Saturday, October 16, 2010

So much to see…

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The Coliseum was used to host gladiatorial shows as well as a variety of other events.  Another popular type of show was the animal hunt. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, lions, panthers, leopards, bears, tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days.

This sounded pretty gruesome as the guide described the scene for us….most of us women in the group revealed much distress in hearing this, our eyes watering up and puckering faces, including Cath and me.

 

We took a tour that included not only seeing the Coliseum, but the Palentine as well.Recent excavations have shown that people have lived on the site since approximately 1000 B.C.

DSCN1497 The Palatine Hill is some 70 meters high with views of the Roman Forum on one side, and the Circus Maximus on the other. The site is now a large open-air museum which tourists can visit during the daytime. The entrance can be found near the Arch of Titus in The Palatine became the place where the powerful and wealthy retreated to build their homes and relax With the development of Rome and the continued embellishment of the Forum, the Palatine, due to its close proximity to the seat of power, it became "the place to live". Here the air quality was much better. It also has the benefit of splendid views. So it became the place for the very powerful and wealthy chose to build their homes.

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1 comments:

Anonymous said...

John said I was to star in the Gladiator show that morning, but due to my not being suited up properly, we had to just take the tour instead!