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We were all really excited to leave for our tour of the Coliseum. We left extra early incase the bus was late. The kids said that the Colliseum was one of the places they were most looking forward to seeing. We booked ahead a few months ago to take a guided tour.
We arrived around 9:00 a.m and our tour was scheduled for 9:40. We sat in the shade of the pillars, bewildered again by the efforts it took to build something this immense. It only took 10 years to build, which seems impossible when considering it's size and the fact that the machines at that time were powered by slaves.
Our tour guide was a soft spoken lady, I'm guessing she was in her 20s. She was nice to listen to. Our first stop was on the main level, looking down into the floor and up at the seats. The richest people sat closest to the arena. This theatre held between 50 and 80 thousand people. Next we visited the bottom level, below what was the floor of the arena (just recently opened for touring). Gladiators and wild animals were kept here before being lifted up to the arena through trap doors in the floor. Our guide explained how dark and scary it would have been down there during the time it was used for gladiators. Tight spaces with tons of slaves working the elevators and other mechanisms to make the shows surprising and entertaining. Exotic animals like crocodiles, elephants, lions, tigers etc... were shipped from Asia to be used on the stage. Our stop on the second level gave us a chance to see a museum showing artifacts from the coliseum, and models of what the coliseum would have looked like when it was first built.
Our final part of the tour was on the very top floor. A beautiful top down view of the Coliseum from one side, and Capitoline Hill on the other. Our guide explained the 3 typical shows that took place on stage. Criminals were killed here, there death public and carried out by animals. She gave the example of an elephant walking across a criminal. The next type of show was a hunt, man hunting a beast. The third was the gladiators. 70% of gladiators were slaves trying to earn their freedom and the other 30% were looking for fame and glory. Sponsors owned their fighters. Gladiators were not often killed because it was a huge financial loss. They were kept alive unless someone agreed to pay for the cost of the gladiator, and the cost of the fight.
Many contributions to the field of wound care came from doctors of gladiators.
We left the Coliseum and hopped on a bus to find a restaurant for lunch. The heat was setting in and we were happy for a little bit of air conditioning in the deli style restaurant. I had the best pasta salad!
We needed to escape the 40 degree temperatures, and remembered Elout's suggestion of visiting St. Clement's Church, both because it is interesting and to help beat the heat.
St. Clements is close to the Coliseum but even the short walk seemed endless in the heat. We moved from one side of the street to the other for shade. The church is not that obvious or impressive from the outside but once we stepped in it was a lovely church with gorgeous mosaics. We sat for a while in the quiet taking some time for prayer.
Underneath the present basilica of St. Clements is the basilica of the fourth century, and under that is the Buildings of the late first century. Under the third layer remains from 64 AD were found, they were destroyed during the fire of Nero and filled in to be used as foundations for new buildings. As we descended we noticed the same earthy damp smell as we did in the Paris catacombs. We could see ancient faded remainders of frescos, large arched naves, alters and old Roman columns. On the lowest level we could hear running water, walking towards the sound we found roman aqueducts still working perfectly.
The religious history of this site goes back to a Mithraic temple but at the end of the first century or beginning of the the second century a room was set aside for Christians to worship in. As time went on the owners of the property (The Clement family) were taken over by Constantine and the area was converted into a church in memory of Pope Clement. The Mithraic religion continued in a brick apartment-house until 395 when it was outlawed. Soon afterward the clergy of San Clemente acquired the area and built on. In 1100 the building was deemed unsafe and a new Basilica was built - the one in use today.
We all loved the experience of being deep in the ground surrounded by ancient history. It was intriguing imagining the early Christians worshiping here.
We were wondering why many buildings in Rome are found so deep. One website we found said an inch of dust falls on Rome every year, and in combination with a high silt content in the ground Rome continues to sink.
As soon as we left the church the heat got the best of us. We crossed the street and climbed some steps into a shady park. In the park is a small concession stand with tables and chairs. Tim went to order drinks, and because the lady in the booth only spoke Italian he ended up getting a few extra things that he didn't even order. There was a couple public fountains used for drinking and cooling down. The boys soaked their shirts and hair. Belia brought water to us and dumped it on our hair and feet. After about an hour it started to thunder. I had a headache from the heat and we decided to sit down at a cafe for a bit hoping the rain and my headache would pass.
We sat under an awning on the street next to the Coliseum. Thunder and lightning continued and the waiter asked if we wanted to sit inside. We said no because it was nice to feel the fresh air. Belia was scared of the thunder and wanted to go inside. It didn't take long and wind gusts with sheets of rain began. Everyone on the patio was making a mad dash to get inside. We found a place to sit in the back of the restaurant. By this point my headache was worse, I took 2 Advil and kept cooling my head with water. Meanwhile the tables and chairs outside started to float and the waiters were busy putting a board across the doorway to stop water from flowing in. Mariah was scared, Tim and the boys thought it was awesome, Belia looked bewildered but happy to be inside, and I had too much of a headache to really care. The barrier worked for awhile but eventually it wasn't enough and the first level began to flood. People put their feet up and stayed sitting at their tables.
We waited until the heavy rain stopped and then waded our way through the restaurant and into the knee high water on the street, Tim carried Belia. We crossed to a higher street and caught a bus. It was only 4:30 and I really wanted to stay in Rome for supper, and to use the hop-on-hop-off bus, but my head and stomach were telling me to go home. Tim and the kids were very understanding and we returned to our campsite.
The kids had time to go in the pool and we relaxed for the evening.
- comments
Oma and opa Pappa happy that you saw the old little church. And we had to cool off in exactly the same park with the same concession stand. Rome can be so awfully hot.......
Oma Quite some adventures! The flooded café will be one of your treasured memories. Did you find out if this happens frequently? It would not be surprising. This year's rains seem to be so enormous, everywhere, though.