Rome - Colosseum, Roman Forum
We didn't manage to wake up until noon today
because of some Jet-Lag issues... However once up we headed out to see the
Colosseum... The building was completed 80AD at which point Emperor Titus
declared 100 days of games at which over 5000 animals were killed.
Each arch around the outside was an entrance for a different social class... Each archway had a number and the people would know which numbered archway they were to use...
Similarly each family in Rome had its own seating area inside... Their family name was carved on their assigned seats... The Emperor and senators had the best seats in the house right down in the first row of seating... The lower the social class you were the higher up you sat in the colosseum. Woman and Slaves were forced to stand at the very back and top.
The floors of the arena were made of wood... Underneath they were hollow so that they could raise animals, people, or sets up from underneath. There was a series of tunnels and pulley systems that were used to do this... The wooden floor was covered with sand... Incidentally the word for sand was arena...
The whole outside of the colosseum was once covered in marble... however it was looted as some point and the marble was used in creating many of the various churches in Rome... In all the upper archways there were marble statues, however these were all destroyed because they were considered blasphemous as some of them depicted the ancient gods...
After the Colosseum we headed to the ancient imperial forum... Most of it has been slowly excavated over the years as it was buried... The Roman Forum at one time was considered to be the most important area in Rome... It was filled with temples to the various gods etc. However with the rise of Christianity they felt that the main focus of Romes people should be the church so they attempted to destroy the temples... Some of the temples however were much to strong to destroy so they were converted into churches...
This area was also the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated and later cremated...
Later that evening we headed to the Piazza Navona which is like a huge market with fountains and buskers and stuff... We had dinner here at a little restaurant called L Cantuccio. Nat had some tasty Lobster... Again we received free drinks with our desert!
Each arch around the outside was an entrance for a different social class... Each archway had a number and the people would know which numbered archway they were to use...
Similarly each family in Rome had its own seating area inside... Their family name was carved on their assigned seats... The Emperor and senators had the best seats in the house right down in the first row of seating... The lower the social class you were the higher up you sat in the colosseum. Woman and Slaves were forced to stand at the very back and top.
The floors of the arena were made of wood... Underneath they were hollow so that they could raise animals, people, or sets up from underneath. There was a series of tunnels and pulley systems that were used to do this... The wooden floor was covered with sand... Incidentally the word for sand was arena...
The whole outside of the colosseum was once covered in marble... however it was looted as some point and the marble was used in creating many of the various churches in Rome... In all the upper archways there were marble statues, however these were all destroyed because they were considered blasphemous as some of them depicted the ancient gods...
After the Colosseum we headed to the ancient imperial forum... Most of it has been slowly excavated over the years as it was buried... The Roman Forum at one time was considered to be the most important area in Rome... It was filled with temples to the various gods etc. However with the rise of Christianity they felt that the main focus of Romes people should be the church so they attempted to destroy the temples... Some of the temples however were much to strong to destroy so they were converted into churches...
This area was also the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated and later cremated...
Later that evening we headed to the Piazza Navona which is like a huge market with fountains and buskers and stuff... We had dinner here at a little restaurant called L Cantuccio. Nat had some tasty Lobster... Again we received free drinks with our desert!
Posted: Sat - July 23, 2005 at 11:42 AM
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Published On: Aug 21, 2005 09:55 AM
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Published On: Aug 21, 2005 09:55 AM