally called the Ampitheatre Flavium built by Vespasian between 72 and 80AD where Spartacus had soldiers squashed to death. When it was inaugurated during Titus' reign with a bloody fight between gladiators and wild beasts that lasted several long weeks. It was composed of 5 floors and was built on top of a swamp, becoming a marvelous feat of architecture because its enormous weight was on artificial supports. It was covered in marble and could hold 80,000 spectators. At its prime, 5000 animals a day were slaughtered, nearly making some animal species extinct. The emperors and patricians had special boxes reserved for them and there were marble seats on all floors. The Roman housewives were restricted to the 5th floor only. The Vestal Virgins were seated with the Emperor.
The Colosseum was composed of Doric, Ionian and Corinthian columns to add a variety of styles. At the bottom were 14 narrow and dark corridors for the animals which were led in the dark by an oil lamp to the arena. Murderers were fed to the lions here. Petty crime offenders were offered a sword and became hunters of wild animals in the arena with the survivors being freed. In 217AD fire destroyed the Colosseum when lightening struck a pole, spread to the canvas canopies, then to the limestone, bricks and marble. You cannot put water on marble to put out fire because it'll break up; so they needed sand, which was further away. It was rebuilt 5 years later.
The night before the battles the soldiers were given a free dinner; their "last supper" before the fight. Gladiators drank wine mixed with water, honey and pepper which was said to increase their skill. The best gladiators were always left handed. At the entrance to the arena the gladiators saluted Caesar. Once the Colosseum was flooded to perform a sea battle with 19,000 gladiators and only 50 survived! There were 3 types of fights:1. to the first injury, 2. to their death with a chance of a pardon, and 3. to their death without a pardon. Some gladiators rode chariots, the German ones carried a shield called Minunomus and Secretaurus. The art of gambling and bookkeepers started here with betting on the outcomes of the fights.
The act of throwing Christians to the animals is a misconception. The Bishop of Antioch was the only Christian that was killed in the Colosseum which diminshed the power of the emperor. The second Christian was killed by the spectators because he protested the fight and the public was enraged; they enjoyed the fights.
Emperor Comodos was said to be the most brutal of all and at age 15 trained to be a gladiator. He spent 5 hours daily in the gym training. He was invincible because he was left handed, trained and he broke the arms of his opponents before the fight! In 1905 an underwater exploration under Mussolini revealed animal carcases and gold.
The first tiny village at the top of Paletine Hill in 750BC was the foundation of Rome. It grew from this sheepherding village to a community, to a monarchy, a republic, a dictatorship and then an empire. The center of Rome is the Forum and is the best archeological area around. The first Temple built to a human, not a god, was dedicated to Caesar. It was called Ara Di Cesare. He is buried there and people still place flowers on his grave. The layers of history are on top of each other. Rome is like a lasagne with another layer always below you. The Tiber River flooded every year and covered up the dwellings; thereby raising the city levells with the old ruins buried beneath the silt. Not until the late 1800s did they build a stone riverbank to halt the floods. Arches were built to honor battlefield triumphs. The Arch of Constantine is the first great surviving triumphal arch and was built in 315AD by the Senate in honor of his defeat of the pagan Maxentius in 306AD. There are intricate carvings and reliefs showing victories of earlier Antonine rulers, but nothing specific of Constantine's victories. It marks an important time of great change in history with the acceptance of Christianity. Constantine didn't ban paganism, but espoused Christianity himself. His mother, Helen, was already a Christian when he was in a battle against Maxentius and had a vision of a cross appearing in the heavens with the words "In this sign shall you conquer". He believed and added a cross to all of his soldiers' armor and defeated Maxentius. He allotted the Christians land on the outsides of the city to build their churches because he didn't want to upset the pagans. Just before his death he was baptized, but he is important for his recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Arch of Titus, just outside of the Colosseum is the second great surviving triumphal arch. It is in surprisingly good repair because it was inside the private castle of the Frangipani family during the Middle Ages and was protected from the Ottoman raids. It was constructed of marble and travertine and is an important, but sad, landmark for the Jews. It celebrates Titus' victory over the Jews when he completely destroyed the Jerusalem Temple and carried off their holy treasures to Rome. This expelled the Jews from colonized Judea and started the Jewish Diaspora over Europe. The relief on the arch displays a victory parade through Rome with the Emperor in a chariot lead by 4 horses pulling the Jewish treasures, a cross and a menorah among them. Titus is crowned with Victory coming down from the heavens. The wings represent their victory. The people displayed show 2 social bases: one has a bare back which is the common man and the second is wearing a toga to represent the senators. Several other temples in various stages of ruin are nearby. The Temple of Romulus, son of an emperor from the 4th century AD; it is not Romulus, founder of Rome, is here. The Temple has the original bronze Roman door swith massive hinges et inside an ornate entryway and is one of the few original doors still in existence. This Romulus was considered to be the protector of your dwelling and today they display him in a round shape above their doorways. The Temple of Antonio and Faustius built in 175AD was dedicated to his wife. The building is surprisingly in good shape with all of its column still standing. You can see the groove in the stone where the Christians tried to be pull the Temple down with ropes. They gave up and it was transferred into a church similar to the Pantheon.
The House of the Vestal Virgins was built to house the consecrated young women who tended the flame in the Temple of Vesta and used in the arena. The virgins were 6 girls of patrician families chosen by their fathers at age 6 and served their time for 30 years. Given this honor they must remain chaste and were considered to be holy and were among Rome's most venerated citizens. If they misplaced their virginity, they were buried alive. Their amorous partner was just flogged to death. Inside their temple was a colonnade with gardens and statues of the virgins wearing robes. They were the only ones allowed to sit next to the emperor at the arena and were worshipped as half goddesses.They received a salary monthly which was unheard of in that time for a female. They were powerful; could pardon prisoners. They also asked the emperor for more brutal fights in the Colosseum.
The first temple built and dedicated to Caesar is Ara Di Cesare. He is buried here and people still bring flowers. It is within the city walls and is the center of the Forum. This is unusual because in ancient Rome all of the cemetries were outside the city walls to prevent diseases from spreading. The wall around ancient Rome was 12 miles long. The prototype of the temple was the same shape as the Roman hat.