JK'ing Around in Europe: Rome Part 3: Colosseum (et al.)

After nearly succumbing to heatstroke at Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, we headed down the street towards Rome's best-known landmark, the Colosseum. Everyone knows this thing is big (it says it in the name!) but I really wasn't prepared for the sheer scale of it, or how central it is in the downtown core. It covers nearly 6 acres, and could seat 50,000-80,000 people.

I wanted to see how this stacked up against other well-known and large stadiums. Here are some comparisons!

Skydome - capacity 54,000 (am I the only one who really can't bring myself to call it anything else?)
Air Canada Centre - 19,800
Wembley Stadium (the UK's largest stadium) - 90,000
Beijing National Stadium (ie the Bird's Nest from the Beijing Olympics) - 80,000

The largest stadium in the world (this was honestly shocking to me) holds 150,000 people (nearly 50,000 more than the second largest stadium!) and is a football (soccer) stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.

But keep in mind, the Colosseum was built around 70 AD. I can't imagine what an awe-inspiring sight it must have been for the people in those times. Part of it has collapsed over the years, most noticeably after an earthquake in the 1300's, but it's still standing. And yet my 2 year old smartphone is starting to break....

Anyways, back to the Colosseum. The audio guide that we listened to pointed out the three levels of arches that can be seen, and that the columns between the arches become more ornate as you go up. Plain Doric columns at the ground level, with Ionic columns in the middle and fancy Corinthian columns at the top. The Colosseum was held together without mortar, using metal clamps instead. You wouldn't have been able to see the arches from the inside, as it was clad in marble.

The stage to the left is not original, but gives an idea of the level of the floor, which was usually covered in a thick layer of sand. The walls to the right of the picture are the underground passages, more on them later.

Original marble seating

Artist's rendition of the inside of the Colosseum and what the stands would have been like. Taken from one of the panels at the Colosseum.

I think most people know this, but the Colosseum was used to entertain the people, and also as a way for the emperors to show their power off to the masses by displaying slaves, animals, and goods from the farthest reaches of the empire. Apparently there were spectacles all day, and most people brought their own food and drinks there (in the picture above you can see people grilling in the stands). There have been dice and other gambling items excavated that show people played games in the stands. There is even graffiti carved in the original surfaces that date back to Roman times.
The gladiator combats are most famous spectacles from the Colosseum, and apparently (although I've found sources that question this) they used to be able to flood the ampitheatre and stage mock sea battles! Once they put in the passageways under the stage floor to allow dramatic entrances and exits up to the stage floor using elevators (!) they would have lost the ability to flood it.

As the Roman empire fell and buildings were no longer maintained, people began to plunder the statues, marble cladding, and iron clamps from the building. After the south wall collapsed in the 1300s, people took the stones for building materials. Coming from such a young country, Justin and I always get such a kick out of this idea (think back to the man who used a piece of the abbey's carved stone cross for a gravestone for his son, or farmers stealing pieces of Hadrian's Wall for their farmhouses). Apparently the steps at St. Peter's Basilica are partially made from Colosseum stone!

Which dovetails neatly with the fact that, besides tourism, the main use of the Colosseum these days is for religious ceremonies. I learned from one of the panels that on Good Friday, the Pope does the Stations of the Cross in the ampitheatre. John Paul II used to carry the cross himself until he was too elderly and unwell to do so.

The cross in the picture above is said to be in memory of the Christian martyrs thrown to the lions, although there's not strong evidence that this ever actually happened. Our guide suggested this was the place where the emperor sat, and where the gladiators would give their famous salute "Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant" ("Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you") although sadly that may not have happened either. Oh well, why wreck a good story with facts?

There were two significant sites visible from inside the Colosseum. One is the Arch of Constantine, which was built in 315 AD. Constantine had it built to celebrate his victory over Maxentius (I presume the same one who had the large former Basilica/current stage in the Roman Forum named after him). We just saw it from afar, but it was very pretty.

This next structure was the Temple of Venus and Roma, and our audio guide pointed it out from the upper floor of the ampitheatre. It was built in the 120's AD and was dedicated to two gods (unusual to have them share a temple, usually gods and goddesses got their own); Venus Felix (Venus who brings good fortune) and Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome). Although the temple has long since been looted, it apparently had two huge statues of the two goddesses sitting back to back. Venus looked towards the Colosseum (bringing luck to the combatants?) and Roma looked towards the Roman Forum. Their names written together made a pallindrome, since another word for Venus is love, or AMOR.

That was it for the big city centre attractions - we hopped on a bus and headed to our next stop. But the Colosseum stayed on our minds, for some reason...

In case it's not clear, this is not the Colosseum. But it sure confused me for a second!

(Edit - before I published this post I found out that this is the Teatro Marcellus. The Emperor Augustus built a theatre on this spot, which in modern times has had apartments added to the top floor. Imagine living in a tiny version of the Colosseum? I wonder what the rent is like.)

We saw a few neat things on this bus ride. Only in Rome have we seen streets being repaved with cobblestone after maintenance. I have to say I'd never considered how they do it!

And this is the Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), which was built to celebrate the first king over a unified Italy. Before the time of this king, the different areas in Italy were basically independent city-states (even today, a resident of Sicily is more likely to call themselves a Sicilian rather than an Italian - unless an international sports team is playing somewhere!). We didn't plan to go see it, but our bus stopped right in front, so I grabbed this picture! It looks huge and very ornate.

We finished the night with some drinks and dinner, and found out how people keep cool when the nights don't drop below 20-25*C. Nice patio fans and misting tents!

Justin enjoying his evening coffee

On our last morning we crisscrossed the city, soaking in the sights. We decided to start by walking up another one of the Seven Hills of Rome, Aventine Hill, for a very special view.

This panorama was lovely, but it wasn't what we were after

Nor was this (but I had bought the dress the night before and was very excited to wear it!)

Also very pretty, but not our destination

We're here!

Wait, why is everyone lining up in front of this closed door?

It's a nice door I guess, but a shame that it's so scratched around the keyhole. Wonder why that is?

I think I'll look through it...

Hey, what's that?

Focusing....

Wow!

This is the Knights of Malta Keyhole, and it is a very cool little spot in Rome. The Knights of Malta are the world's oldest surviving chivalric order (like the Knights Templar, or the Knights of the Round Table), and are a sovereign group, meaning they have their own passports, currency and stamps! (Wish I'd known that while we were there, that would have been an awesome stamp and coin to collect!). This building is their embassy (so Rome has three sovereign capitals: Italy, Vatican City and the Knights of Malta). They do a lot of missionary and medical work, but they exist to protect the Catholic Church. And I don't know if that's the entire reason that this private garden is aimed directly at St. Peter's Basilica, but it's a very neat thing to see. I wish I could have taken a lot more time to take more pictures, but people behind were wanting their turn, so I'll leave you with some great ones I found online, and leave the rest of the day for Justin to talk about!