More walking.. Day 6

Day 6:

This day is probably the day that I looked forward to the most before coming on this trip. Our schedule for the day was to go to the Arch of Titus, the Palatine hill and museum, and the Colosseum. Admittedly, I didn't really know what the Arch of Titus or Palatine hill was before this trip, but I really like the Colosseum! I don't know if was the movie Gladiator that sparked my interest or not, but I have always had a fascination with the Colosseum, gladiators, and the Roman games.

We started the day at the Arch of Titus, which thanks to Adam's presentation, I now know is an arch that was constructed by Domition shortly after his brother Titus' death. It was built to commemorate Titus' victories, including the siege of Jerusalem. There is a relief on the arch of this victory!

View from Palatine hill looking at the Roman Forum

After the arch we moved up the hill where we looked at the Palatine hill. This hill was home to many emperors of Rome and sits high above the Roman forum and also looks out over the Circus Maximus. We had seen the outsides of the hill as we have walked around Rome and looked at other things, but once you are on top of it you truly appreciate the size of the land. There were several ruins on the hill and one in particular spanned 7 acres!
The hill is also thought to have been the place where Romulus, the founder of Rome, had set the foundation for the city. It is believed that the foundation of the hut he stayed in when he first stayed on the hill is still there today. Although, when we were there we couldn't really see it and from what we learned there is not much to see anyway.

Outside of the Colosseum

Next we were on to the Colosseum! We had walked past it a few days ago and I found myself just staring at it when we passed. The size of it is amazing. I think that going to school in the cities has somewhat desensitized me to the size of buildings because large buildings are so common. But while I have been in Rome, every massive building still makes me stare in amazement. The fact that buildings this big could be built 2000 years ago baffles me everyday. When I look at the Colosseum my mind races thinking of how they could have brought all of that building material to this spot, and how they could have laid out the design, and how they could have lifted such massive stone so high! It is an incredible structure! As I mentioned earlier, the movie Gladiator is amazing, so the first thing I did when we arrived at the Colosseum was take my picture posing as Russel Crowe (aka Maximus Desimus Meridius). Needless to say, I was entertained.

Are you not entertained?

We then went into the Colosseum and checked it out. The main floor is now gone but it would have been made out of wood and would have had around 9 inches of sand covering it. This is where the games would have been played. Underneath the wooden floor is a series of rooms and hallways that would have been used to warm up the gladiators, store the animals, and keep slaves or prisoners. The bleachers would have been made of marble and the arena could have sat around 50,000 people. It was really awesome being able to stand and look out at everything and try to visualize what it may have been like to witness the gladiatorial games.

I think that not only with the Colosseum, but with everything in Rome that we have visited, re-imagining what it would have been like in the days of its use is a huge part of your experience. If you look at some columns, or a giant stadium in its condition today and are unable to reconstruct it with your mind and place yourself in it some 2000 years ago, then coming to Rome may be a boring trip for you. So far the Rome I have walked through, and the Rome I have imagined have been amazing and I can't wait for more to come!

Ciao!