082 all'interno del colosseo

Last week, I finally went inside the Colosseum. Being stupid, I waited in a long line for my free ticket, when I could have walked to the left and gone straight to the entry machines because of my ticket from Palatino.

To be honest, the inside was pretty underwhelming, so I'm glad I didn't pay the 11 euros. Speaking of which, Elisabeth will be pleased to know that some obnoxious tourists that were not American joined my lists! Overheard in the ticket line: "I'm not going to pay 11 euros for a ticket! That's bloody ridiculous... What? The tour's not included? 5 more euros? Just wait until you come to London, you just remember this when you get into all of our museums for free!"

And actually, I don't think that's true - I don't remember any London museums that were free.


(above: view of Via Sacra from inside the Colosseum)

The parts of the Colosseum that I really wanted to see were the foundations and the rooms below the arena, where slaves, gladiators, and wild animals were kept. Unfortunately, this part was inaccessible. You can only walk around the entry level, and then up one flight of stairs to the second tier.

I listened in to some of the tour guides, and heard the usual stories about gladiators and animal fights. During the famed animal fights in the Colosseum - lions, crocodiles, elephants, etc - it wasn't an empty, dusty arena, as depicted in the movies. Instead, the Romans tried to recreate the natural habitats of the animals with trees, brush, and ponds, so the human hunters could hide in trees and surprise the animals, or the tigers could hide in the brush and surprise the humans.

Careful, though - don't confuse this 'good-natured' game with the plain executions. In those cases, the ring was empty except for the condemned thieves/arsonists/criminals, who had been rubbed down with animal blood to make them extra appealing to the lions or tigers, who had been starved. This pretty much ensured a quick and gruesome death.

Also, historically, the Colosseum was free to the middle and upper social classes. The Republic (and then the Empire) also supplied citizens with a free weekly sack of wheat, I suppose to keep morale up. I wish contemporary government supplied more free entertainment and food. All I get these days is a public library that isn't that great, and taxation without representation.



(above: top of Colosseum wall. These stones look quite precarious to me.)