Home | Gallery | Travelogue | Write!
Album: By Country | By Date Italy | February 2001 < Prev: The Vatican (again) | Next: Rome to Athens >
Travelogue: By Country | By Date Italy | February 2001  

February 2001 - The Colosseo

Maggie's favorite place

The Colosseum. The place had a wooden floor which was then covered with sand. The wooden platform in the back is at about the right height. The corridors and rooms down below were used as storerooms and as cages for the wild beasts.
The crew Wondering about gladiator fights. They did not come into being with the Colosseum. At first they took place at funerals of particularly important people. Usually gladiators were slaves, prisoners, or other guys without a future. They lived in gladiator schools.
The bottom of the Colosseum No wild animals but this is where they came from. They were brought into the arena only after having been kept for a long time in the dark without food. Maggie, Mark, and Grandma Looking out
Under the stands The place is named after a huge statue that Nero had made of himself. (Nero had an artificial lake for hunting on the site.) Later emperors had the statue refitted with a new head and rededicated it the Sun God. Vespian moved it to the plaza in front of the Colosseum. The Colosseum takes its name from the giant statue (no longer around.)
Emergency hair combing session
Who are those guys?
View of the Forum from the Colosseum. On the left is the Arch of Constantine, made from pieces and parts of old art with the heads replaced. Then Palatine Hill and the entrance to the Forum with the Arch of Titus.