“A hunter in the arena wouldn't know where the next lion would appear, or whether two or three lions might emerge instead of just one.” - Heinz-Jürgen Beste
This month as schools have closed for the summer I had the perfect opportunity to visit Rome and see one of the newly crowned seven wonders of the world. The Colosseum, I’m sitting in a little Roman cafe with an americano in front of me, watching the world go by and can’t believe my luck. This morning, I saw possibly the most amazing building I’ve ever seen and was blown away by the history within its walls. My fiancée and I walked off the metro and there it was directly in front of us. Like a peacock amongst a murder of crows. Almost like it didn’t belong as the city around it has modernized so much. When you get close to it, you realize not only does it belong, but it’s in the perfect spot and has been since 80AD when it first opened its doors. As soon as we entered, I was awestruck. The colosseum itself is truly beautiful despite it being in considerable disrepair. You can see visibly contemporary struts holding the walls in place, there are many tightly wound nets on the second floor to stop debris falling from what were, Roman seats, onto the tourists below. Despite this, it has had extensive renovations to allow you to appreciate how it would have been in its hay day and pomp. It has 80 separate entrances. It is 189 meters long, 156 meters wide and an incredible 50 meters tall. However, something that was new to me was the Hypogeum. A word I had not heard, and didn’t learn of until this morning. Our tour guide explained what it was and despite the visible beauty of the colosseum, it was the Hypogeum that left the lasting impression.
The Hypogeum is located underneath the stage floor of the colosseum. The Colosseum is laid out in a very similar fashion to Croke Park with a capacity for 87,000 people, all visitors were focused on the arena floor. This is where the gladiators fought, animals were slaughtered and executions took place at the request of the emperor. The infamous thumbs up and thumbs down salute that we use today, originated here and ultimately signaled the continuation of a gladiator’s life or his death, there and then on the arena floor. However, the Hypogeum is invisible. It is hidden beneath the arena floor. The Hypogeum, was divided into two levels which comprised of a series of connected corridors and tunnels that lead into and out of the Colosseum. During performances, this underground area was extremely busy. As well as being the waiting area for the gladiators before they were led out to the stage, it was the holding area for the caged animals. It was also full of people involved with the performances, like ants in a nest, all working together for one common goal. This included shifting scenery, herding animals and delivering gladiators to the arena. Many of the animal hunt performances featured large and dangerous animals such as elephants, giraffes, lions, and panthers of which many had been imported from Africa and the Middle East. Living in Dubai this was particularly interesting to me as I was completely unaware. As well as this elaborate scenery and props were required for the spectacle. These large pieces of stage scenery needed to be made and shifted around the amphitheater for the various shows, this was all done out of sight underneath the arena floor. It was truly amazing to see it in front of my eyes. It is estimated that 50,000 people were executed on the arena floor for sport and as many as 1,000,000 animals were killed.
Roman carpenters and engineers created 80 wooden elevators to transport the gladiators as well as the wild animals surreptitiously from the hypogeum up to the arena floor. To build the Colosseum today, it would cost around 39 million euros. Once the Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD, roughly 66% of the Colosseum fell into disrepair. Two earthquakes destroyed the structure. These happened in 847 AD and 1231 AD. But in 2018 experts began renovating the hidden system of passageways, so tourists would be able to roam where gladiators and wild animals once prepared for combat. The renovations were funded by Italian fashion brand Tods. The games in Rome started almost as an apology to the people. The emperor Nero had appropriated swathes of the city for his outrageously opulent villa, the Domus Aurea, and he'd flooded this valley at the bottom of the Esquiline, Caelian, and Palatine hills to make himself a lake. Keen to curry favor with the public, the Flavian dynasty, who took power following Nero's death, wanted to give the land back to the city-so they drained the lake, and vowed to build the empire's largest amphitheater as a present to the people.
Unlike when visiting an arena for a sporting or music event nowadays, entry into the Colosseum was free for ancient Romans. Not only that, but they got fed throughout the event. It is said that the emperors did this in order to gain popularity throughout the Roman empire. Free entry and food were necessary, because events could last for up to 100 days at the Colosseum. Hours were spent there every day, enjoying the spectacles and catching up with friends. You can see 1,700-year-old chicken bones and fruit stones that were found in the Colosseum are on display on the second floor. Women topped up their makeup and you can see their utensils also. The events lasted weeks and the I risk opening ceremony lasted 100 days. So hours on end were spent in the Colosseum. It was a propaganda move that worked for four centuries, until the fall of the Roman empire. While watching a sporting event, the Romans ate food while enjoying the show.
Historians now believe that one of the things the Colosseum was used for in ancient Roman times was mock sea battles. They made for interesting viewing for the regular citizens of Rome who would not have seen real life sea battles taking place. Water could be diverted into the grounds of the Colosseum to provide a more accurate spectacle, and they used replica boats and weaponry that were situated on top of the hypogeum. All of which unfolded in front of us this morning. It was a truly remarkable and unforgettable experience. The year 523 AD was the last show in the Colosseum and 1500 years later it is still entertaining.
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