The Colosseum From Largo Gaetana Agnesi, Roma, Lazio, Italia (Rome, Italy)
I don't really have time to prepare new photos for upload at present. However over the last couple of weeks I have had a scorching case of nostalgia di casa. (Homesickness.) I've therefore indulged myself to mark up at least one previously unpublished photo from my last trip back home in 2019.
The Colosseum itself probably needs little introduction since it is the most recognisable symbol of Roma there is. Of course, there are many historical symbols that people don't necessarily know the context of. You probably won't have to go far to find someone who believes that the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar watched gladiators here. He didn't. Gaius Julius Caesar, who was a dictator (in the literal sense, as a title) but not an emperor, was murdered in March 44BC. Oh, and that murder was not in the Senate House, but in the Theatre of Pompey where the Senate was meeting that day. And the Senate didn't have round seating as is usually depicted on TV and in movies. But I digress.
The first emperor was Augustus who took the job on 16 January 27BC. 8 emperors later, in July 69AD (so, over a century from Julius' death), Vespasian became the first emperor of the Flavian dynasty. He needed to establish his dynasty's legitimacy. What better way than by building something that was huge and unimaginable and forever tied with his line? So in 72AD work began on what would be later known as the Colosseum. It is also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre which would have been one of the first and best examples of branding... though it's not clear whether that name was used at the time. The name we use came from a nearby giant (30 m tall) statue. The statue was originally of the emperor Nero as the Colossus of Rhodes (which was itself a statue of the sun god Helios). Nero not being particularly revered at the time, it was later changed to represent the Roman sun god Sol. Incidentally, the Colosseum was built on part of the former site of Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden House), which he built on land that he seized after the Great Fire of Rome during which he supposedly fiddled. (So no, not revered. Nor was his lavish house.)
Built of travertine limestone, volcanic rock (tuff), brick-faced concrete and of course marble, the Colosseum could hold 50 to 80 thousand people at different times. The 3 layers of arches that we see here originally ran all the way around, The partial walls that we see on the southern side of the building are the result of earthquake damage and stone robbers.
As mentioned in the album description, I had obtained us an apartment in a street just off the Colosseum. Come sunrise on the first day, I left the three English speakers sleeping in, while I went out in full Italian mode (well, aside from the incident described in image 6910) to photoshoot. I took this from the elevated street just around the corner from out apartment, on the northern side of the Colosseum. I was shooting to the east, so the sun is coming up just behind the building which is still lit by its internal, night time lighting.
The view is across the Piazza del Colosseo which runs around the building, coming off the via dei Fori Imperiali. The work site relates to the construction of the east to west Linea C metro, which will supplement (and connect with) the existing north west to south east Linea A and south west to north east Linea B, which includes our neighbourhood station, Colosseo. (Which is roughly just behind me from this shot.) 6 years later, work is still in progress on this part of the line due to funding issues and not a few issues relating to archaeological finds along the route. Bear in mind that this part of the line is cutting through the heart of the ancient part of the city. The Linea C station at Colosseo was at one time intended to open in February 2025, but that didn't happen. The entire project may run out to 2034, according to an interview with chief engineer Andrea Sciotti in May 2024.
Of course, I have no way of knowing whether the construction works are still there. Well, unless I go and look for myself. Yes, I think I owe it to my viewers to do that.
(Side Note: I cannot describe how depressing it is for the third character of the date to be a "1", and how distant that feels from 2025 when I'm writing this...)
