"As Long As The Colosseum Stands, Rome Will Stand"

"Even when they have been felled, let along when they are still standing and fighting, they never disgrace themselves.  And suppose a gladiator has been brought to the ground, when do you ever see one twist his neck away after he has been ordered to extend it for the death-blow?"  Cicero

The apartment came with a concierge, Claudia, who proved to be invaluable.  She got us tickets for key places, and set up a couple of tours with Cecilia, who turned out to be in the top tier of guides we’ve ever had.  (More on those tours to come).  

A note to those inspired by this blog to head to Rome – you need to buy your tickets in advance for a specific entry time.  (Add sentence ON HOW FAR IN ADVANCE TO BUY).  There is a more costly way to get in by showing up and paying higher prices to join a tour, but why bother – if you are going to Rome, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out when to go.

Claudia secured us 9am tickets for the Colosseum, and then 10am tickets to what is confusingly called “Arena entry,” which actually gives entry to the sights next door to the Colosseum, both the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.

The Colosseum took us 20 minutes or so to walk to.  The line for entry was non-existent, so we went right in.  There isn’t much to see on the first level after entry, so the key is to head upstairs, either getting your stair workout in by climbing, or taking an elevator.  We took the stairs.  (I couldn’t have done it without the knee replacement surgery in May, so thank you Dr. Azer, even though you won’t be reading this blog.)

Then you work your through an exhibit of ancient artifacts from the many excavations at the Colosseum, all with good English write-ups next to the Italian descriptions.  

Eventually we made it to the main event – we went out to the terrace which is immediately crowded with people getting their first (spectacular) views from the highest level people are allowed.  As you work your way clockwise around, the immediate crush to get the Instagram photo thins way out, and there are easier access to excellent views the rest of the way.

This is my third time to the Colosseum (and to Rome. . .more later).  But I think I got the most out of this visit.  In 1984 I was 22 years old and I was training/hitchhiking around Europe for my first trip ever overseas – I had been to Canada on my motorcycle a couple times, but that’s not exactly overseas.  Anyhow, I was too blown away to fully comprehend it all.

The second time was 2007 with the family, and since the girls were ages 14, 12, and 10, I was more focused making sure they were having a great time.  Plus, well, read this blog post to see how I managed to get our worst tour guide ever.

It’s a remarkable structure, built to hold 50,000 spectators.  Built at peak Pax Romana in AD 80, it is the most representative structure of the great era of Rome.  That’s taking nothing away from the stunning Pantheon, but to Colosseum sums up emperors, gladiators, chariots, thumbs-up/thumbs-down.

(Editor: I haven’t been in many of your posts this trip, but I will say “peak Pax” is pretty powerful alliteration.  Writer: Thank you, and sorry you’ve not been a major factor, we were so busy on this trip I scarce can do it justice, much less focus on my strange humor.)

It’s amazing to remember that one of the primary purposes of the Colosseum was to making death a spectator sport.  The Colosseum was made when the Romans put two semicircular theaters together to creat a four story high, six acre mega-stadium.

The three lower stories are a series of open arches with half columns.  The arches are stacked one atop the other, and columns line up as well, making for a visually arresting sight. The exterior is Travertine marble that took 200 ox drawn wagons going back and forth every day for four years just to bring the stone from Tivoli to the job site.

Only one third of the original Colosseum remains, as earthquakes destroyed a small portion, but otherwise the precut stone was taken during the Middle Ages and Renaissance eras for other buildings.

There were an estimated 250 amphitheaters in the Roman Empire, but this is the biggest and best of them all.  Carol and I have seen other Roman amphitheater (such as in Verona this spring), but nothing else comes close to the massive size of the Colosseum.

By the way, the hallways leading to the seats were called “vomitoriums.”  At the end of the day’s spectacle, the Colosseum would “vomit” out the people, giving us the English word which is a synonym for “college party.”  It’s estimated that a full house could exit in just 15 minutes, which is as long as it takes to travel ten feet in your car when leaving a football game at Giants Stadium or whatever FedEx Field is called now.

Anyhow, after we traveled around the second story, gawking at the views, taking selfies and non-selfies, we came to the view of the Arch of Constantine, which is currently. . .wait for it. . .under scaffolding!  (Yea!)

We then spent a short, desultory time in the gift shop before trying to leave.  First, we headed to where we came up, which meant we had to thread our way through people going through the exhibits before heading out into the arena.  Then, after we got down, the route to actually exit is the most circuitous route possible.  We made right turns, left turns, and nearly ended up on the floor of the Colosseum (btw, you can tour the floor, where they show you trap doors and where they kept the lions before unleashing them on gladiators.

At one point the exit signs point through another viewpoint crowded with people.  Then, where it’s chained off, you have to ask a guard to let you out.  But even that didn’t mean we were out.  It’s probably the weirdest, least logical exit of a major site I’ve ever seen.

(Editor: Wow, you’re really fixated on the whole exit strategy, aren’t you.  Writer: It was kind of funny.  Basically the Hotel California on steroids.)