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This activity is accompanied by a worksheet to be completed afterwards.
The Roman Colosseum has been painted, photographed, written of in poetry, featured on posters and visited by peoples from all around the globe. Why does it hold such fascination? Is it because it dominates the city of Rome or because it was the site of so many bloody spectacles? Whatever the reason, it has captured the imaginations of many people for many years. Seldom does a visitor to Rome not spend time at the Colosseum. What the visitor sees is that which remains after several earthquakes and the scavenging of those who had used the fallen materials to build Renaissance Rome.
The structure was begun by Emperor Vespasian in A.D. 72. It was constructed on the site of the artificial lake of Nero's Golden Palace. (more about this on air) When Vespasian died in A.D. 79, it was not finished. His successor and oldest son, Titus, continued the construction and held games to dedicate the incomplete structure in A.D. 80. His brother, Domitian, succeeded him as emperor and finished the amphitheater.
The Flavian Amphitheater is a huge elliptic building four stories high (150 feet). The exterior circumference is 620 by 513 feet with the arena measuring 287 by 180 feet. Estimates of the size of an audience that could have been accommodated range from 45,000 to 50,000. The lower number is more accepted by modern historians. Compare some of the modern sports complexes such as the Astrodome (74,000 spectators), The Superdome (84,000) or in Kentucky, Rupp Arena, a basketball complex that sits 24,000.
The Colosseum was of simple style. Statues added a flourish to the design. Each of the three lower stories created an arcade. Each arcade was divided by columns of a single order- Doric, Ionic or Corinthian. The fourth story was set with Corinthian pilasters and narrow window which gave light into the passage behind the gallery. The material here was also travertine and iron clamps were used to hold the blocks in place.
There were more than 80 entrances. Seventy-six were numbered to correspond to the spectators' tickets. Two were reserved for the emperor and his guests. These led directly to the podium. Two were for the gladiators who always entered in process...much as the matadors at a bull fight or Olympic teams at the opening ceremony. There was one small entrance named the Porta Libitinaria (Libitina was the Roman goddess of death). It was through this door that the bodies of those slain in the arena were carried out to an unmarked grave beyond the walls of the city. These many gates made departure after the spectacles an easy event. Those of you who have attended events that are heavily attended know the difficulties of exiting a stadium or lots. Parking of course was not a problem since Romans walked or were carried in litters to the games. Those who came by litter might be compared to one arriving in a limousine or taxi today. The area around the Colosseum was paved with an outer ring of cobbled slabs of lava. The inner area was paved with travertine. (Travertine was a locally available limestone) The visitor to the arena would then exit from his numbered seat to a numbered landing, down a broad staircase and through the numbered gate through which he had entered. Had he trained his slaves properly, he would find his letter bearers awaiting him.
Students of architecture will be interested to learn that the builders of the Colosseum used many of the same techniques as builders today. They raised the skeleton of the structure with travertine blocks. The skeleton consisted of concentric piers and arches. These rings were linked with a series of connecting walls. Those on the upper floors were of brick and concrete. The lower floor had walls of tufa (volcanic stone) . The vaults were constructed of pumice stone to reduce their weight.
Behind the podium rose tiers of marble seats divided into two main zones. The first was intended for distinguished private citizens. The second was for members of the middle class. Two secondary zones were allocated for other spectators; one to slaves and foreigners and another to women and the poor. These latter ones sat on wooden seats located under a flat-roofed colonnade. The seating arrangement certainly emphasizes the importance of status in Roman society as well as the lack of status of a Roman woman who might attend a spectacle at the arena. (More women of the upper strata of society attended in the late Empire. Only women of dubious reputation or those who didn't care about their reputation attended the early games) One can't help but note, however, that those of lowest status had more comfortable seats. Cold hard marble is far less inviting than wood.
Even the poor and women had protection from rain or sun however. An extensive velarium, a colored awning , could be stretched across the arena. This was raised and lowered by means of pulleys and ropes by a detachment of sailors recruited from warships. Sailors were used since the maneuver was much like raising sails on a ship. No one is absolutely certain of the exact method by which the velarium was hoisted. There are differing theories.
In today's arena, one finds sky boxes where dignitaries gather. In the Colosseum, there was a podium (marble terrace), where the emperor, Pontifex Maximus (high priest), and the Vestal Virgins sat. The Aedile in charge of the games also sat in this place and, in the absence of more noble personages, conducted the games. Underneath the arena was a complex of passages and rooms used for storing stage properties and cages for animals. These were brought up into the arena as they were needed by means of trapdoors and pulleys. The arena could even be flooded to provide a setting for mock naval battles.
Roman gladiatorial games are said to date back to 105 B.C. The Games, as a religious institution, date back much earlier. We know the Etruscans (Etruria is modern day Tuscany, the area around Florence.) forced their prisoners to fight among themselves until the last had fallen. In this fashion they felt they were propitiating the powers of the Underworld. When Romans adopted the customs of gladiatorial games, they abandoned the religious motif. Theirs was merely to satisfy the enormous number of people who occupied Rome. These demanded to be amused, fed and sheltered. The religious tradition did not vanish in toto however. When a gladiator fell, his death would be verified by a blow to his forehead by an attendant dressed as either Charon or Hermes. (See Mythology for their roles in the underworld.) The Pontifex Maximus and Vestal Virgins were usually present to sanctify the games. The emperor himself was considered a demigod who presided over the games.
Daily events would begin with a series of comic, bloodless combat, much like a clown parade at a modern circus. Women, dwarfs and deformed people fought with wooden weapons. A tuba or trumpet, announced the beginning of the main performance. Priests performed the obligatory religious ceremony. A parades of chariots followed. Each carried a contestant dressed in a purple cloak embroidered in gold. A retinue of slaves followed, carrying helmets and weapons. Each contestant left his chariot in front of the emperor's box, saluted the emperor with an outstretched hand and cried out "Ave imperator, morituri te salutant." Others have said the quote is "Ave imperator, morituri te salutamus". It is interesting to note the differences between these two very similar phrases...in the first, each is saying "They who are about to die salute you" meaning that the other man will be the one to die; in the second, each says that we, about to die, salute you. Gladiators were usually condemned criminals or prisoners of war, but there was a strong sense of dignity among them. The latter phrase seems the more likely given this nature. Lesser gladiators march in, poked or shoved by managers if they were a bit reluctant.
During the combat, the following shouts would be heard from the audience: Habet! (That's it!), Hoc habet! (Now, that's it), Iugula! (Kill!), Verbera! (Strike!), Ure! (Burn!). After combat was done, the crowd would signal its will by waving cloths and shouting Mitte (Free him!) with their thumbs raised or Iugula! (Kill him!) with downcast thumbs. There is a difference of opinion among various authors whether the direction of the thumb meant the reverse. Some say that the reverse was true: the thumb turned toward the chest meant "kill him" while the reverse meant "Let him live." When a gladiator fell, he appealed for mercy by throwing away his shield and raising his left hand. If the emperor were present, he would decide whether the man would live or be dispatched to Hades. If he were not present, the victor would make this decision based on the quality of competition his adversary had presented.
Gladiators were of one of four classes. The Samnite was heavily armed with equipment modeled after that of the Samnite warriors subdued by Rome in the early days of the Republic. He carried a sword or lance and a scutum, a shield not unlike the large shield carried by a Roman legionary. His chest was naked but beside his huge helmet, he covered his right arm and fastened massive armor on his left leg. The Thracian was armed with a sic, a short curved sword and a parma, a buckler than might be either square or round. The Myrillo (fisherman) was the third category. He had a fish shaped crest and was customarily chosen to fight the fourth class, the Retarius or Net-Wielder. The Retarius was the most lightly armored or all. His face, head, chest and legs were entirely unprotected. A broad leather belt covered the lower part of his trunk and bound to his left arm, was a heavy shoulder piece. His business was to dart in, evading the Secutor's strokes and once he had entangled the more heavily armed man in his net, he drove home his massive three pronged spear. If his first thrusts were not sufficient to incapacitate the opponent, he could retrieve his spear by means of a cord attached to it and try again.
Lesser contestants were boxers, archers, horsemen, men who fought from chariots and highly trained Bestiarii who only appeared in popular wild beast hunts. These tough professionals were seldom employed during the early stages of the show.
Sources:
The Colosseum, Peter Quennell, Newsweek, New York
Oxford Classical Dictionary
A Day in Old Rome, William Stearns Dais, Biblio-Moser pp.390-397
-- J. Jahnige, 1997
Images created by Fred Pizzaro 1997
This activity is accompanied by a worksheet to be completed afterwards.
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