Colosseo

April 23, 2019

If Museo Ferrari was my brother’s only request, the Colosseum was Mike’s. My family’s not big on guided tours but we knew for Rome we had to join one to fully appreciate the grandeur of the Colosseo and the Vatican (post coming up soon.) We joined the Roman Guy’s Colosseum Underground Tour with Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. All I can say is there’s no other way to see this site! I thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Maura. I still hear her voice in my head when I look at these photos.

“Everydays, everydays, everydays.”
“Romans no preserve nothing.”
“Roma was built like a lasagna.”

Read the captions below for some tidbits of information that I remember from our tour of Il Colosseo, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill!

Watch video recap here.

Can you believe this colosseum is almost 2000 years old? I find that so fascinating. I ‘m sure I’ve already said this in my other posts but imagine all the lives (and deaths!) this monument has witnessed.

We entered through the Gate of Life. This is where the gladiators would enter into the arena for the day’s fights. And if they were lucky enough, leave through.

Directly across was the west gate or the Gate of Death. This is where all the deceased gladiators and animals would be carried out. You definitely do not want to leave that way.

The reason the Colosseum is in bad shape is because, to quote Maura, “Romans no preserve nothing!” Throughout the years, a lot of the material from the colosseum was taken and used for different buildings across Rome. On top of that, it had to weather through a lot of earthquakes.

Restoration works were being done in the underground area at the time of our visit

Maura, our tour guide!

The colosseum was a public and open space so people used to come here, get drunk, sometimes vandalize. It wasn’t until the 70s (or was it the 80s?) that the government started preserving this historical site.

The underground. This is where gladiators would wait for their fights and where animals were kept until they were brought up to the arena. Also where the first aid stations were.

I can imagine the gladiators anxiously waiting in this hall. Must’ve been nerve-racking! The idea of gladiators have been romanticized over the year. Supposedly fighting for glory and recognition but in reality, they were slaves fighting to survive and hopefully someday, earn their freedom.

The bottom of the colosseum used to be filled with sand… to absorb all the blood that would drip down from the wooden floors of the arena 😰

This was their version of an elevator. It took 8 men to maneuver this contraption. They used to bring up all kinds of animals into the arena like elephants (!!), lions, bears, and hippos for staged hunts and animal shows

Scale model of the colosseum

The arena could seat up to 80,000 people!

The games were free for Romans (a way to stave off rebellions) - that’s why there were so many entrances! Anyone could literally walk in.

Bits and pieces salvaged from the colosseum

Believe it or not, they used to flood the colosseum with water for mock naval battles! How they brought in ships is beyond my comprehension but even the act of filling the arena with enough water to sustain the boats is mind boggling! How did they drain it afterwards? What an engineering feat.

“Roma was built like a lasagna” see the layers?

My first Wonder of the World!