The Colosseum

Oh hi there! It's been a while, hasn't it? Nowadays, I am more engaged with other concerns in my life that spending a part of my time here in this blog becomes the last priority. I occasionally backread my posts and I can tell which of these posts that were only written just for the sake of posting. So when I am sometimes reminded that this blog is slowly accumulating dust in the corner, I just let it be especially that I know that my mind is still off to somewhere. But here I am now, hoping these rare creative juices will dust off this blog that's been left to disregard.

To continue with my posts about Rome, I am going to talk about the Colosseum. My cousin and I visited this Roman icon in October 2013. A very long time ago, I know! haha

Uhm, sorry for being blunt but I want to show you straightaway the interior of the Colosseum. At first glance, it seemed underwhelming because I only saw it at face value. I mean, look at those ancient slab of stones! I could easily walk off towards the exit if I acted disinterested.

Because I like to read anything that I come across with, the information boards in some areas in the Colosseum gave me the sense of wonder, to recreate in my mind what the Colosseum had been during the ancient times. It is remarkable to think of the engineering feat achieved by the people during this time. But I know, the manual labor of the slaves to build this grand structure is another matter meant for a different discussion.

The Colosseum is known by the gladiator fights held here from the 1st century and lasted until the 5th century, before Christianity made a great influence on the Roman Empire. Can you just imagine huge animals like elephants, hoisted by a rudimentary elevator into the arena, where gladiators fought them to death? It is incredible, I must say. No, I am not talking about the fights.

Today, the Colosseum has only viewing platforms for people to have a closer look at the arena, akin to an enormous maze. If this photo was taken in a different time (Let's pretend there were already cameras back then.), I could never muster the same smile knowing too much blood was spilled behind us and the smell of death would be too riveting for comfort.

In visiting the Colosseum, I suggest enlisting a guide who can talk in detail the history of the Colosseum. It makes your visit more meaningful. If you'd say that you can always look it up in Google, trust me when I say that more often than not, you'd end up doing none of it. Been there, done that. haha

Did you know that the Colosseum was named after a colossal statue that once stood near it? I had no idea then. A guide during my tour in the Roman Forum had said it.