I think this was another piece I knew I had to discuss as soon as it came up in class. I think this giant structure was amazing the first time I ever read about or well saw it in a movie. Just the sheer design of the Colosseum must've taken a skilled designer to think of. Everything was taken in to account even to the point where they could fill it with water and have mock sea battles. I didn't even know until we discussed it in class that they had the shade that went over top the people which in it's own right is an hell of a thing to think of back in that day. I also recently watched the movie Gladiator again after we talked about it in class and remembered how good that movie was. I think if the real Gladiator battles were anything like that it must've been epic. I thought in the movie though it was Nero who was emperor but it turned out it was Commodus which was kind of funny to me because we talked about how he pretty much almost destroyed Rome with his leadership. If only the the Colosseum was still fully intact even though it going to churches after all the Christians killed there just kind of is icing to the cake.
This building both astounds me and horrifies me. How can such a thing of beauty been a place of such atrocity? Why do men always degenerate into such hatred and then build shrines to show how "fabulous" their acts are?
ReplyDeleteI kind of jumped in at the end of your post where you wrote: "...after all the Christians killed there just kind of is icing to the cake."
ReplyDeleteAnd then I knew this was going to be a quality post.
Regardless, I think that this is probably the coolest architectural feat in ancient Greece. The fact that it could close off and float boats probably has something to do with this.
I did a research project on the Colosseum last semester and found a lot of interesting stuff. They would have animal hunting there. The people would use Lions, Ostriches, Alligators, Chimpanzees, Ox and a whole bunch more. When they killed the Christians there, they like tortured them basically. There is a lot of history behind this and it absolutely astounds me. I would love to visit the Colosseum before I die someday.
ReplyDelete