Roman Colliseum

"Well, now we have seen one of the most recognizeable sites in the world - The Colliseum of Rome. I have to admit, it didn't disappoint. There was more than than I thought there would be and it was bigger than I had pictured. Some tiers are basically completely gone, etc. but it is still amazing to stand inside it and ponder the architecture, the size, and the history that happened here. 

I have seen so many pictures and have seen it used in so many movies, and read about it that it was kind of awe inspiring just to think I was actually here looking at the real thing. On big "game" days it was filled with between 50 to 80 thousand people. It was free and open to one and all of the citizens. The number and regularity of events depended on the status of the royal coffers. Thr rulers decided it was worth the expense to entertain the public. Maybe politics haven't changed all that much.

Just like today's sport stadiums, the Colliseum had elite seating - big box for the emperor, boxes complete with names in the stone for the senators, VIP seating for dignitaries, etc. One difference I noted was that special seating here as well as VIP treatment in some other famous sites like the Roman Forum was for artists, writers, philosophers, sculptors, and others. The top two tiers (read "nosebleed seats") where the common folk sat is the most obliterated. Sadly, much of the damage is not due to age and weather, but pilphering for building materials.  Of course that ended a long time ago.

Everything in this oval was under the floor of the games. Where the gladiators fought, and all types of contests took place was on a floor over top of this area. They had lever and pulley systems to take animals up and release them through the floor. There were underground passages for fighters to use so they could avoid the public (read groupies).

One of the popes had a Christian cross placed at the second level.

A stone-throw away from the Colliseum is the Arch of Titus. Interestingly, part of what is depicted inside the arch is the Romans taking the Israelites as slaves when they destroyed Jerusalem and carrying off religious relics from the Jewish temple. Many of the captured Jews were the slaves used to build the Colliseum. You can imagine the manpower that was utilized when you find that it was completed in 8 years.