Orchestra Italiano | Part 3, A Truly Colossal Post

Monday, April 1, 2024: Amphitheatrum Flavium

Back in BCE times, good old Emperor Nero built his Domus Aurea (Golden House) with an accompanying private artificial lake in Rome's high rent district near the Roman Forum. After Nero's suicide, populist Emperor Vespasian had Nero's exclusive lake filled-in and constructed a massive 50,000+ seat amphitheater in its place that he gave over to the public. It was a venue meant to entertain the people with spectacle; gladiatorial matches, executions, animal hunts, and even recreations of famous sea battles. Construction is believed to have begun around year 70 CE and was completed by Vespasian's son and successor, Titus, circa 80 CE. Though not its official name, the amphitheater came to be known as the Colosseum in reference to the thirty foot tall bronze Colossus of Nero that once stood near its entrance. (Even in death, Nero cast a long shadow.)

The Colosseum is massive and an impressive icon of the ancient world that survives from the first century. Much of the south side of the outer wall collapsed in a 1349 earthquake. Modern angled stonework was used to reinforce the broken edges of the collapsed outer wall and is visible in this picture.

The outer wall is built in three tiers, each with a distinctive column order: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. As depicted here, each arched gallery would have displayed a sculpted figure.

Made-up quote of the day: "Oops, forgot my gladiator sword!"

Roman numerals can still be seen inscribed above each entrance. (Zoom in, they're there.) There were a total of eighty numbered gates that allowed 50,000 people to find their seats in as little as 20 minutes. The Colosseum was built for efficiency and with careful thought to the flow of people within.

Holes in the walls of the Colosseum show where marble facades were once attached before being scavenged and incorporated into other structures.

Izzy and The Bear, two gladiators of the orchestra!

A complex network of underground catacombs, cages, and vertical shafts existed beneath the arena floor. Known as the hypogeum, it was added by Emperor Domitian, the third and final Flavian emperor patron of the Colosseum, son of Vespasian and younger brother of Titus. Elevator platforms allowed caged animals or set pieces to be hoisted directly up through the wooden floor from beneath.

Though it looks like it would have been a great place to get a sunburn, the Colosseum reportedly had a retractable awning roof that could have shaded spectators and kept them dry during rain storms. The portion of white seating visible just right of center is a reconstructed section meant to show how the original seating would have looked throughout the arena.

In some places, the ruined arena appears almost melted and amorphously structured, but the crisp brick lines of the nearest columns still survive centuries later.

At times, the Colosseum floor was reputedly flooded to stage mock sea battles. Addition of the hypogeum by Domitian would have ended that practice.

It is difficult to conceive of how mammoth this ancient ruin truly is, even while standing within it.

From the upper levels of the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine can be seen with the Palatine Hill behind it.

Much of the elegant marble used to finish surfaces in the Colosseum was stripped away and reused in other buildings after the amphitheater experienced centuries of disuse.

Stick with me, babe. I'll take you places!

The Arch of Constantine and the Palatine Hill.

It is a complex, glorious ruin. Like so many things, it would be fascinating to go back in time and see it in its prime. But this is why we have imaginations to exercise. I also don't think that the gladiatorial matches would have been to my taste anyway.

Photo by Kristy.

The only wild animal loose in the Colosseum that day was a Flying Bear.

A translation of the Christian plaque placed on the Colosseum in 1750 reads:

"The Flavian Amphitheatre, distinguished by triumphs and spectacles, dedicated to the gods of the heathen in unholy reverence, purified of unclean superstition by the blood of martyrs. In the year of the Jubilee of 1750, tenth of his pontificate, lest memory of their courage should lapse, Benedict the Fourteenth, Pontifex Maximus, undertook to have rendered in marble the memorial painted on the whitewashed wall in the year of the Jubilee of 1675 by Clement the Tenth, Pontifex Maximus, and effaced under the assault of time."

Or, put in another way, "Yeah, it's a pagan construct, but we should maintain it because a bunch of Christians died here."

Most modern sources that I found seemed to dispute the commonly accepted notion that Christians were martyred in the Colosseum. This, despite the "Christians versus the lions" being a favorite metaphor used to describe PhD defenses by faculty of my graduate program. But it does reflect the broader trend of the Catholic church adopting the structures of imperial Rome and making them their own. Had they not, many fewer examples of these ancient marvels would have survived to the modern era.

From this angle, the modern brickwork used to stabilize the edge of the collapsed outer wall is readily apparent. A closer look suggests that the stabilization was performed while the wall was on the brink of further collapse.

Ludus Magnus.

Across the street from the Colosseum are the ruins of the Ludus Magnus, a training facility and barracks for gladiators that was connected to the hypogeum via subterranean tunnels.

Ludus Magnus.

The ruins of the Ludus Magnus are a prime example of the incongruous coexistence of ancient ruins within the modern city.

After a morning spent exploring ancient Rome, we were famished and began looking for the nearest quality dining establishment. 

So...lessee...Rome... Fish and chips, anyone?