Logomancy/Xena: When In Rome

G A L L E R Y

October 1998:
"When in Rome..."

click on thumbnails to download jpegs

to Roma Aeterna

From Gaul to Syria
Home to Rome
Caesar's Palace and around the neighbourhood
The Road to Rome and a tour of the Tullium
Arena

Arena

Bread and Circuses

The Colosseum didn't look much like the arena shown in When in Rome, but that's just as well, since the real Colosseum didn't exist in Caesar's day. Construction was begun by Vespasian, first of the Flavian emperors, and was completed by his sons Titus and Domitian, who succeeded him each in turn. It was dedicated in 80 A.D. as the Amphitheatrum Flavium. (An amphitheatrum is a double-theatre -- a "theatrum" being a semicircle in shape.) A monumental statue of Vespasian, later converted to a statue of the Sun God, stood outside -- the "Colossus" from which the building gets its later name. The Colosseum could seat around 50,000 people, a magnificent architectural achievement of elaborate staircases and exits (vomitoria), with a network of cages for animals and passageways for gladiators and a system to flood the arena for mock naval battles. The entire stadium was covered by vast awnings (periodically archaeologists in PBS documentaries come to blows over how this was managed), with seats in the shade being highly prized.