Colosseum

COLOSSEUM

March 29, 2022

Talk about a modern marvel. Can you believe the Colosseum was built around 2000 years ago? The technology involved can rival anything of the day. There is no doubt that the Ancient Romans wanted to show off. That is why they built so much sculptures and did so much entertaining in Ancient Rome.

We had a 3 hour Colosseum tour scheduled today. What made this tour better than the others was access underground to both the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Both sites are available to book, but it cost much more. Michelle knew someone that said the tour under the Colosseum was well worth it, so we decided to see for ourselves.

Since we stayed at Hotel Pantheon, the bus ride to the Colosseum was quick, two stops and about a 10 minute bus ride. We actually missed the Colosseum stop and got off a stop later. We did such a good job of preparations that we got there 2 hours early. Since we were so early, we decided to eat breakfast at a cafe called Royal. It was near the Colosseum and provided a nice Instagram shot.

After eating breakfast we decided to check out the area. There was so much to see and a lot of walking was necessary. If you visit this area, make sure your legs are strong enough handle the walk.

Our tour started at 10:45 am. It was a shit show trying to check in. Their tour group system was overwhelmed. Apparently they had 3 English tours going on at the same time. I had to make sure we joined the right tour since we spent so much money. I want to say the cost was about $140. After check in we had to join the group. Our tour leader was an English lady from the UK who Michelle thought was rude. I could see that, but I think that was her personality, she was a snobby lady from England. But I know from living in Europe the past few years that not all people from the UK was snobby. When the tour started, she did her job very well and that is all what we asked for. She obviously had a great passion for her job and studied Ancient Roman history.

Before I get into the details, I do want to say that this 3 hour too was too long. It actually went onto 4 hours. The amount of information was a lot in 4 hours and believe me this lady talked for 4 hours and she told us upfront that she is going to talk the entire time and she did.

We met at the meeting point near the tourist office and started walking towards the Roman Forum. Our group consisted of American tourist, and a few were Karen's which hurt my mood a little, but I got over it. The first interesting site was the marketplace built by the Great Emperor Trajan. He built this mega marketplace which is comparable to a mega mall by todays standards. This marketplace had over 150 vendors. We eventually crossed the street and got access to go underground. We were the only tour underneath the Roman Forum. All I remember at this point was that it was cold. We ended up on the main road of the Roman Forum. Imagine 2000 years ago this street was busy!

At the point I was listening, but as I write this entry I realize that I didn't retain much information. We got to a point near Palatine Hill and the Temple of Vesta. Our tour guide mentioned something about the Vestal Virgins. That peaked my curiosity. She said that the Vestal Virgins had to be these pristine girls between the ages of 6-10 years old. There would only be 6 Vestal Virgins (also known as Priestess). Their main job was to keep the flame going. These Vestal Virgins had to live a life of purity. If they let the flame go out or fooled around, they would be led underground and essentially buried alive. I thought this was the most interesting story of the tour.

We had to wait until 3:15pm to enter the Colosseum. The structure is a modern marvel. It really is. Our tour guide led us underground. I had to pay extra money for this access but Michelle felt it was worth it. The tour consist of going on all three levels of the Colosseum. We spent the most time underground and learned that it was crazy busy underground. The Colosseum was built for entertainment purposes. The Romans did everything to entertain the crowds. Animals would be kept in cages underground and let out through this handmade elevator system. The theatrics were important to the Romans and they had to make it a show for entertainment. According our tour guide, the show was an all day and sometimes multi day experience. A lot went on to put on a show for the audience. The show usually ended with one of the star Gladiators, like say a Spartacus to fight. The Romans took care of these stars even though most were slaves.

On the middle and upper levels of the Colosseum, we learned what it was like to be an audience member. The Colosseum was a state of the art architecture and was way ahead of its time. Just the way it was designed was amazing. The precision had to be perfect in order for it to withstand the time. Don't get me wrong, it is falling apart and needed to be restored over the years. It also had been looted since the fall of Rome in 400 AD.

One interesting thing were the toilets. They build a hole in every entry way. Men could pee in a hole and it would go down to the bottom of the arena and water would transfer the sewage out. The other cool think about the Colosseum is that the floor was decorated like a jungle. For example if Romans went to somewhere in England and got an animal there, they would decorate the Colosseum similar to what they saw in England.

At about the 3.5 hour mark, we were getting tired and I think we were done. We actually gave our tour guide a tip and left. We both needed to go to the restroom, but finding a restroom was hard to find. We eventually found one to the left of the exit.

Getting back to our hotel was easy because one of the bus route was a straight shot to our hotel. But we decided to get off somewhere and eat on the outskirts of Rome so it would be cheaper. The place we went to eat was cheaper but not memorable, I think I got a pizza because I didn't eat pizza in Rome the past two days.