Tuesday - December 30, 2014 - The Forum and the Colosseum

Photos of the Forum - Tuesday - December 30, 2014

Photos of the Colosseum - Tuesday - December 30, 2014

Random Photos of Rome - Tuesday - December 30, 2014

December 30, 2014

by John

            How can you describe some place that is massive? A place that was built by man. A place that has the ability to make you feel small in an instant. A place so powerful, yet peaceful at the same time. A place that was once the busiest place in all of Rome.

            It was early in the day; we had planned to meet our tour guide by nine and had left the hotel by eight. The entire walk to the Coliseum only took us half an hour, and the sun was just peaking above the buildings. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was the Coliseum: as we rounded the bend of the road there was what appeared to be a wall looming at the end of the street. There were towering apartments that obscured most of our view. However, as we got closer I realized that it was the Coliseum. From our approach, we saw the reinforced side of the Coliseum, for me the telltale sign.

            We met in in front of the Arch of Constantine where we met our tour guide, Francesco, who said that we were welcome to call him anytime that started with a Fran in it. We began our tour with the Roman Forum. As we progressed it started to sink in just how massive the Roman Forum was. 

In one area stood the remains of what appeared to be wall. It actually was the remains of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, once spanning well into the walkway, which ran down the middle of the forum, a place for the Roman people to hear the news from their political leaders. The height of the arches and roof covering of the basilica easily loomed over the Temple of Venus and Roma, which stood on a hill overlooking the Coliseum. It was enormous in size. Additionally some of the forum contained bathhouses with spa where the Roman people were able to bathe and have simple day-to-day conversations.  Just simply imagine the ability to have a conversation while in a spa. It was estimated that something close to 10000-15000 people were in the forums at a given point. Sadly, however, as we progressed further we learned that over the years most of the forum was destroyed and materials recycled. The marble was stripped and melted into limestone, and the iron supports recycled. As a result, less than 1-10% of some of the ruins actually remained. However enough columns and walls remained to allow us to envision the structures. Francesco had with him pictures of what the original buildings could have looked like.

            Following the Forum we made a quick visit to the outside of the Capitoline Museum, and following that we returned to the Coliseum. Once the center of entertainment for the Roman people, it was originally designed to house five floors (not including the underground) for spectators and was once able to host navel battles. 

Before the underground of the Coliseum was constructed, the arena was flooded to allow navel battles. These battles however did not always consist of fighting but also of drama productions, which was interesting to find out. Interestingly the word “arena” came from the Spanish word for the sand used to soak up the blood of the combatants. Although it is hard to see from a distance, the Coliseum, like many other Roman buildings, are covered in holes. The iron supports inside the stone were removed from the holes to be recycled. We also had a tour of the underground which wasn’t as impressive as it sounds. Most of the old tunnels were either collapsed or were inaccessible.