Behind the Scenes

When walking into the Roman Art seminar on Saturday, I wasn’t expecting to see anything new. I knew I would be seeing the same buildings and sculptured art like all of the others found in Rome. I expected a Power Point of Rome, with slides of pictures I’m used to seeing in my History textbooks. When Mrs. Everett spoke about the places she’s been, her descriptions drew me closer. Immediately my previous thinking turned. One interesting aspect in particular caught my attention, which was the Colosseum. No doubt, the Colosseum is a very known building in Rome. Never have I ever taken the time to think about the detail that goes into this beautiful building. Three Emperors constructed the Colosseum; Vespasian, Titus and Domititian. Although, this job could not get done with only 3 men. Prisoners and slaves built the Colosseum from 72 to 8 A.D. It was built to keep the city entertained, so they would not get bored and flee the city. This enormous building held up to 50,000 people! It was so well designed that people could get in and out of the building in about 30 minutes. Just like our arenas today, the higher price paid, the better the seats. This concept though, was by the ranking of class. The higher class would sit on marble seats closest to the stage, and the lower class would sit on wooden seats at the top of the Colosseum. While the guests would await for a good show to start, people would often carve pictures under their seats. It astonishes me to know that even then people would do graffiti then, just as people do now days. About every month, there would be a gladiator show. The show involved the battle between a ferocious animal, and a slave. These animals were raised to the stage on a platform. Underneath the stage were 40 elevators, and tunnels that would be considered as “backstage.” It is amazing to know how well ran the Colosseum was without the use of technology. This building was no doubt effective and kept the people of Rome entertained! I really appreciated learning the details of this building because I had always been curious about how the entertainment in Rome used to go about. Thankyou for reading, Ciao!

–Bethany Vidales