I wasn’t that excited about visiting the Coliseum because a few friends had told me it wasn’t that spectacular. I can thank them for lowering my expectations because I really enjoyed it.

The Coliseum does need to do something about organizing the lines. The counters (five or so) are at the end of two long lines–which become a jammed mess of people as two lines turn into a crowd pushing their way to the front of the windows. The lines in our case were only about 1/2 hour long, but that wasn’t a pleasant half hour. When you do get to the window and pay–you have to fight back out through the other people waiting. There’s no aisle for those that paid to get over to the line that lets you in. How long have they been doing this?? I mean the viewing of the ruin, not the sports arena for killing animals and humans. You’d think they might have a better method.

The price was between 15 and 20 euros–I honestly do not remember because I shouted “three adults” and handed over a credit card. Whether it was 15 or 20, it was a bit on the pricey side compared to the Vatican. Supposedly the ticket works to let you in some other place(s), but I only heard that after we returned stateside. I don’t recall the tickets having any such info printed on them.

We didn’t sign up for one of the “tours” that are hawked outside the Coliseum. These tours cost about 7 to 10 euros extra, but they are interesting. I know this because we stood at the back of two different groups and listened in. Without the tour or the audio–you’ll be lost. There was one informative sign inside the Coliseum that I saw. It described a bit about the weapons/armor. The rest of the history, you’d have to guess. Luckily the tour guides didn’t care who was standing where, so we got a bit of a free education.

The history is quite interesting, as was the technology. The maze that was under the wooden/sand flooring held animals, props and elevators. The elevators were used to lift the animals (or stage-set scenery, such as palm trees) through several trap doors onto the arena floor. The spectators (and the contestants) didn’t know which trap door might open–or what it might reveal! One small section of the arena floor has been restored, as has a section of the seating area. This allows you to see what it might have looked like. The guides point out where the senator seats were located (they had seats for life so their names were carved into the stone) and where the emperor sat. The guides talked about the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” that the emperor gave to a contestant. Apparently it is thought that a thumbs up didn’t mean “let the guy live” it meant, “kill him quickly with mercy.” Thumbs down…well that was bad news indeed. Bloodthirsty lot.

It’s actually impossible to imagine the pain and death that took place here. Despite the many tourists and the hundreds of thousands of people that have been through there since, the place is filled with shadowy ghosts. How could it not be?

The stones remember. They crumble and sift one painful grain at a time. The spectators…played their political games in the stands, thinking they were better, smarter or at least luckier than the poor animals and people that provided entertainment. They yelled, ate and celebrated. In the end, all that is left of any of of them is an etched surface and a haunted echo.

Many of the missing pieces of the Coliseum were not worn away by time–they were “harvested” by generations after the Coliseum fell into disuse. Stores were built inside at one time; other pieces were hauled away for later projects. The “disuse” was for typical reasons–money. The politics behind building and maintaining the arena tired with time and there simply wasn’t money in the coffers to continue the decadence of putting on shows. The idea of a politician putting on a show to gain favor with the businessmen and people isn’t really new; it was just more disgusting and inhumane back then.

Next time someone offers you free tickets to a game, you can know that it’s a traditional of earning favor that has gone on a long time. Hopefully whatever players you watch get to live.