Roma, not just a kind of tomato

The Metro was crowded.  Rome has two lines, and one of them terminates at the Coliseum. I thought it was interesting that there is also a Metro line in Madrid that terminates at the bullring. Both are arenas for entertainment. As the crowd emerged from the station into the morning sun the ancient structure was immediately across the street. Like many old buildings or structures it is partially shrouded with scaffolding. Old structures need maintenance, especially if they are major tourist attractions. The crowd, of which we were a part, crossed the street and headed toward the Coliseum with a few going to the right toward the Roman Forum.  We were not looking forward to another crowded attraction.  The lines were long but moved quickly.  I paid at the credit card line, and it seemed to move a little faster. To say that the Coliseum is a massive stone structure seemed to be an understatement. Thousands of tons of carved stone are held together with concrete and iron straps to produce the arena with a seating capacity of 80,000. Construction began in the first century with initial funding coming from the sacking of Jerusalem. In ancient times we would have received a ticket on a pottery shard indicating our seat. Of course there was a hierarchy in seating. We would have probably held tickets for the nosebleed section. The layout of aisles and stairways is extremely efficient. We took the elevator to one of the upper levels and from there could view the interior where the events would have taken place. Recreations of famous battles of land and sea would have taken place here as well as gladiator contests. There were elevators to bring animals and men up to the arena surface. A portion of is is restored  now. As we watched I mentioned to Claudette, "Can you imagine what it was like with the wild animals tearing Christians to shreds?"

"Actually, there is no evidence that  ever happened," she informed me.

"And Nero never doused them with oil and used 'em for torches?" I retorted.

"I don't know about that.  But as a movie fan, you know what I think of?" she asked.

"I'll bet you're going to tell me," I responded.

"That would be Russell Crowe standing there with sword and shield saying, ' My name is Gladiator!'"

The Coliseum also had a canopy originally, but no more. We walked around a bit.  Although there were many  tourists the attraction is so big that very few areas were crowded.

After leaving the Coliseum we walked a few hundred yards to the Roman Forum.  This was the center of the Roman Empire which spread from the British Isles to Turkey and Egypt. Unfortunately, Rome is unlike Roman cities built in conquered lands.  Those cities tend to be well organized, while Rome is rather helter-skelter.  Nowhere is this more evident than at the Forum. There are many ruins here but little open space unlike Ephesus, for instance, with its large open plazas. There are many facades of temples and government buildings. One facade has columns of rare purple marble. This stone was imported from Egypt.  As we walked around the ruins, Claudette said to me, "Let's see the House of the Vestal Virgins."

"Okay," I said, having never heard of a vestal virgin except in Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale and that was back in the sixties. "What's a vestal virgin anyway?"

"Well, let me tell you," she said, as we looked at the ruins of a structure which had been three stories high with a reflection pool surrounded by statues. "The Vestal Virgins were priestesses whose primary duty was to keep the eternal flame in the Temple of Vesta burning. They were selected between the ages of 6 and 10 for duty and were Vestal Virgins for thirty years. Upon keeping their vows they could retire with a pension. If they did not keep their vows they were executed."

"Sounds kinda like nuns," I mused.

"The advent of Christianity dissolved the order  of the Vestal Virgins," she added.
We continued to walk among the ruins, listening to the tour guide we had recorded on our cell phones.  It was very interesting though crowded.

We ate at the restaurant near the Metro station al fresco, of course, before returning to our hotel. It had been an interesting day at two of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

"Arrivederci Roma"

Links: Dino sings about Rome  The greatest sword and sandal movie ever.