The Colosseum of Rome

Archived in the present

By Trotternama

February 28^th, 2020

Rome, was just an idea...

Right up-to those teenage years, my idea of Rome had been formed from a melange of pop culture references, movies and history books. Yep, I was that nerdy kid in school who liked history! National Geographic magazines were a staple at home while Julius Caesar was a big draw on BBC (various serials).

"et tu Brutus...then fall Caesar" was the battle cry of childhood betrayals.

It was Roman Holiday, though, that sold me the dream of Rome. Cliched right? But there you have it. I am a schmuck for movies! There was something about watching Gregory Peck romancing Audrey Hepburn at the Fontana Di Trevi, that awakened in my pre-pubescent mind, soft romantic imaginary interludes of teenage love which became deeply associated with my imagination of the city.

Ahh, the sweet innocence of 15 !

However, it took me a little bit longer to warm up to the idea of the Colosseum.

Ben Hur got me started, but Ridley Scott had to come along with The Gladiator to seal the deal. The sequence of Russel Crowe as Maximus, challenging Commodus in the gladiator arena, became part of cinematic folklore, won Crowe an Oscar and set me up to add the Colosseum to my life's bucket list.

By now, I have visited Italy (and Rome) many times, but it was in my first trip to Rome that I spent a couple of days in an attempt to uncover the mysteries of the Colosseum. At the very outset, I wanted to step inside that hallowed pantheon and get a sense of 2000 years of history staring down at me.

If you have been to Rome, you will get this distinct feeling that it is a bustling metropolis inside a ruin. Modern architecture jostles for, and shares space amicably with thousand year old historical ruins. Roman's are proud of their heritage and the city has done everything to protect and promote its cultural spectacle.

Like any tourist I had done my online due diligence, bought a couple of tickets and checked out reviews of previous travellers. I was staying in a hotel near the Vatican, so the trip wasn't that much of a hassle. I had to take the underground from Ottaviano to Colosseo. I prefer to explore cities using public transport and most European cities have a pattern which is similar. There is an Old Town or historical city centre ( Alstadt) which is surrounded by newer suburbs which came up as these cities expanded into their modern avatars. Most of the city centres can and should be explored on foot, because it truly gives you a sense of space, culture and find hidden gems tucked away in obsolete corners.

Rome is no different. If you keep the Trevi Fountain at the centre and draw a circular arc then popular places of interest like the Vatican, Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps, Termini Station and the Colosseum will be at circumference points of this semi circle. If you decided to walk to each one of these from the other, the whole journey would take you anywhere between ninety minutes to three hours, depending on your urgency and pace.

So if you enjoy walking, this is a fantastic way of exploring Rome's city centre. Almost everything is worth photographing and you get this weird charm of walking amongst manicured ruins, enclosed by beautifully asphalted wide boulevards. It's quite the experience.

However, if long walking explorations are not your cup of tea, the subway is the perfect solution. The Rome metro is neither the best nor the cleanest, but its does cover the historical areas of interest pretty effectively, and it's incredibly affordable.

I had decided to keep two days to explore the city centre in earnest and I wanted to start with the Colosseum. Day one started with rain. Now unlike most people, I love rain, because few things create better drama in photography than an overcast sky. It also keeps the crowds at bay ! So I actually felt pretty good about my prospects. I had wanted to explore the entrance and perspective of the Colosseum from the Roman Forum. So by about ten in the morning, I had made my way in. The rain had minimised tourists, so I had a peaceful time walking aimlessly amidst the ruins of The Palatine without having to encounter a million people. By late morning though, the skies had started to clear up.

After spending some time in a curio shop and picking up a few local souvenirs, it was time for me to explore the Colosseum. My idea was simple. Start with walking the entire circumference of the amphitheatre from the outside and try and find different vantage points which provided unique views. Experience over time had taught me, that the best way to get good views of any architectural monument was always from a distance, on the outside. From the inside the perspective always became way too big and too unmanageable to effectively capture any good frame.

It was a leisurely walk. I had no real urgency to be anywhere, so I observed everything my eyes rested upon. Cafes, street fountains and massive amounts of restoration work on the outer walls of the Colosseum. It was remarkable to see the sheer number of tourists who came and queued up from every walk of life. The field outside had become a bit muddy with all the rain, but that did not deter anyone. Amidst selfie stick hawkers, ice cream vans and tons of parked cars, it was a like this crowded carnival where everyone had been invited. Sure you could not get a single picture of anything without someone's head coming in your field of vision - but even amidst all that chaos and a sea of tourists who made walking feel like fine art, you could feel a sense of awe and grandeur.

The weather held up for the rest of the day and I had spent most of it exploring the Colosseum from the outside amidst copious cups of coffee and the occasional cigarette. By the time I took the metro from Coloseo to Ottaviano at night, I was ready to crash.

Day two came with blazing blue skies. The AZZURI.

It was time to be inside the colosseum. The hypogeum interested me a lot. So what is the Hypogeum? It is this large underground chamber of passageways and vaults, below the ground of the Colosseum arena. A large secret space, deep inside the bowels of the Colosseum. An intricate maze of chambers and passageways, which housed the animals used in fights against the gladiators, in cages and walkways. Apparently, at the height of its pomp, when regular games were held at the Colosseum, 80 winch operated lifts worked in perfect harmony to lift circus animals directly on to the arena floor.

Remember the tiger scene with Russel Crowe in Gladiator?

I had already read an article on Heinz-Jürgen Beste of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, probably the world's leading expert on the colosseum hypogeum. He was the first one to realise that the distinctive semi-circular slices in the walls near the vertical channels were likely made to leave space for the revolving bars of large capstans that powered the lifting and lowering of cages and platforms. Then other archaeological elements fell into place, such as the holes in the floor, some with smooth bronze collars, for the capstan shafts, and the diagonal indentations for ramps. There were also square mortises that had held horizontal beams, which supported both the capstans and the flooring between the upper and lower stories of the hypogeum.

At the peak of its operation, he opined, the hypogeum contained 60 capstans, each two stories tall and turned by four men per level. Forty of these capstans lifted animal cages throughout the arena, while the remaining 20 were used to raise scenery sitting on hinged platforms measuring 12 by 15 feet. Seeing it in front of my eyes was an experience both in wonder and reluctant acceptance. Wonder, at the architectural splendour of what it might have been at the height of it glory, and acceptance of a demise, that the inevitability of time always brings.

Bit surreal.

Walking inside the superstructure, I could see three sections of the interior: the arena, the cavea and the podium. The cavea was meant for spectators, and even today you can see the three tiers. Legend says that the highest tier was for the plebs while the podium was for the VIPs. Legend also says women were relegated to the cheapest seats.

I have never understood this about ancient Roman history. Women were either objectified or relegated, in the same society which drove so many innovations around architecture, city planning, art and warfare.

Doesn't add up.

Walking along the broken corridors, I could see the tall arches, light filtering in softly, and the slave dungeons. The dungeons still looked bare and menacing. Stone floors covered with stains of moss and scripture on the walls. It must have been a fairly lonely existence for the gladiators who were forced to live in these cold, squalid, damp, dark square blocks. The Colosseum made me feel more let down than overwhelmed. Let down at the realisation of what an iconic run looks like. When grandeur gets destroyed by time its impact is harsh. But there is beauty in any breakdown and I could see that beauty in the very soul of the amphitheatre.

There are a few places in this world where history stands still. The Colosseum is one of them.

Today the brick walls have been made bare, the parapets have broken off, and moss plants cover the insides of the hypogeum. It's no better than a picture of glorious decay. Standing in the morning sun, it seemed unreal that this was Caesar's cradle. And yet it stood there. Defying time. Broken but not bent. Proud of its heritage.

Kudos to the tourism department though. There was restoration work everywhere. While restoration does take away a little bit of authenticity, and is a pain for photography – the reality is without restoration there would be no Colosseum anymore.

And it does need to be preserved.

For posterity.

For rememberance.

For man's glory in the face of adversity.

Travelers corner - optional FAQs

Best time to go: December

Try to go in an off-season (though for the Colosseum I doubt there is any off-season). It's incredibly hot in the summer though, with all the tourists.

Nearest metro/subway station: Coloseo. (Line B).

There are no orderly queues in bus stations and subways. Italian underground is not the best, and graffiti is real problem, but it is quite efficient to travel the historical parts. In fact it is my favoured form of transport in Rome to see the historical sights given the number of tourists everywhere

Ticket cost: € 22.00

The integrated ticket Colosseum + Arena (or Undergrounds) + Forum-Palatine, valid for two consecutive days for one scheduled access to the colosseum + Arena (or Undergrounds), upon submission of a list of names, and one open access to the Forum - Palatine Hill, including special SUPER sites, and the Imperial Forums.
You can buy tickets and night tours, Here

Average time taken to see it properly: Two to three hours

However, depending on your sense of urgency, you can possibly do an express tour in an hour.
I would recommend though, to see the slave dungeons and if possible reach as early as possible or pick up a skip the line ticket from the Roman Forum.

Opening hours: The Colosseum is open all days with the following hours:

08.30 to 16.30: from last Sunday in October to 15 February
08.30 to 17.00: from 16 February to 15 March
08.30 to 17.30: from 16 to last Saturday of March.
08.30 to 19.15: from the last Sunday in March until 31 August
08.30 to 19.00: from 1 to 30 September
08.30 to 18.30: from the first to the last Saturday in October

Closed on:

December 25
January 1

Accessibility: It’s fairly accessible with smooth rampways and an elevator to the higher floors. So for the most parts it is wheelchair friendly. The only thing you need to be mindful of are crowds and cobblestones at the entrance.